CNN and CCTV Top5 News - Essay Example

College: CNN and CCTV Top5 News Introduction Decisively, the article is a comprehensive analysis of CNN and CCTV online broadcasts based on their websites; typically, it compares the different modes and perspectives of putting out their news information and critics based on the same. Even though the CNN reaches more individuals on television, their online broadcast also covers a wide base more than any other TV news organization; the web access and broadcast efficiency is based on the good number of editorial operations around the world and around four thousand employees. All the same, the channel has been a subject of several controversies at various points throughout its history, such as; many left-leaning critics view CNN as more biased than most other corporate-run journalism, supporting business interests of its parent company and sponsors, and refusing to question official sources or present perspectives of leftist critics. According to CCTV‘s history, their website has faced a number of criticisms too concerning news posts and the perspectives the editor’s use; some of the critics have attacked the network for its selective reporting, for exploiting women, and for its loyalty to the government. Methodology The data gathering took over a one and half weeks from two websites, the CNN and CCTV websites from 6/09/2014 to 18/09/2014. Over the 21 days’ timeframe, the analysis consisted of the top five news agendas on a daily basis in both websites; the evaluation aspects entailed consistency, structure, frequency and the target audience. Moreover, the websites were also evaluated using articles and journals on global information, marketing and producing international among others to determine their effectiveness (Noblet 2001). Main body The CNN online website jumps into a fully integrated experience in which articles, videos, images and user-generated content is provided; the network’s core goal is to enhance and simplify online news for consumers allowing them to access and interact with their information in more ways than ever before. The CCTV news network also has a vast web and online base, though it is not as large and wide spread as that of CNN. Largely, the CCTV website focuses mostly on news concerning China, America and Africa where it has stations based in Kenya (Africa) and Washington D.C. (America); however, these websites base more on providing information about Africa and America to the China citizens as opposed to the world (Chalaby 2005). Number of Top-Five News by Region Table Stories by Region US/Britain Europe Asia Middle East Africa CNN 6 5 3 3 4 CCTV News 2 2 8 4 2 Target Audience The CNN website has a wide range of information as the home page has news links that cover areas like the world, U.S, Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East; moreover, on top of covering there are news about business, world sport, entertainment, tech, travel, and i-report as the last portal. For the CCTV website, the news links are much more less and only cover; China, world, Biz, culture, sports, travel and learning Chinese; this depicts that there is only a limited amount of information on the website. The home page of the CNN website contains description of some of the latest news as for a particular day and displays the specific time that it was last updated. The descriptions are about the more significant news from the many news links such as the field of sports, issues affecting a particular content and many more; for instance, the are headlines such as Can the world stop Ebola?, Churches razed in China breakdown and Is North America fighting for Isis. At the bottom of the page, there is a section for the CNN Exclusive where they post different education articles for people who are interested in reading about matters that affect peoples’ lives such as health tips (CNN 2014). The CCTV news website is not as large and extensive as the CNN one for it covers news affecting China as country and the general Asia. The CCTV home page on the 20th September 2014 has the main story as China’s exams candidates (high school graduates) sitting for one of the most important exams in their lives; the rest of the page includes stories on the world’s football federation, Chinese president speaking on China and India relations (CCTV 2014). Generally, there is a lot of preconception on the website as more than ten of the links are on China and only four concerning the rest of the world. Past Conflict and Criticism Many news websites have been the subject of many allegations and criticism; for instance, in 2007, the CNN faced allegations of liberal bias claiming its studies tended to cast a negative light on Republican candidates with their four out of ten being negative (Katherine 2013). A lot of concern rises from such allegations and criticisms especially since when the organization’s reputation is on the line. Some of the critics believe that CNN, as a network promotes liberal political positions and biased reporting hence considering any of their news lines after the year 2007 would be a waste of time. However, to a certain perspective the general network has advanced and it is evident they are among today’s prominent networking. In one of Top 5 news, ‘Nobody tried to contact me’, the website narrates the story of a man abducted alongside a killed US journalist telling his side of the story about the kidnapping and how nobody from the government has tried to talk to him after his release. Expectedly, for many people the CNN coverage is trying to humiliate and mortify the US government by showing that they are not concerned about the abduction. However, a different perspective behind the CNN putting this on their website is as a way of helping the citizens speak out their grievances and address their needs to the government. The CCTV news website has received a lot of criticism about a top five story that they posted on the sex business considered to be China’s capital city of sin; initially, reporters sneaked cameras. Once the story surfaced the internet, critics were infuriated that this was sullying the city’s standing yet most people already knew that this and much more took place. The CCTV stood to their post and unleashed as strong response online, where critics attacked the network for selective reporting, for exploiting women, and for its loyalty to the government. Efficiency and Frequency The CNN website contains videos under the top5 news section for the day; these videos are either on the topic news or on information relating to the issue. On one of the news, British Implores Scots to stick with the UK under the precise description of the situation CNN has a video that shows holding props and banners written ‘yes’ in a demonstration outside the high offices. The information on the CNN website is vast and inductive making sure that the audience gets all the facts and concepts required on the matter. The CCTV news website has a Top News video also on both local and international issues; however, the only difference between theirs and that of CNN is the framework. The CCTV website either has a video on a matter or a description but there are rare instances where both are on a single story; for instance, on People Trapped and More Dead in Turkey there is only a video of a rescue in what seems to be an earthquake. Unlike most news websites, that only update on a daily basis, CNN aims at giving first-hand information and as soon as it is out. For instance, there are situation where one finds top news such as Isis Beheading Videos Strikingly Similar having information added or updated an hour ago. Just as CNN, the CCTV website also has updates made daily but the amount of information added is much more less (CNN 2014). Conclusion and Summary As a conclusion, the analysis definitely depicts that CCTV and CNN differ in a number of ways in concern to their presentation, perception, layout and ways of attracting a bigger audience. The general interface of the CNN website is elegant and categorised making it easy for a person to find news that they are interested in. Even though the CCTV news website is categorised too most of its focus is on the information that affects China and its citizens; however, one cannot fail to acknowledge that there are sectors for international news. Decisively, the ways that the two sites distinguish and display information is dissimilar. As mentioned, the CNN does not only have the multiple categories but their persistence on facts is also fascinating. This is clear from the descriptions and narrations on the different news not to mention the first updates on straight information. All the same, one cannot fail to acknowledge that both websites are not biased; they do not focus their information on a single form such as politics or sports. Assertively, CNN and CCTV websites are either the best or worst depending on one’s viewpoint but the analysis critically compares and differentiates the two on a similar platform. References Chalaby, J. K. 2005, Towards an Understanding of Media Transnationalism, in J. K. Chalaby (ed.), Transnational Television Worldwide: Towards A New Media Order, London: I. B. Tauris, pp. 1-13 CNN, 2014, Nobody Tried to Contact Me: World, CNN, Web < http://edition.cnn.com/nobody-tried-to-contact-me > [Accessed 20th September 2014] Hatchen, W 2007, World News Prism; Global Information in a Satellite Age, Malden; Blackwell Publishing, pp. 35-63 Jiang, H, 2014, Window on China and the World: CCTV News. Web < http://www.cntv.cn/ > [Accessed 20th September 2014] Kalyango, Y 2012 Thirty Years of Broadcasting Africa on U.S. Network Television News, Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, December, pp.669-687 Noblet, K 2001 Producing and marketing news for the International Audience, in Silva T. (Ed.) Global News, Perspectives on the Information Age, Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press, pp.53-63 Watson, J. 1998 Media Communication: An introduction to theory and Process, London: Macmillan Press, pp. 105-129 Read More