Comparison of Two News Sites - Case Study Example

Comparison of 2 News Sites Tutor Course Name Date Introduction Different news sites write different stories that make up the news. The news may either be soft or hard. In most cases the hard news dwell on the issues of politics, the economy as well as the crime (Banks & Sal, 2008). The soft news centres on the issues of sports, advertisements and entertainment. The news sites usually produce the news that is relevant to the audience. Most of the media houses are usually interested in publishing the news that is required by the audience. Pictures as well as videos are usually used in the sites for the purposes of enabling the audience to understand the different issues (Everett & Caldwell, 2015). Different sites may report the same issues but using different terms depending on the audience that they are targeting. The paper thus compares news in the Australian and The Guardian Australia sites. Table of comparison Items that are Newsworthy In the guardian, the items that are newsworthy have been allocated a high percentage of space. The news worthy items occupies about 80% and is mainly comprised of the hard news. This includes the political aspects like the row facing the cabinet in Australia. Such news is of national importance as most of the citizens are usually interested in the performance of the government. The issues of crime is has also been provided accorded a lot of importance in the article (The Guardian, 2015). Crime is a national issue that affects the citizens on a daily basis. Crime is a vice in the society that causes huge concern. This is considering that the crimes have negative impacts on the lives of the victims with some losing their lives. Any citizen is usually concerned about their security and hence the relevance of crime in the media. The economic issues are also of focus in the article and it involves the trade unions. The rights of the employees as well as their working condition are highly regarded in Australia and hence the attention that such news can receive in the media. The issue of human rights as well as the rights of the employees is also considered a hard news (Everett & Caldwell, 2015). This makes it newsworthy and most of the audience would like to know about it as they are workers. In this article, the national news is more newsworthy as compared to the international news. The soft news is about 20% and this includes Online TV and radio issues. In the Australian, the hard news mainly forms the issues that are newsworthy and this is about 90% in the first five pages. A high percentage of the hard news is on the issues of a militant trade union. The militant trade union is on the attack against the political class and the government. The trade Union Issues in Australia is quite sensitive as it is known for grounding different services as a result of widespread industrial action (Boukes & Boomgaarden, 2014). This article is likely to attract a high number of people in Australia as most of the people are members of the trade unions. Images have been used in almost all the stories for the purposes of attracting the attention of the readers. The issue of justice which matters to most people is also part of the hard news. Terrorism problem has also been featured in one of the stories and it is thus important to the Australians as some of the youths have joined terrorism organizations like ISIS IN Syria and Iraq. Crime as well as the economic issues has also been addressed in the paper as part of the hard news. The only soft news is about the death of Gordon who is considered as a friend of arts. This is set to attract the attention of a high number of people since he was a popular figure. Advertisements In the Guardian Australia, the advertisements occupy about 10% and it mainly considered as soft news. The advertisements are mainly related to the trends in the technological industry and their contributions to the economy of the country. This makes it relevant as it is related to some of the newsworthy items related to the environment. The Australia has more advertisements as compared to the Guardian; the advertisements are about a loan being offered by Nab. The other advertisement is about an IPO while the last advertisement is about a trip to the Philippines. All the advertisements in the Australian are mainly about the economic issues. In most of the sites, the advertisements play an important role in terms of generating revenue and creating awareness among the audience with regards to the products (Banks & Sal, 2008). Overlap of Contents There is an overlap of contents in the two sites and this mainly involves the political and economic issues. The overlap is mainly of the issues of the trade Unions and other political events in Australia. The events that are being reported in the media in most cases are the same. This is common with the newsworthy items which affects most of the people. However, the differences in most cases lie on how the events are reported (Boukes & Boomgaarden, 2014). The words in most cases are different but the story is the same. The media houses may frame the words depending on how they think it will be appropriate to the readers or audience. Any content that appears in more than one site is an imports issues or event that is of national or international interest (Meyrowitz, et al, 1994). Application of theories According to the medium theory, the audience can interpret the same contents differently (Hodkinson, 2011). This is as a result of the political, economic and social influence. The diversity in the interpretation of the contents can explain why the two articles have the same stories that have been worded differently. The wording is purposely for specific targeted audience. The medium theory indicates that the political, social and psychological impact is influenced by the simplicity or complexity of how the message has been decoded (Reinemann, et al, 2011). Both sites have used simple headlines and have allocated a high percentage of space to the newsworthy articles. This therefore has the potential of creating a huge impact among the audience. Catchy words have also been used on the newsworthy items which have been allocated a huge amount of space and this is for the purpose of cresting some impacts on the audience. The theory further indicates that the media is responsible for shaping the social environment (Terranova, 2000). It is for this reason that the Guardian has given a wide coverage on the issues of crime while the Australian has given a huge coverage on the issues of Trade Unions and political aspects. The shaping of the social environment is useful in terms of determining the targeted audience for a particular article. According to the media theory, the media that is more accessible to the local people can help in building a democratic culture (Aalberg, T, & Curran, J, 2012). It is for this reason that both articles have widely covered the political issues affecting the country. The wide coverage of the political issues is useful in ensuring that the ordinary people are able to understand how the government is performing and hence helping in the process of building democracy. The social organization as well as the social definition of knowledge is enhanced through the use of the media (Meyrowitz, et al, 1994). It is for this reason that the sites provide the hard news as well as the soft news. The soft news is important in ensuring that the audience are able to enhance on their social experiences. The medium theory also indicates that the encoding of the information is important as it influences the ability of the people to memorize the information. It is for this reason that both sites have used catchy headlines in the description of the political, economic and social issues. The people are able to memorize the catchy words easily and hence making the stories relevant. According to the medium theories, the electronic media cannot be limited by the physical barriers (Sal, et al, 2013). This means that it can be accessed from any part of the world. It is for this reason that the Australian has covered some international issues. A greater sense of personal involvement has been created through the use of the electronic media. The Article by the Guardian creates a connection between the Australians and the international audience. It is for this reason that it has publish an international story. According to the medium theory, the ownership of a newspaper is an important factor that determines the news contents. This is especially when it comes to the hard news and specifically the political issues (Terranova, 2000). This is considering that the owners could be affiliated to certain political parties or may have certain political interests. The Australian is owned by News Corp Australia while the Guardian is owned by the Guardian media group. The owners of the Australian are known for strong views against the government and hence the high space allocated to political issues as compared to the Guardian. Conclusion In conclusion, it is evident that the two sites have differences as well as similarities. The hard news in both sites has been widely covered as compared to the soft news. The hard news mainly involves the economic, political and some social aspects such as crime. The soft news mainly involves some of the social events such as sports and entertainment. It is apparent that the medium theories play an important role in providing an explanation as to why the articles have chosen to cover their news in a certain way. It is also clear that the targeted audience have been considered in the coverage of the news. List of References Boukes, M, & Boomgaarden, H, G, 2014, Soft News With Hard Consequences? Introducing a Nuanced Measure of Soft Versus Hard News Exposure and Its Relationship With Political Cynicism, Communication Research. Aalberg, T, & Curran, J, 2012, How media inform democracy: A comparative approach (Vol. 1). Routledge. Sal H. et al., 2013, "Understanding the role of medium in the control and flows of information in health communication." Asia Pacific Media Educator 23(2): 295-311. Hodkinson, P., 2011, ‘Chapter 6. Media as manipulation? Marxism and Ideology’ in Media Culture and Society. An Introduction Sage, LA, London. pp. 105-126 The Guardian, 2015, News. Retrieved on 3rd September 2015 from, . The Australian, 2015, News. Retrieved on 3rd September 2015 from, . Meyrowitz, J. et al. 1994, 'Medium theory' in Crowley, D., Mitchell, D. (Eds.) Communication Theory Today. Oxford, Polity Press, pp.50-77. Terranova, T., 2000, "Free labour: producing culture for the digital economy." Social Text 18(2): 33-57. Banks, J. & Sal, H., 2008, “The Labour of User Co-Creation: Emerging Social Network Markets?" Convergence 14(4): 401-418. Everett, A, & Caldwell, J, 2015, New media: theories and practices of digitextuality, Routledge. Reinemann, C, et al, 2011, Hard and soft news: A review of concepts, operationalizations and key findings, Journalism. Read More