Newspapers

Overdosing on speed

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A few weeks ago at work, we had a live, ongoing story. The number of updates throughout the day was quite head spinning for the people producing the stories, let alone for readers and the people the story was actually about.

A small number of readers took time to comment that the reporters who were bashing out copy faster than most people can speak were contradicting themselves, undermining what they had written earlier. In actual fact, it was testament to the reporters that they were keeping up with the way the story was swaying from one extreme to the other, in such a short period of time.

What struck me about it though (aside from the perception of some readers) was how two-and-a-half years of being primarily a web journalist has distorted my perceptions of news values. For wrong or for right, I was unintentionally valuing new stories over ones with slightly stronger lines.

Such is the demand for the latest and newest online, I was predisposed to whack newer stories higher up the list of articles, without a second thought. This particular day, I left the office only to get home and see someone had uploaded the latest story below the previous top story. I text him to ask if he wanted me to bump up the new story and the reply that came back was ‘Nah, I think the [previous] story has a stronger line than the new one. I’ll leave it as it is.” He is a print reporter who dabbles online. The Ying to my Yang, if you will.

A sound decision. But after a day of being thrown in to make sure we were first with what has happening, it seemed a little alien to me. Then I realised I’d been suckered in by the Sky Sports News syndrome, where any story is labelled breaking news and has a heavy impact graphic and scrolling text on the Yellow Bar of Doom. Whether or not it was the giddyness of a rather hectic day or a more worrying symptom of an ongoing distortion of my news values, I don’t know.

Of a day, it is not normally an issue. The amount of truly breaking news stories that vie for the top few slots on the website are relatively few, so it is easy enough to apply news values in a more considered manner. But when it is all kicking off, it would seem it is easy to get carried away with the chance to go big on something, just because it is ‘breaking’.

With web news, the tendency is to favour the latest lines rather than the best ones. Perhaps the level of detachment from the moment of happening, helps to look at stories in the manner they should be. Stepping away from the immediacy provides a better evaluation of what makes the stories more newsworthy.

Oops.

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So, does this splash now look like such a good idea?

Admittedly, I enjoyed France’s abysmal performance far more than I did England’s (schadenfreude) but the English national media do have a tendency to big up the football team’s ability, before overreacting to ordinary performances painting them as the coming of the apocalypse.

And it is for reasons like this gem from The Sun that last night’s draw with Algeria raises a wry smile.

Rooney’s reaction is either being described as replica hublot bigbang tutti frutti linen petulant or indicative of a frustrated warrior, depending on your point of view (seemingly fans think the former, pundits the latter) but what does seem universal is how Capello, in the space of 180 minutes, has gone from the man who could guide England to World Cup glory (which to my mind, was always optimistic in the extreme) to a cold, ruthless dictator whose methods are sapping the confidence from his players (again, a bit unlikely).

I think England will still make it through to the second round – although I disagree that results between sides comes before goal difference and goals scored as a tie breaker.

The reality is that England are a good side. Not a bad one, but most certainly not a great one. That has long been the case, but as long as jingoistic hyperbole continues, most patriotic football fans will be swept up in the bipolar https://www.coolvapesshop.com/product/torch-phantom-blend-disposable-3-5g-bubblegum-haze/ condition that sweeps the nation.

Hell, we battered Algeria 3-0 a few weeks ago!

Problems with paywalls for newspapers

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A lot has been said this week about the intention of Rupert Murdoch (and I promise not to rant about how his empire has ruined football. At all.) intends to introduce paywalls for some of the newspaper websites in his stable.

Now, ignoring the failed attempts that have gone before, there is one massive elephant in the room which means it will not work for the news sections of newspaper websites in the UK. Ladies and gentlemen, I ask you to say hello to the elephant-esque posterior of your favourite aunty – the BBC.

For right or wrong, Internet audiences trust the BBC and more often than not the news site as their primary source of Internet news (even though it may not be the first to report something, the most in-depth or locally focussed – me, bitter?). Seeing as we already pay for the Beeb’s website, alongside the repeats of Last of the Summer Wine and the televisual feast that is Marry, Snog, Avoid (The Frost is brilliant with POD), the BBC Trust is hardly going to turn around and demand we all cough up an extra 50p every day to get the latest football rumours.

If newspaper websites are already trailing the BBC, just imagine what will happen when they start charging for the privilege. Apart from Daily Mail readers, the British people like the Beeb. They don’t really trust newspapers – just look at any web forum up and down the country and the stories in the local organ will be greeted with some oh-so witty individual saying “Well, it is the Daily Rag – you can’t believe what you read in that, erm, rag” – even though they won’t question the same story 24 hours later when the BBC runs it.

Even in Murdoch’s own stable, can you see Sky News charging for their online news offering?

Personally, I see paywalls for entire sites as a non-starter, unless every single news site in the nation decide on the same day to start charging. In fact, I think there’s more chance of Jonathan Ross doing a weekly profanity-laced podcast for the Mail.

Now that I would pay for.