Critical review — how we can all improve
The article starts with an anecdote and a hook: “Exactly what happened to Chantelle’s black-and-white cat, Scooter, is a mystery.” (Jolly, 2017) With the personal details and anthropomorphisation of the victims (owner and pet), the reader is immediately drawn into the narrative. By using an ‘hourglass’ narrative structure, where — according to the American Press Institute — the story “can begin to turn the characters and plot into something more interesting.” (American Press Institute, 2014). Rather than one individual incident, the narrative explores the years of mystery that surrounds the M25 Cat Killer.
Ivy, source: BBC News
While this type of narrative may be generic for a longform/immersive read, it does aide readers to organise and understand the information being given. The beginning, middle and end of the rest of the narrative tells a chronological story of other cases as well as the resistance against the killings.
However, some of the most important points are further on in the article, passed the ‘digital fold’. This includes the line: “Serial killers often begin their careers by harming animals.” (Jolly, 2017). The larger story in this piece, is that we are potentially seeing the origins of a human serial killer. In a 2006 study, Nielsen discovered that 77% of users do not scroll when on a website (cited in Fadeyev, 2009). Therefore, one of the most important factors of the article could be missed by readers.
The use of multimedia and mapping data is useful in that it refers to specific locations as well as their geographical distribution (Bradshaw, 2017). However, there are 2 very similar chronological maps — one static, and one that is interactive. The static map could be removed entirely from the article as it is less clear to read and repeats the information of the previous map. An alternative could be a map of national animal violence crimes to contextualise these specific killings (see Appendix A).
The ending leans on another anecdote, which does not have the dramatic tones of the first. The reader already understands the emotional impact of these killings, but it does not further our understanding of anything else. Instead, it hangs on the announcement that:
Britain’s first forensic laboratory dedicated to prosecuting crimes against animals announced it would re-examine the bodies of dozens of cats believed to be victims of the killer. (Jolly, 2017)
The quote from Rising (one of the interviewees) finishes the piece, which does end the story well and allows the audience to have an idea of what could happen next (Mottershead, 2012: 66). Rising wants the anecdotes to be a prompt for more witnesses and victims to come forward, however only one anecdote would have been needed, especially due to the shocking violent nature of the crimes. The progress of the case as well as the forensic laboratory announcement could be a better ending structure to explicitly give more motivation for people to come forward.
Twitter is becoming an increasingly important medium for journalists and publications to spread their news stories. ‘Twitter has grown into a vast news and information network used across multiple platforms by millions of people globally.’ (Morris, 2009; cited in Lasorsa, et al., 2012: 22). Making sure that tweets are well written and presented is vital for making sure users outside of your audience are seeing your content too.
The main issue is that the tweet text is exactly the same as the article’s headline, despite the fact it does work well as a tweet. A user learns very little from repeated information, and is unlikely to click through to the full article. The current tweet/headline leaves the reader with questions such as; why was he greeted with this sign?; How many signs were there?; What is the relevance? A solution would have been to adapt the headline to focus on the protests. For example:
Trump greeted by protesters on first US Presidential trip to Hawaii.
This article headline confirms some questions from the tweet text, but does not give the full insight that the article does.
The tweet itself is also missing emojis and hashtags: tools that can be used to attract users to an individual tweet and help find it in the first place. An example with these in place would be:
The use of geographical hashtags will not only attract those that live in that country, but also those who have an interest in its culture and history. The flag emojis not only make the tweet more eye-catching because of their colour, but can quickly reinforce the details of the story.
The image used is one that includes the previous US President, Barack Obama, giving the users an idea that he is involved. However it would have been more effective to replace this image with one of the protestors. This would have informed users as to why these signs were important as it was a large group that were protesting. Especially because the composition of the image means the eye is drawn to Obama rather than Trump. While the article has relevance to Obama, the main story should be the protests against Trump. An image should have been used of Trump with protesters in the background, or just the protesters themselves.
The tweet itself also had the potential to become a thread discussing the visit by POTUS as it attracted a high engagement rate. Having easy to find links to other articles would help generate a high CTR from Twitter alone. According to Hermida, “The flow of tweets is a one-way channel, even though the functionality exists for conversation among users” (Hermida, 2013: 299). Another tweet discussing the effects of Trump’s policies on the state could have been republished to add new understanding as to why people are protesting. This type of article has the potential to be republished on Twitter multiple times with different text.
According to Radiolab’s ethos: “Radiolab is a show about curiosity. Where sound illuminates ideas, and the boundaries blur between science, philosophy, and human experience.” (2017). Their audio podcast titled ‘Sight Unseen’, is a prime of example of how they have encapsulated this.
Radiolab uses strong details to make the episode as visual as possible, particularly important as the episode is focused on photography of the Afghanistan War. “…audio offers a unique sensorial experience that often is temporally specific and that uniquely engages the ‘theater of the mind’.” (Makagon and Neumann, 2009; cited in Makagon and Gould, 2016: 1269). Not just describing the photo, but also the emotional effect it has on the viewers as well as interviewing the photographer to understand the context of a single image that inspired the episode.
The script is fairly natural, especially the interview sections. This helps support the idea that: “The focus on intimate and confessional stories maps directly onto the perception of radio as the most intimate of mediums.” (Crisell, 1994; cited in Lindgren, 2016: 26). However, the content would have benefitted from talking to those on the other side of the conflict. Hearing opinions from those about why the images should not have been released, beyond the ‘policy’ excuses would have also given more understanding to the importance of these images.
A lot of comments attack the episode for its lack of usual scientific content and that it was too similar to This American Life — another popular podcast series. However the majority do engage with the episode, praising the emotional content and shedding a light oan a relatively undiscussed topic, especially in the mass media (see Appendix B). Radiolab could have taken a proactive step by defending their position in the comments section and responding to criticisms.
In regards to creativity, the podcast is limited. Generic music and a simple chronological structure means that the story being told is fully in the hands of the narrator and contributors. Sound effects such as helicopter rotors, gun shots, medical operating theatres, and other war-time sounds would have supported Addario’s — photojournalist — story to bring her anecdote more to life.
The potential for public benefit is huge. The episode discusses the effect of loss on veterans’ families and the way in which the public view the ‘War on Terror’.
…media outlets are often very effective in convincing or even manipulating the public of the desirability of mainstream politics, economic, and social values at the expense of alternative paradigms that challenge the status quo. (Dimaggio, 2008: 10).
In recent years, the media has been more critical of the War on Terror, especially the Iraq War. Some media influencers called it “the media’s greatest failure in modern times.” (Kurtz, 2013; cited in Mirkinson, 2013). The questions over free speech and the availability of photographs from these wars can impact on the public. Addario mentions that permission wasn’t needed for images of the Vietnam war, so why should they be now? (Radiolab, 2015). A conspiracy of not just the government holding back information, but also the media is not giving the full truth. Thus, media outlets that give an alternative view to controversial events are important for the public’s understanding, and when connecting on an emotional level, this can further question governmental policies.#
Bibliography
American Press Institute (2014) 3 story structures. Available at: www.americanpressinstitute.org/journalism-essentials/ [Accessed 06 November 2017]
Bradshaw, Paul (2017) The Online Journalism Handbook: Skills to survive and thrive in the digital age, 2nd Edition. Routledge, Oxon.
Dimaggio, A.R., 2008. Mass media, mass propaganda: examining American news in the” War on Terror”. Lexington Books.
Fadeyev, D., (2009) 10 Useful Usability Findings and Guidelines. Available at: www.smashingmagazine.com [Accessed 06 November 2017]
Hermida, A., 2013. ‘# Journalism: Reconfiguring journalism research about Twitter, one tweet at a time.’, Digital Journalism, 1(3), pp.295–313.
Jolly, J., (2017) The cat killer stalking suburbia. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-41595585 [Accessed 06 November 2017]
Lasorsa, D.L., Lewis, S.C. and Holton, A.E., 2012. ‘Normalizing Twitter: Journalism practice in an emerging communication space’, Journalism studies, 13(1), pp.19–36.
Lindgren, M., 2016. ‘Personal narrative journalism and podcasting.’ Radio Journal: International Studies in Broadcast & Audio Media, 14(1), pp.23–41.
Makagon, D., and Gould, M., (2016) ‘Learning the City Through Stories: Audio Documentary as Urban Communication Pedagogy’, International Journal of Communication, 10: 1263–1276
Mirkinson, J., (2013) ‘Media’s Failure On Iraq Still Stings Ten Years Later’, The Huffington Post. Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk [Accessed 08 November 2017]
Mottershead, G (2012) “News Writing”, in Holmes, T., Mottershead, G., and Hadwin, S., The 21st Century Journalism Handbook, London: Routledge: 57–86
Radiolab (2015) Sight Unseen. Available at: http://www.radiolab.org/story/sight-unseen/ [Accessed 08 November 2017]
Radiolab (2017) About. Available at: http://www.radiolab.org/about/ [Accessed 08 November 2017]
