WEEK 12 -- Bing search engine to draw on Facebook data

The news 'Bing search engine to draw on Facebook data' tells that Bing will form a partnership with Facebook to offer personalised search results based on Facebook data.

The news has a clearly lead and structure. It follows the "five W and one H rule" well; it addresses all the information needed for an online news. However, it doesn't attach any elements for the news, such as the picture, the video, the hyperlinks, related stories, etc.

The article has 239 words, which is good for online news. As an online news, it doesn't have to be long, especially for such a soft news. This article has clarified all of the information, but not boring. It includes why Bing search engine wants to draw on Facebook data, and the situation that Bing search engine facing now.

The news is newsworthy. It reports the story before it actually happened, and may have impact on all of the internet users, especially on those Facebook users. As a result, it has proximity and currency among these users.

The headline of this news is clearly enough, it is a good summarise of the story and easily catch audiences' attention and aroused their curiosities.

The story uses a few quotations from the staff in Microsoft to explain why Bing draws on Facebook data which helps to increase credibility.

WEEK 11 -- Your Shape the best fit for the Xbox 360 Kinect

The news 'Your shape the best fit for the Xbox 360 Kinect' shows what Xbox 360 Kinect is, how it is difference with other video games and the benifits of the Your shape for Xbox 360 Kinect.

However, as a news, it doesn't have the lead, doesn't include the "five W and one H rule". It has 402 words, but most of the content are about how Your Shape can bring benefit to the users, rather than an explanation of how it works. This makes the news seems like an advertorial, rather than a soft news. Besides that, there are no quotations through the news, which is less of credibility. In the article, it says that Your Shape can help users to keep fit and lose weight; however, it doesn't show any supports to prove the argument. The news thus is less of reliability.

The article has a picture of Your Shape, which gives the audiences an idea of the product, and tells that the product will be available on 18 November at the last paragraph. These are the basic elements for online news, however, because of the content, these elements make the article a more likely of the 'advertorial'.

On the other side, this news may have an impact on the video game players, as this product is a unique gaming system, which is difference from other games, can provide the users a quite different experience. Apart from that, it is also currency among these players, and the news is of proximity as well.

WEEK 10--Flash asset - Microsoft eyes buying Adobe in recruitment drive to fend off Apple

The news 'Flash asset -- Microsoft eyes buying Adobe in recruitment drive to fend off Apple' tells that Apple is controling the cell phone market now, and Microsoft and Adobe want to work together to fend off the iPhone maker.

The news has a clear lead, showing audience that Microsoft wants to buyout of Adobe. The article was written mostly based on The Times. However, Microsoft had no comment to make on the rumour. For the news itself, as a online news, it would be better if this article can give some hyperlinks to take the audience to the original news on The Times, it is essential for credibility as well as increasing the satisfaction of the readers' experience. Yet this article doesn't have any elements except a useless picture.

The article is 337 words length, which is appropriate for online news. The news focuses on the economic interest of Microsoft and Adobe. And the story also mentions that Adobe has been in a long-standing feud with Apple over Flash, which has a bad influence on iPhone and iPad.

When it comes to the "five W and one H rule", the news is lack of 'when'. As the news is only a rumour, it is quite normal of lacking of the 'when'. However, once again, if the news gave the original source materal, readers will have a better understanding on the story.

If the news is true, it may have a huge impact; however, even though it is a rumour, it is still has currency and has impact to some extent, especially when the source was come from The Times.

WEEK 9 -- Goldman Sachs analysts say new lighter iPad will include camera and mini-USB port

In the news 'Goldman Sachs analysts say new lighter iPad will include camera and mini-USB port', the writer tells that Apple will release a slimmer and more feature-rich iPad next year.

The lead clearly summarized the story and encourages audience to read on.

The story follows the 'five W and one H rule' carefully, and described how new iPad will looks like. It shows the new iPad will be slimmed-down and have both a built-in camera, and a mini-USB port. The news also illustrated it by a picture, which gives the audience a visual impression.

However, the news is made by the analysts, and Apple didn't comment on it until the news has been published, which makes the story less of credibility, then result in the less of newsworthy.

Yet it still has news values. It utilized the online platform very well, it has a poll under the story, which survey 'Which new feature does the iPad most need?'. This enables the audiences to participate into the discussion to express their ideas, as well as increase the impact and the currency of this news.

Besides that, the story offers several links to other sites to show the audience where the analysts' statements came from. Hence, audiences can know more about the background, the detailed information and more about the product and the brand.

The story only has 177 words in total, which makes good sense on the content but not boring. It uses the hyperlinks, pictures, poll, and invitation to share with others via Facebook and Twitter links to add value to the news.

The headline is not that attractive, but clearly enough. It is a good summary of the story.

WEEK 8 -- Report shows how to get attention on Facebook

The news 'Report shows how to get attention on Facebook' is clear, detailed and interesting. It explains what the right thing is and what the right time is to get attention on Facebook.

The story is short, with only 196 words. It illustrated the research result by two histograms. It explains taht Friday can get the most interaction, while weekends get the least. Besides that, an image will get 22 per cent more likes and comments than video and 54 per cent more than a text-based post.
As Facebook is the largest online community, most of online users have Facebook account. Facebooking is becoming a lifestyle and users want to get attention on it. As a result, this story is not important but still newsworthy. It is fresh and relax, and also relevant to audiences 'everyday life'. Therefore, it can have a big impact on Facebook users, as well as currency.

The two diagrams show the research results clearly and directly. Readers can have a clearly idea about this story without reading the boring texts.

In the end, the story explains the intention of doing this research and how this research has been conducted.

The news does not address the 'five W and one H rule' carefully, it does not mention who did the research and when the research started and finished. However, the research result was shown distinctly in the story, and there is no need to state 'who' and 'when' in such a news though.

WEEK 7 -- ANZ goMoney iPhone app offers free funds transfers

 

The news 'ANZ goMoney iPhone app offers free funds tranfers' detailed explains what goMoney application is and how it works.

The lead tells the audience that ANZ bank's iPhone customers will be able to transfer money with a mobile phone free of charge by the application goMoney. However, it doesn't mention when it will be available. At this rate, the news loses of 'when' when it comes to the 'five W and one H rule'.

The story has 619 words, and spends lots of words on what goMoney can provide and why the application is only available to iPhone, rather than Blackberry and Google's Android. In the end, it explains the application's influence on ANZ only by using two quotations of Mike Smith, the ANZ chief. The length of content for each part is not even.

The story may have a big impact as iPhone 4 was just released recently; as a result, iPhone is a hot topic among people, especially among news.com.au readerships (aged from 18 to 35). Besides that, 90 per cent of mobile access to ANZ's websites comes through the Apple device, which means it is a big and good news to Apple users. The story is also proximity and currency.

The news uses an attractive picture at the top; however, the picture doesn't match the content of the story. The story below is about the application goMoney, while the picture is about ANZ CEO Mike Smith and Treasurer Wayne Swan at the opening of ANZ's China headquarters in Shanghai. The picture might mislead the audience and gives them a wrong sense of the story.

The best aspect of this story is using the 'inverted pyramid', which gives the most important details at the beginning.

WEEK 6 -- Sun storm to hit with 'force of 100m bombs'

The news 'Sun storm to hit with 'force of 100m bombs'' is easily catch audiences' attention, as it may has a huge impact, proximity, controversy, currency, and oddity.

However, the story is quite long as a online news. It has 792 words, so it easily for the audiences to get boring when they read the story, especially when the news is full of astronomical.

The news is currency as it relates to the ' 2012 phenomenon', people are all curious about it, especially after the film '2012' released last year. The story itself has a huge impact as all of the human-beings may be affected, so it is proximity to all of the audiences as well. The news is also controversy because experts have different opinions towards this issue, it is a ongoing debate over audiences for a year. Besides that, nobody on the earth has seen it or have experience, so it is also oddity.

The news is written in the inverted pyramid format. It has a clearly lead that tells the audience the sun is waking up, and end up with lots of quotations.

The news story fairly include the 'five W and one H rule'. It gives audiences a clearly idea about the activities of the sun storm, and explained what happened in the past and what is going to happen in the future and its impact. It also uses a plain language to describe such a mysterious thing. As a result, it is not hard for audiences to understand the news.

The story shows a shocked image on the top, with a explanation of 'The first solar storm of this cycle hit the Earth early this month, causing it to light up spectacularly / NASA Source: NASA', which highly draws audience attention and encourage them to read more. The article also have several links that give audiences more detailed information if they have interest in any of those specific area.

WEEK 5 -- Facebook gets its Foursquare on with Places

"Facebook gets its Foursquare on with Places" tells that Facebook lunches a new feature called 'Facebook Places' on Augst 19, 2010. This new service allows users to find coupons, earn quirky merit badges or simply tell their friends where they are.

The story has 182 words in total, with a clear leading and good following of the "five W and one H rule".

The story may have a big impact as Facebook is the world's largest social networking site, a large number of people are its members, many people will affected by this new services, because it is a worldwild website, it is also proximity to most Australians. It is currency as well, many users may get benefit from the service, while others may have privacy concerns. Facebook is a part of people's everyday life nowadays, especially for young people; so in most cases, people who are concerned about this news (i.e. young people) are most likely to talk about the news.

The news does not include any quotes, neither direct quotes nor indirect quotes. However, the story presents both positive and negative impacts for the Facebook users in regarding to the new service. Besides that, the negative impact has illustrated by a video and an image. The video is a TV news from Sky News, which draws the privacy concerns of Facebook and other social networking sites. The image then is just the slogan of Facebook. The video from Sky News here, helps to give reader a broader experience from different media.

As to the format, it is similar with the articles from Week 3 and Week 4 -- explains the major story first, then comes up with the news' impact.

WEEK 4 -- iPhone users have more lovers, says dating site

"iPhone users have more lovers, says dating site" tells a story that iPhone owners have sex with more people when campares to other smartphone users.

The story has 313 words in total, with the first 137 words describes the major story, and the interview results for the rest. The story is not too long, especially it is written by the inverted pyramid, so that the audience can get the point at the very beginning; they can close the news whenever they get boring.

Helen & Andrew, two authors of this news, have interviewed two Sydney people that are both aged in 25 -- one is iPhone owner while the other is BlackBerry owner. The two interviews give audiences a broad view of two sides. It shows the voices by using six direct quotes and one indirect quote, which helps to give the most real thoughts of the interviewees.

The story has a big picture of iPhone 4 on the right top corner which helps to make the news not too bored. The story also uses the simplest words to described the analysis findings, then give a hyperlink that links to the finding's original website. For those audiences who are inteseted in that, they can check the details, the bar shart and the cuve chart by clicking on the link. This is a good use of the benefit of online news. The hyperlink gives audiences a richer experience while it also helps to keep the article short and terse.

The news may not have a huge impact on the social, nevertheless, it is proximity and currency, and even oddity to some extent, because most people won't have thought about the relationship between their mobiles and sexually activities. However, the news does not mention why there is a relationship in this respect.

WEEK 3 -- Apple and Amazon probed over e-book prices

"Apple and Amazon probed over e-book prices" tells that both Apple and Amazon has reached agreements with the major book publishers to not to offer discounts to their competitors. This means e-book prices are fixed and consumers are robbed of choice.
The news has 177 words in total, divided by eight paragraphs with only one sentence in each paragraph. The short report allows the audience to having patient to read the entire story, while the short paragraph helps to making the idea clear.

The story is newsworthy as Apple and Amazon are two leading digital retailers that have large markets all over the world; meanwhile, e-book (see video of Amazon Kindle) is becoming more and more popular nowadays, and the mainly concerns for most consumers are the price issue and having a broader choice. As a result, the story has a large impact on its audience, especially among young people, who are also the largest readership group of online news.

The news has a clearly leading paragraph. However, the story does not follow the 'five W and one H rule' very well. It does not answer when did the agreements take place and how did it happen.

The format is fine. It tells the major story at the top, finishing with the impact on consumer. The paragraph transition is smooth and logical.

It has three direct quotes and one indirect quote, which gives audiences more voices of the interviewee -- Connecticut Attorney-General Richard Blumenthal. This also helps to make the report more reliable.

The story uses a picture of 'Sydney IT consultant Jodie Miners with her Amazon Kindle e-book reader' on the right top of the news, giving an idea of what Amazon Kindle looks like. However, as a online news, it will be better to use a video and/or hyperlinks to the Amazon website instead of a simple picture.
 
Additional reading:
Same story but in business angle: E-book prices under scrutiny as US state launches antitrust probe