August
2008
Story Building – New Tools for Reporting0
As it is already known I am addicted to trashy gossip sites and entertainment news. RSS feeds (really simple syndication/rich site summary), which I have selected to be filled with news breaking entertainment stories are sent daily to my home/ work email, making it simple and convenient for myself to stay up to date with all the latest water-cooler chat.
A recent email brought me to tears, as an avid watcher of All Saints; I was deeply saddened by the shock death of actor Mark Priestly. Monitoring the story for several hours that day, I searched for updates as the story kept building. ‘More details of Priestley death emerge,’ was constantly updated and as the actors suicide linked to depression so too did the story as it created a link to Beyond Blue. The multi-media story contained other links, still images, video of a television news report; which included interviews, video of his onscreen performances and footage of the scene of his death.
Unlike my use for RSS, journalists may use the tool to help them track breaking news and stories that competitors are running with. Technorati’s keeps track of the blogosphere, making it convenient for anyone to search for specific blogs, and track the ever so growing opinions in cyberspace. For the time conscious information needy these tools are perfect, just don’t be fooled, ‘astro-turfing’ is more common then you think. Check out the marketing video-blogging alleged scheme by Sony, the ploy to get consumers to buy PSP, perfect example of non-authenticity found on the web.
Below: News report by NINEMSN on the death of All Saints actor Mark Priestly.
