Media Audiences

News coverage is different with every source of media. Through examining the same national story in different media, I was able to compare the news coverage. I focused on the story of John McCain postponing the first presidential debate to focus on the bailout plan.

The first article I read was in the San Jose Mercury News. The article was 24 paragraphs long spanning over the cover page and another page. There were 12 sources quoted throughout the entire article. This article was the only one, accompanied by a tight shot of both candidates and another picture of people setting up for the debate. In this article is focused on the fact that McCain would not be present and his campaigning would also stop. Sources quoted involved political parties from both sides, but mostly Republicans and McCain’s campaign.

The next news story was a broadcast on KTVU. This segment was 2 minutes long and four sources were quoted. This story elaborated more on why McCain postponed the debate and it also included what his terms were for coming back to the scheduled debate. He mentioned that he would only return if an agreement were made for the bailout deal. This story included both McCain and Obama speaking publicly on the issue and also other senators who had opinions of the candidates’ motives. In this form of media viewers could actually see the candidates speaking about the issues instead of simply reading what they had said.

Lastly, an online article on Yahoo news was viewed. This article is 855 words. It had 15 sources and was more like print coverage. All the information mentioned in this article is current and includes everything that was mentioned in both the television broadcast and newspaper article. It also included information that was not mentioned in either of the other two. It mentioned Sarah Palin’s visit to the memorials of those killed in September 11, 2001. This article however, does not include as much political strategy the candidates’ might be doing as the other media outlets did. The online article offered more news coverage than the other two because it included more information on the issue overall. Also on the website were related videos, links to election sights and other political articles.

Articles for broadcast give you a summary of the story, and include the most important parts. Print media goes into more detail and provide more information about the story. Online media offers other information that is related to the story, such as, related videos, political links, and links to other election news as well as graphics. As discovered, depending on what news media outlet I am examining, different coverage will be highlighted.

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