Kate Ritchie stars in COPS LAC

This article is about Channel Nine’s new police drama Cops L.A.C. by eBroadcast. It begins the piece by describing the famous Australian actress Kate Richie as heading “an all-star cast”. It then goes into a brief synopsis of the premise of the show, with the requisite adjectives and superlatives that is the characteristic of a promotional blurb.

It then lists the various characters played by well-known names, before grabbing soundbites from Jo Horsburgh, the Executive Producer of the show. The quotes from Horsburgh, in particular, are more fascinating than the marketing plug of the previous paragraphs because it offers an insight into the inspiration behind the show, namely real-life Local Area Command centres in Sydney, which is where the story is set in.

It appears that the majority of the article is a straight copy of a press release or wire service since it describes the show in praising tones, though it could be possibly written by eBroadcast itself. It is understandable that eBroadcast is a television website that usually put the shows it discusses in a favourable light, much like entertainment magazines or TV guides. In a sense, it succeeds in promoting the show to its readers, who are naturally curious to know what it’s about. While it would’ve been more ‘newsworthy’ if there had been criticisms or unfavourable observations put in, that would’ve run contrary to the spirit of TV guides and other entertainment reports in stoking enthusiasm in its readers to watch the show. Objective criticism should be reserved to the TV reviewer, who will usually feature in a separate section or as a companion article to the ‘spruik piece’.

However, it has failed in fully utilizing the online medium. There is only a single photo that does not contain an embedded link to a higher-resolution version. There is a ‘Like’ Facebook button and an unrestricted comment box, but that’s about it. User interactivity can be improved by having a still gallery which invites user-submitted screenshots, or a link to the official site.

http://www.ebroadcast.com.au/enews/news/Kate-Ritchie-stars-in-COPS-LAC-010910.html

Matt was a Ticking Bomb: Patti Newton

This article is about Matthew Newton’s mother interview on Channel Nine’s A Current Affair and her comment about him being a “ticking time bomb.” It is written by the Australian Associated Press (AAP) and appears in the ABC News online site. As explained in the second paragraph, Matthew Newton lost his job as the host of Seven’s talent show ‘The X-Factor” after it was reported last week that he physically assaulted his girlfriend Rachael Taylor. She has taken out an AVO against him (the acronym was not explained with the assumption that the reader would be familiar with the criminal term) and the Seven Network has issued a statement saying his health was the reason for his removal.

It was also mentioned that Newton’s father Bert appeared on the show, admitting he had tried to help Matt and regretted publicly supporting him because it appeared as if he approved his son’s actions. The article also described his background history, with regards to his “one-off” assault on his ex-girlfriend Brooke Satchwell, his good behaviour bond being revoked by the court, and his month spent in a private drug rehab hospital.

The story is successful in summarizing Newton’s recent personal and career troubles. It would’ve been better if they managed to obtain a statement from him, Taylor or Satchwell, but as its focus is reporting on a recent ACA interview, it is not a necessity.

There were tags listed at the bottom of the story that helped attract search engine trawler bots, in turn drawing users who search these terms. The page is also clean and uncluttered, with a single image, a list of ‘Related Story’ links in a sidebar, and free of commercial advertising.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/08/30/2996958.htm