New Perspectives

News Perspectives

BSCOM 410

March 14, 201

News Perspectives

The chosen television newscast for this assignment is 11 Alive News at 5 on WXIA-TV in Atlanta, GA. The chosen online newscast is CNN.com. Watching both newscasts revealed the differences between the two in content and delivery. The 11 Alive newscast uses a marketing perspective to persuade viewers to watch their newscast. The station is well known for their for their weather team known as The Storm Trackers. There are commercials for the entire Storm Trackers team on commercial breaks that end with the team’s slogan, “Absolutely Accountable.” This prompts viewers to watch the newscast on 11 Alive because of the subliminal guarantee to get the most accurate weather reports that viewers can depend on. There are also commercials of the morning weather and traffic team, Chesley McNeil, who does weather, and Crash Clark, who does traffic. Both personalities are well-known and highly respected in their particular fields. Because of his around-the-clock, accurate weather predictions during the 2014 Snow Jam in Atlanta, Chesley McNeil was asked to serve on the Governors Winter Weather Task Force. Crash Clark worked for several Top 40 radio stations in the Atlanta area as the traffic reporter before joining 11 Alive. The station depends on the popularity (both have very outgoing personalities) and credentials of the two reporters to draw viewers to their program. The online newscast does not use marketing during their newscast. They rely on the convenience of having up to the minute, real time news stories at the viewers’ fingertips 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The sources used for the stories on 11 Alive News at 5 appeared to be very credible sources. The news stories shown interviewed people who were directly related to the story, or related to the story in some way. One story about a scam of former marines started by man who claims to be a former marine interviewed two victims and the director of an organization that donated money to the program. These people were directly affected by the story or knew something about the organization in question. This makes them credible sources because they are familiar with and know firsthand the facts of the story. Another story on a Rape Kit Testing Bill that was being discussed by the Georgia Senate pulled sources that were in favor of the bill, and those directly related to the bill. Some of the stories on CNN.com are opinion-based which make the sources not so credible or believable. One story about the March Madness basketball brackets, called “Bracketology,” only gave tips about to fill out a bracket. Millions of people complete brackets during this time of year, and use different strategies to do so. The reporter gave no guarantee for winning if viewers used his strategy. Another story interviewed several Republican Cuban Americans in Miami who discuss Sen. Marco Rubio and his chances of winning the Republican nomination. The credibility of the sources are not reliable because, again, they are opinion-based from people who are biased towards the Florida Senator.