http://www.inthemix.com.au/news/intl/47756/Ou_Est_Le_Swimming_Pool_frontman_has_committed_suicide
This is a hard news story, constructed with a strong headline, which is the lead for the story.
This story was broken within hours of the death (suicide) of the lead singer of an English synth pop band. The band where due to commence their Australian tour in October.
Despite the lack of detailed information when the story broke, it has successfully been given death, with the inclusion of other mediums including the use of hyper links and multimedia. These specific mediums are relevant to the story, and appropriate for the users of this website.
Furthermore, with the reactions to the death quite subjective, online mediums often propel user engagement, in response to death. The comment function works very well here as the issue is discussed amongst readers, and opinions and views debated.
In relation to this stories success in an online medium, it is very effective. The hyperlink, creates more depth to the story, linking it back to other stories that make this story either more relevant to the reader, and/or provide further background information. As this is a music site, the use of multimedia, is somewhat expected, but the inclusion of the film clip does work well, and without its presence, I feel, many users may have gone to youtube, to search for the clip to watch.
This story, largely due to the content and the head line, instantly draw people in. The image is strong, and despite also being needed for this story, it works well by visually helping to familiarise the reader with story and in this case, the people involved.
This story has been read over 15,000 times at present, making it the highest read story of the week, (it became the top trending story the same day it broke). While this can be attributed in part to the news of the story, and the reactive responses people have towards death through social networking by commenting, this has also been facilitated by the stories structure, which encourages people to interact with this news story.
I think this was a good news story in terms of the music video (as you mentioned) and also the mention that the group were going to appear at Parklife - giving the story a local context for those who may not have been familiar with the group. The comments section is helpful as it allows people to discuss the very untimely death of Charles. The opportunity to engage with others is very important when something of this kind of gravity happens.
ReplyDelete