Amanda Lang Graphic Organizer PDF

Preview

Summary

Organizer...

Description

Chasing a News Story: The Amanda Lang Conflict of Interest Story Graphic Organizer of Daniel Cote Website and Article Title Example The Tyee “There's Sitcom Potential in those CBC Missteps”

Mainstream or Alternative (How do you know?)

Appearance

Tone

Advertisements

Disclaimers

Alternative: Not well known, stories tend to skew left wing, has activist focused tab “Solutions”

Busy. All stories seem to have picture. Big ads on main page. Lots of different fonts used. Colourful. Feels more informal. I would infer that the news stories on here are covered in a less serious way.

This story is written in first person, but it’s an opinion piece and I would expect to see some biased or slanted language that supports the writer’s opinion. Language is casual with slang: “I'm beginning to wonder if we shouldn't just rename it the Corrupt Broadcasting Corporation. (Badum-cha!)” Writer’s attitude seems to be disgust.

Lots of ads in prominent places. Advertisers: United Steel Workers, Royal Roads University, Canadian Housing and Renewal Association. Ads suggest that audience for this source is prounion, interested in activism and education.

Link at the bottom for “About The Tyee” and a link for more articles by the same author. The About page explains that The Tyee is funded by labour associations (among other groups) which might affect their credibility if they covered any stories about unions.

Rabble Blogs “What’s missing from the coverage of the Amanda Lang – RBC saga?”

Alternative: Would be hard to find article, very few sponsors / advertisements, lower budget website, may tend to present only their opinions.

Looks professional and organized. Maintains 2 solid colours and the picture relates to story. Although it looks like a lower budget website, the story is presented in a formal way which makes it easy to read.

Author’s tone is professional but seems a little bit biased against Amanda Lang. He picks out her mistakes but does not harp on her. It is written without slang and in a way that is easy to understand. Author makes it seem like the story was written on CBC or the Toronto Star.

Very few ads, main one was from “Harrowsmith”, a country living almanac. Ad could suggest that this article is targeted to people who live in rural areas.

Pro-labour stance on their stories, comment section at bottom identifies rabble as a prohuman rights, profeminist, anti-racist, queer-positive, antiimperialist and prolabour stance, and encourages discussions which develop progressive thoughts. Stories may lean towards their views.

Canadaland Show “Amanda Lang tried to sabotage a CBC story that scandalized RBC, who paid her”

Alternative: Not a well-known/popular website, stories are left-wing biased

Appearance is a little unorganized, not much colour, and the website layout does not match well with the article. Photos are blurry and do not necessarily relate to the topic.

The article is written in a tone that gives information against Amanda Lang. I found that the article primarily was focused on the negative side of her actions and did not present both sides. It was very opiniated, which is typical of what you would expect from alternative media.

Surprisingly, this article had no advertisements. Perhaps this is because they do not want to bend to the pressures that some companies or advertisers put on the media to support or sell their products or views.

Canada Land Show is a media source funded by its audience which makes them accountable to their audience and not corporate sponsors. They promote ethical journalistic behaviors. This means that they are very open and transparent about their activities and views and welcome feedback.

The Star “Amanda Lang: Some of CBC Host’s RBCInvolved Speaking Engagements Unpaid”

Mainstream: Very trusted news source, read nationally and internationally, typically presenting an unbiased news story, however it has been called a socially liberal paper or leftcentre.

Appearance is very professional with a well-recognized logo or headlines of the paper. High quality photos and journalistic styles are used.

The writer of this article presents the story more from a point of view of Amanda Lang and provides her with the opportunity to explain and/or justify her actions. It is done in a very professional manner, but it sets a tone that there are certain acceptable actions or practices that are ethical. The author does not pass judgement but simply presents information as to why Lang did what she did and also the beneficial aspects of some of the speaking engagements.

When you first log into The Star you receive a message regarding how to subscribe to it. Then in the article itself, there are ads and/or links to sites strategically placed throughout the article but all of them are aimed at presenting financial information for the readers, e.g Top 5 Dividend Stocks, Top 10 Dividend ETFs. This seems appropriate given that Amanda Lang is the senior business correspondent at CBC and people reading this article would have interest in the financial world or markets.

For all Toronto Star articles, a menu of options is provided for readers to consult on a wide variety of topics on the Star itself and on such topics as Torstar Journalistic Standards and other similar journalistic standards that staff are expected to follow to ensure the accuracy and quality of journalism. On this particular article there is no actual disclaimer.

National Post: “Amanda Lang fallout: CBC on-air talent barred from taking paid speaking gigs”

Mainstream: Like the Star, National Post is mainstream media read nationally and internationally. It has been rated as being right-centre as stories favor the right but maintains journalistic integrity.

The appearance is very professional, well written, using proper grammar and sentence structure. But there are so many other things on the page it is hard to stay focused on the story as you might see something that interests you so you go off on a different path and may or may not come back.

The author presents a lot of information from different perspectives and even introduces other similar situations to Lang’s that occurred at the CBC. However, in my opinion, the tone comes across as a bit harsh as it makes the CBC look like a dictatorship with its strict policies and practices.

This article is loaded with ads, links, popups and other stories. It seems to be aiming for all types of readers as there is the weather information, information on flyers, product promotion (Gut Doctor) as well as other news stories. To me this makes me think that their audience is very diverse so advertisers want to try to reach them all.

At the bottom of the article there is the typical menu information including a section “About Us” that outlines their approach but more as it relates to engaging with potential advertisers. I didn’t see anything about their journalistic commitments. They do have a “Comment” section in which readers can provide comments of various articles....