Not surprisingly, seven days after the bombing of the Boston Marathon, NBC News' website was still dominated by the story. Its dominant feature package included a breaking investigative piece about the captured suspect, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, and the possibility of him having traveled to Russia under an alias in 2012.
The top investigative piece was assisted by an article covering bombing allegations to be charged against
Tsarnaev Sunday and a video examining the suspect's medical state.
NBC took effort to provide multiple angles of the story. One article covered the optimistic medical care to be provided to the amputee victims of the attack, and another article investigated the massive crowd-funding efforts for the victims of the bombing. Another article offered more information about the father of the suspect. Coverage of the highly securitized London Marathon gave the package an international angle.
Looking back, NBC published an in-depth timeline of the manhunt for the suspects of the bombings through the week. The timeline included a video, dominant photos, and photo slideshows. Looking forward, NBC posted an article about city lawmakers across the country who want to increase surveillance.
If so far it seems NBC went over the top for this story, it by no means did its coverage end at its dominant package. Almost every one of NBC's channels published an article having something to do with the story.
NBC's local Milwaukee coverage published an article about local runners in the marathon who were not discouraged by the event to continue running. The politics page covered politicians debating immigration screening as a result of the bombing. Even the lifestyle page included coverage of Tsarnaev's capture.
I am extremely impressed, if not intimidated, by the in-depth coverage of the Boston story.
But why? Why is this story getting so much attention? Why is Tsarnaev's face posted on almost every news outlet's homepage? What makes this story more important than, say, the Chinese earthquake?
Teased on the side of NBC's Tsarnaev dominant package is an article recapping the 6.6 magnitude that struck China Saturday, killing more than 200 people and injuring 11,000. This earthquake is a terrifying reminder of the earthquake that struck China in 2008, killing over 70,000.
This poses a question of news hierarchy, something I work with planning out the pages of the Marquette Tribune on a weekly basis. Before we design the paper — preferably a few days in advance — I talk with the editors about which stories to feature on the front.
There are a couple of news values we consider: impact, proximity and timeliness to name a few. We try to feature dominant articles on the front page that will matter to our audience. Without that impact, students will not feel the need to pick up a copy of the paper.
The audience matters, no matter the publication.
The reason why the Chinese article is not the dominant package on NBC's homepage is because it does not impact NBC's audience as much as the Boston story. Even though the death toll in China is higher, the story does not have as much value to readers here in America when matched against domestic terrorism.
I have seen a lot of criticism, mostly through Twitter, about coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing. There exists a sentiment that heavy coverage of the bombing in Boston is inappropriate, as there are bombings around the world that go relatively unnoticed.
While all bombings are tragic stories each with its own news value, it is expected that the worst bombing in American since Sept. 11 will get more attention than in other countries, particularly those that are ravaged by violent conflict. I respect NBC News' hierarchy judgment.
The top investigative piece was assisted by an article covering bombing allegations to be charged against
Tsarnaev Sunday and a video examining the suspect's medical state.
NBC took effort to provide multiple angles of the story. One article covered the optimistic medical care to be provided to the amputee victims of the attack, and another article investigated the massive crowd-funding efforts for the victims of the bombing. Another article offered more information about the father of the suspect. Coverage of the highly securitized London Marathon gave the package an international angle.
Looking back, NBC published an in-depth timeline of the manhunt for the suspects of the bombings through the week. The timeline included a video, dominant photos, and photo slideshows. Looking forward, NBC posted an article about city lawmakers across the country who want to increase surveillance.
If so far it seems NBC went over the top for this story, it by no means did its coverage end at its dominant package. Almost every one of NBC's channels published an article having something to do with the story.
NBC's local Milwaukee coverage published an article about local runners in the marathon who were not discouraged by the event to continue running. The politics page covered politicians debating immigration screening as a result of the bombing. Even the lifestyle page included coverage of Tsarnaev's capture.
I am extremely impressed, if not intimidated, by the in-depth coverage of the Boston story.
But why? Why is this story getting so much attention? Why is Tsarnaev's face posted on almost every news outlet's homepage? What makes this story more important than, say, the Chinese earthquake?
Teased on the side of NBC's Tsarnaev dominant package is an article recapping the 6.6 magnitude that struck China Saturday, killing more than 200 people and injuring 11,000. This earthquake is a terrifying reminder of the earthquake that struck China in 2008, killing over 70,000.
This poses a question of news hierarchy, something I work with planning out the pages of the Marquette Tribune on a weekly basis. Before we design the paper — preferably a few days in advance — I talk with the editors about which stories to feature on the front.
There are a couple of news values we consider: impact, proximity and timeliness to name a few. We try to feature dominant articles on the front page that will matter to our audience. Without that impact, students will not feel the need to pick up a copy of the paper.
The audience matters, no matter the publication.
The reason why the Chinese article is not the dominant package on NBC's homepage is because it does not impact NBC's audience as much as the Boston story. Even though the death toll in China is higher, the story does not have as much value to readers here in America when matched against domestic terrorism.
I have seen a lot of criticism, mostly through Twitter, about coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing. There exists a sentiment that heavy coverage of the bombing in Boston is inappropriate, as there are bombings around the world that go relatively unnoticed.
While all bombings are tragic stories each with its own news value, it is expected that the worst bombing in American since Sept. 11 will get more attention than in other countries, particularly those that are ravaged by violent conflict. I respect NBC News' hierarchy judgment.