Many of you probably heard about the horrific incident wherein Yeardley Love, a University of Virginia Lacrosse player, was killed by her boyfriend George Huguely, UVA men's Lacrosse team. May 3rd, 2010 Love was killed in a drunk fight with her boyfriend wherein Huguely is said to have beat her up and repeatedly bashed her head into a wall (both individuals were drunk). She was found on her bed in a pool of blood later that night.
This tragedy was immediately covered by national news sources.
One such news source was the Huffington Post. This post (5/4/10) was very official and referenced a number of sources including The Daily Progress, The New York Daily News, The Associated Press, and The Washington Post. The article also includes a picture of Love and two videos, one from the chief of police in Charlottesville and another from Huguely's lawyer. It is very official and informative and takes a very national position.
On the other hand, we find Charlottesville's very own "The Hook" (a local, once-a-week newspaper) with an article about the incident. The Hook (5/4/10) provides an in-depth look at Love's character and standing in the school; it provides links to facebook sites morning her death and preparing for the memorial service. Instead of quoting the police chief, the post quotes people who personally knew Love including teachers, coaches, and other students. The article is written to be touching and personal to the town it inhabits.
The content in the Huffington Post article is much more aloof and official than the local post, even though it makes more connections to official news sites. There are however more personal connections being made by The Hook--including those to Facebook sites and VA sports. The picture posted on the latter article is also much more individualized than most of the ones present in the national posts surrounding this incident.
The one other thing which exhibits the difference in content and who the article attracts is even more obviously exposed in the titles of the pieces.
Huffington Post (National News Source): UVA Lacrosse Murder: George Huguely Shook Yeardley Love, Took Her Computer (News, Video)
The Hook (Local News Source): Diet Coke 'angel': Yeardley Love made a big impression
One is obviously more focused on the emotional response (The Hook), while the other is more focused on the delivery of information (Huffington Post)
This is a very good news story. I like what you chose. And I think the two blogs you chose are also very interesting. Becasue of the difference of news sources, the reporting usually presents different attitudes and contents. But like this kind of local news, I probably will turn to the local news since the journalists there should know more about local people.
ReplyDeleteSo sad... This is a good example of how the story can be different when it is written and reported for the national new and for the regional perspective.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very good example of how indepth local news can dig into a story. Even though this story reached national news there is probably no way a news source like CNN or Fox News could devote so much time to uncovering all of these individual people.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely agree with FallonLatrece - the amount of time and effort the local paper put into uncovering the details and connections of Love's life cannot be matched by a national news syndicate. The emotional response elicited by the local story really makes you feel more connected to the victim - where the national news coverage just sort of glazes over the personal information and lays out the black and white details. I'm not sure which one of these I'd prefer though...
ReplyDeleteI think this is another example why localism is so important. The local spin really reminds us that first and foremost we are humans and the news that we are reporting is happening to real people. Yeardly Love was a daughter, a friend, and a student before she was a victim.
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