(Wits University: Online Journalism Feature Assignment)
One of the most memorable photographs to emerge from the recent spate of xenophobic violence in South Africa is that of a man being burnt alive. “Flames of Hate”, most media called it.
The combination of this image and its headline sent shockwaves through the world, sparked international debate and left the South African nation divided between those who condoned and those who disapproved of the violent acts.
Yet while newspaper images like these are by now lying at the bottom of the birdcage and broadcasts are never to be repeated on television or radio, turn online and there they are – immortalised. In the digital cybersphere unconstrained by time or space, the issue is still very much alive.
The online media have had the opportunity to use the web as a platform for multimedial, interactive and non-linear story-telling in their coverage of xenophobia. Through making use of the characteristics of online journalism (multimedia, hyperlinks and interactivity), involving users by enabling comments, or engaging their audiences via blogging or citizen journalism, the web enabled online media to cover the topic in a converged manner that can’t be reproduced by the traditional media.
Whether this was done, however, is a burning issue.
This feature takes a critical look at five websites that have dealt with the recent xenophobia. The aim is to compare the websites in their treatment of the topic but specifically, to analyse whether they made use of the characteristics of online journalism in their efforts to bring their stories or messages across. From user interaction it can be established whether their treatment has been successful.
The Times have a dedicated page for a special report on xenophobia.
In comparison to other South African online news media, The Time’s online coverage of xenophobia is the most advanced in terms of offering hyperlinking, interactivity and multimedia. The design is inviting, colourful and modern and attracts an internet-savvy audience.
The page is divided into three columns and sports the latest photo on the issue. In the left column are news and analysis pieces. While hyperlinks are not found specifically in article texts, typical article pages offer images and links to related stories. Articles are kept short, language-usage is direct and informal.
Several interactive features are found but most importantly, users can comment on articles as well as other multimedia on The Times’ multimedia portal.
In the middle column are links to exclusive audio, as well as to several blogs, including reader blogs and that of The Times editor Ray Hartley. Putting his users directly into contact with him through his blog breaks the barriers of one-way communication of the traditional mass-media and the notion of an editor far removed from his reader.
In the right column are over 20 originally produced photo-slideshows and videos on the topic.
The amount of user-interaction and comments that the The Times’ multimedia coverage has provoked is profound.
For example, the narrated slideshow Flames of Hate has been commented on over 550 times and viewed almost 79000 times.
Through making use of the characteristics of online journalism, The Times’ coverage served its purpose in raising awareness of the topic, encouraging open debate and potentially being a tool for social change.
The Times’ coverage is comprehensive, offering users choice and the option of participation in their news consumption, which has proved effective.
The success of their coverage compelled me to know The Times’ recipe of success. Take a look at my video interview with their multimedia editor, Carly Ritz:
M&G offer a dedicated page for a special report on xenophobia. The link to this page from the home page seems somewhat lost in a text-heavy design.
A typical article page offers A) a long article with no hyperlinks; B) no pictures, graphics or other media; and C) a few links to related articles.
Interactivity on article pages are limited to features like ‘get news via email’; ‘RSS’ feeds; ‘mobile news’. A ‘find related blogs’ link at the bottom of news pages hasn’t been widely adopted, perhaps because the link is lost on the page.
Disappointingly, there is no option for the user to comment on articles and insight pieces. Users can, however, comment on photos in the photo gallery page, which has a more inviting and interactive design. The photos have provoked almost 270 000 views and 206 comments.
M&G placed a timeline of the xenophobic events on the special report page with links to stories covering the big events on each day. This is a unique and interactive way of helping users keep track of developments.
There are two blog links. One is to Talkback, where users are encouraged to debate a question on the topic. This has provoked 50 comments. The other is to Thought Leader, where posts provoked an average of 20 to 40 comments each – proof that M&G users have the need for interaction. However, no links to reader blogs were found.
While coverage of the topic is extensive and the insight pieces some of the best available, the website is flawed in terms of online journalism. The design is uninviting and offers very little interactivity and hyperlinking and virtually no multimedia.
Here’s why: Check out my slideshow interview with M&G online editor Riaan Wolmarans:
3. Afrigator
Afrigator is an aggregator of blogs, news, video and audio for topics concerning Africa.
The site has created several hot topics of discussion, of which “The Xenophobia Crisis” is one.
The xenophobia page has collected over 950 blog posts from citizens, journalists and news blogs, mostly from South Africa but also from other parts of the continent. The amount of posts found gives a reflection of the vast amount of people on the blogosphere debating this topic.
What is interesting, and rather disappointing, however, is that these blogs have provoked little reaction. Even though there are some brilliant posts that try encourage free debate, very few actually have comments.
Only one podcast has been collected on xenophobia, but the page offers links to various news articles from different media as well as over 70 videos and slideshows from YouTube.
The page navigation is not as user-friendly and there aren’t many interactive features, however, both hypertext and hypermedia links are well done.
The concept of collecting blog posts on xenophobia is brilliant in that it has the potential to raise awareness on the issue, encourage free debate and give more people access to each other’s blogs to discuss the same topic.
However, the Xenophobia Crisis aggregator has seemingly not provoked the desired effect, judging by the lack of substantial user-interaction and comments.
This could be due to Afrigator not being established on a well-known news agency’s brand name, making it more difficult to find as well as, perhaps, bringing its credibility into question. Web users looking for news, blogs, video and audio on xenophobia are perhaps also more likely to search well-known news sites.
Proof of this is in Afrigator’s stats. The top two most visited blogs that link from the Afrigator site are that of The Times and Thought Leader from M&G.
4. CNN
CNN’s coverage provides users with three interactive choices on each article: “read” (in which users can read a text article that makes use of hyperlinking); “videos” and “photos”.
Both hypertext and hypermedia are used effectively. Article pages typically offer images and “story highlights” which summarises the article for the reader. Links to related articles are placed in a “Don’t miss” box in article texts, which draws the reader in and make for easy navigation.
Various interactive features, including share, download, RSS-feeds, email-to-friend are used. There are also links to blogs from readers, journalists and news sites. One journalist blog on this topic has drawn 110 comments, many of which are from South Africans and ex-pats, expressing their disgust at the violence. The blog therefore facilitates a global conversation and serves as a platform for specifically South Africans to raise their voices on a foreign news site where they know the world is looking.
A great interactive feature is offered via the ireport link, which is a sort of citizen journalism portal that encourages users to upload their stories, photos and videos, thus stimulating news participation from users.
Although coverage is limited in terms of the number of reports, coverage is comprehensive in terms of giving users a choice between multimedia, as well as links to analysis and in-depth online articles by Time Magazine.
Interesting to note is the difference in coverage between foreign and local news agencies.
Most videos produced by CNN relate the xenophobic attacks to violence seen in the Apartheid era.
This one, found on YouTube, had over 4000 views and 41 comments.
CNN’s articles and videos are written and produced from the perspective of outsiders looking in and provide perspective and context through hyperlinks in the case of articles and narration in the case of videos and photo slideshows. This is in sharp contrast with the way the South African sites analysed in this feature have covered the topic.
5. YouTube
This social networking site aggregates news and analysis videos and vlogs from different news and blogging sites on the web.
The sheer volume of attention xenophobia videos on YouTube have drawn is astounding.
The site thus provides comprehensive video and photo slideshow coverage from many different corners of cyberspace, giving the reader choice and diversity from both news agencies and the general public.
Although the site makes use of mainly one form of multimedia, being videos, the amount of user-interaction (some xenophobia videos have been viewed over 20 000 times and commented on literally hundreds of times) is proof: 1. Of the site’s popularity and effectiveness even though it uses mainly a video-medium only; and 2. That a social networking site has proven successful in facilitating free and open debate as well as raising widespread awareness of the issue.
Searching for “xenophobia in South Africa” delivers a page with over 120 videos and moving slideshows, but not all are directly related to the recent attacks in the country.
In the right-hand corner there are around 33 directly related videos. Videos show their rating, when it was added and the amount of views. Interactive features include rating and sharing videos. What’s interesting is that users can comment via both text and by placing a video response.
Easy navigation and user-friendly applications encourage users to load their videos at the click of a button and within a matter of minutes.
The converse of this, however, raises the question whether the reliability and credibility of content on this site can be disputed.
CONCLUSION:
Of the local sites analysed The Times’ coverage is by far the most advanced in terms of making use of the characteristics of online journalism. Judging by the amount of user interaction the site’s coverage has been successful.
Mail & Gaurdian’s articles offer more in-depth analysis and context of the topic, but their website is flawed and therefore their multimedia and interactive coverage is limited.
While Afrigator had a brilliant concept in that it had the potential to put bloggers in contact with each other and stimulate a global conversation about the topic, the site didn’t provoke the desired amount of attention. The reasons for this are debatable.
CNN’s coverage is comprehensive and offers multimedia, interactivity and hyperlinking. Although their coverage is not as up-to-date, it has drawn the desired effect judging by the amount of comments. The coverage also encourages user participation in the news-making process.
Finally, the amount of attention xenophobia videos have provoked on YouTube is profound. The use of video media offered users a variety of news and analysis on the issue, but also became a vlogging platform for ordinary citizens to be heard. YouTube also serves as a platform where existing news videos gain an incredible amount of extra exposure, thus it increased awareness of, discussion about and participation in the issue.
*Analysis for this feature was done between 6-9 June, 2008.
* For interest’s sake: I found this video on YouTube (it’s an analysis of SA print media’s coverage of xenophobia): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA7FAZsT1U8
2 Comments
June 18, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Nice round-up! We deserve the criticism, but hopefully the new M&G Online will help make our readers’ lives easier.
August 3, 2008 at 1:36 am
It’s amazing