Evaluation of Media Sources Reporting on Mass Shootings

Introduction

The key story I have chosen to follow is what happened recently in Orlando with the mass shooting. A gunman named Omar Mateen killed 49 people and wounded 53 at a crowded gay nightclub called Pulse in Orlando, Florida on June 12th 2016 making itone of the deadliest modern mass shootings for America. The three media sources I am using are from a radio station in Toronto named Kiss 92. 5 FM, a Canadian television channel CP24, and an article in the Toronto Star newspaper.

Clarity

I think out of the three media sources I used, the CP24 medium was the clearest because of the visuals it included and how well explained it was. It was the clearest to me because it really explained in depth of what happened and also because the channel kept updating me on what was happening and on anything new.

Structure

Thoughts on the story and they didn’t really use the inverted pyramid. CP24 structured the story I think in the inverted pyramid structure because first they said all the basics of what happened and did a quick summary of the event and explained it very well, and then they started to go into more detail about the shooter, his wife, about his life and more into detail about why something like this happened and could it have been prevented. Then they put cameras onto the actual scene in Orlando and tried to get information from the authorities and people handling the situation and finally ended with another summary and a cliffhanger until they could gather more information. The Toronto Star newspaper article structured the story with the inverted pyramid method because they used that same format and structure as the pyramid shows. They first did an introduction and it was quite in depth but not too much because their body paragraphs were where a lot of the information was said in detail and they also put quotes in their to make it a reliable source if information and concluded with more details and a conclusion.

Format

Kiss 92. 5 FM used its format, which was audio to their advantage because when theywere explaining and telling us what had happened they were able to put sound effects in the background to make the whole feel of the story sad and make you feel different. They also used it to their advantages by changing the tone of their voice and making it more subtle and serious making the conversation sound very important and make you feel more engaged in the conversation in a way. The T. V. channel CP24 used its format which was mainly visuals with a bit of text to their advantage because they put many pictures of the scene and also engaged the viewers a lot by shooting videos at the actual scene live and trying to get information from anyone who knew anything. When you see stuff with your eyes I think it helps you understand the situation better and clears up your imagination because you can see it now and don’t have to create your own image. This let viewers like me to understand the situation better and also make it more interesting. The Toronto Star newspaper used its format, which was text to their advantage because they were able to change the fonts of words and emphasis on other words that were more important and needed to stand out. By adding a large predominant title it becomes the first thing the readers see and if it is catching and grabbing you tend to read the rest of the article, which was what I did. The font not only changed the way the article looked but also the way you perceived the news changing in your mind what information was more important than others.

Conclusion

In my opinion I think the medium that did the best overall job in reporting this story was the television channel CP24. They had me the most interested and engaged in their story and had me wanting to see what was going to happen next. They also made it very interesting to watch because they had many videos as well as many people on the spot of the shooting taping and showing what was happening in Orlando at the exact time. This made the video easier to understand for me and also didn’t make it to boring to watch. Because they also kept updating frequently on new information coming in to them it made me very occupied in it and was very clear and coherent at the same time with little texts at the bottom of the screen explaining in short form of what was happening.