Journal #2: Media Audience- 3/1/2009

Emily Belding

MCom 100W- M/W 1:30

Journal #2- Media Audiences

Word Count: 464

Paul Harvey, the legendary broadcaster, died at the age of 90, on Saturday at a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona. Harvey’s broadcasts were heard on more than 1,200 radio stations. He was long considered the most listened to radio-broadcaster in the world and whose distinctive delivery and daily mix of news, commentary and human interest stories informed and entertained a national radio audience for nearly six decades.

Newspaper: The San Francisco Chronicle covered this national news story. The article was found at the bottom of the front page and the full news story was on A12. The article was 6 columns wide and above the fold. There is only one main article about Paul Harvey. In the article, there was five sources quoted- The Chicago Tribune, The L.A. Times, ABC Network, former interviews with Harvey were quoted and a Boston College broadcasting professor- Michael Keith- all were sources in this article. The story was accompanied by two photos of Paul Harvey.

Television News: On ABC news, there was a 1 minute 30 second short story on Paul Harvey. There were 3 sources quotes throughout this short news clip. The newspaper was the most extensive and detailed of Harvey’s life. The detail on the television news was shorter and brief than the newspaper that provided very detailed information.

National Public Radio: On NPR, the coverage on Paul Harvey was 5 minutes and 44 seconds. The story contained four sources that included personal old interviews with Harvey, friends of Harvey and quotes from his family member’s on his life. The radio story used old interviews with Harvey’s voice to break up the story and change “the scene” in the listeners mind throughout the entire segment. It ended with music and a quote from Harvey. The coverage on the radio and television is similar in the sense that is used a similar pattern of broadcasting the information. The main broadcaster talked and then used clips, sound bites, interviews, photos to break up the segment. The style was similar. The coverage of radio and television are different because the radio is not viewed and only listened too and television the viewer can watch the segment.

Web: CNN covered Paul Harvey’s death as a top U.S. story on the website. The coverage of this story compared to the other media outlets was different because it was shorter than and not as detailed as the television, radio and newspaper coverage was. It was a brief, too the point news coverage article. The article contained five sources. Along with the print article, there was a video on Paul Harvey’s life that was 2 minutes and 13 seconds, it was more extensive and contained 3 sources. CNN’s coverage was a combination of print and broadcast- it used both of them in the article.