CM1008 – Ass.

3 Koen Glotzbach (345346; Group B) 13-3-2011 1

Topics and meta-messages of three international news sites

Lecturer: McCurdy, words: 1.007, online version: www.scribd.com/doc/50658747

The front (first impression) pages of the CNN, BBC and Al Jazeera news website look rather
similar at first sight: On all websites, Japan’s earthquake makes the first headlines, and the
riots and protests in North Africa and the Middle East make up many of the other stories on
the websites. However, taking a certain perspective to compare the website reveals
differences. Many perspectives exist, each consisting of many categories, but I will use only
two: First, I will look at the kind of topics discussed (are they about politics, entertainment,
sciences, etcetera) and then I will take a bias/objectivity approach. Or: First, I will look at a part
of substance (choice of topics) and then I will look at form (headlines, pictures) to find meta
messages.

What is deemed important

At first sight, all website seem to have a similar perception of what is important. As I already
stated, Japan makes the biggest headlines and across the three websites the riots and protests
in North Africa and the Middle East show up several times. However, looking more carefully
shows that there are some differences.
The CNN website is roughly divided into two parts: The upper half of the website focuses
on current events and is currently almost completely filled with content about the Japan
earthquake (there only is a small block for ‘other news’). The lower half of the CNN website is
filled with the editors’ choice (all about Japan as well), another block with world news and
blocks for business, sports, environment, opinion, arts & culture, travel, technology.
The use of these topic specific blocks implies a division between generally important
news, covering top stories of several topics, and important news within each field of interest.
However, when looking at the more general blocks (‘other news’ in the upper half and ‘world
news’ in the lower half), it appears that these have a certain focus as well: The seemingly
general blocks mainly focus on politics (e.g. ‘What the Dalai Lama’s ‘exit’ means’) and human
interest. The latter can in turn be divided into two focus areas; big conflicts (e.g. Israel versus
Palestine or the Middle East riots) and negative news on a personal level (e.g. people killed by
car accident).
Alike CNN, the BBC has, next to current affairs, several blocks on certain topics, albeit
there are three differences: The BBC set the travel and sports blocks apart, added blocks for
entertainment and health, has no block arts & culture, and added science to the environment
block. However, to some extent, the false division between general important news and the
top stories of different topics can also be found on the BBC’s website: Alike CNN, non-

This work is licensed under www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0 cbna KOEN GLOTZBACH 2011

CM1008 – Ass. 3 Koen Glotzbach (345346; Group B) 13-3-2011 2

categorized news is mainly about politics (e.g. ‘Arab states support no-fly zone’) and human
interest (e.g. ‘Protest over German nuclear power’). Only a few non-politic or -human interest
stories are covered in the general blocks (e.g. ‘Retailers sued’ or ‘Bangladesh rally to shock
England’).
While CNN and the BBC make a (questionable) division between general news and focus
areas, Al Jazeera does not. Contrary to what one would expect, the coverage of focus areas is
not spread throughout the front page, but completely left out: Al Jazeera only covers sport in
one item and business and technology in the opinions section.

And how is it presented

One can look at both form and substance to examine the level of objectivity of a news item,
but I will only look at form by examining meta messages. According to McKenzie (2006), meta
messages are “slogans, promotions, titles *…+, word*s …+ and imagery” (p. 252). While “the
degree to which a news organisation is independent from outside financial or political
influences” determines whether an organisation will be biased, the kind and amount of meta
messages tells us about how biased an organisation is (p. 252).
Three meta messages appoint different websites as most dramatic: Firstly, word choices
and the type combined with the size of images indicate CNN as slightly more dramatic then the
BBC and Al Jazeera: CNN uses dramatic images (e.g. satellite images, rescue boats) and words
(e.g. ‘races’, ‘devastated’). Additionally, some big headlines indicate a dramatic approach (e.g.
‘Witness: You just have to survive’).
Secondly, looking at the latest/live/breaking banners or blocks, we have to state that the
BBC is the most dramatic: The BBC has four of such notifications (three on Japan, one on
Libya), while CNN has two (on Japan) and Al Jazeera one (a neutral reference to their life
stream). Lastly, the total amount of headlines without images appoints CNN as least dramatic,
followed by the BBC and Al Jazeera respectively. However, looking at the content pages makes
clear that this is an unfair comparison as here the BBC seems least dramatic.
As McKenzie (2006) states, the amount of meta messages is the result of the aim of the
organisation to be either objective or biased, which in turn is a result of its political or financial
dependence. Although the word bias has a negative connotation, the aim of being biased
should be explained as an organisation’s aim to enlighten news stories with a libertarian
perspective. The overall slightly more dramatic approach of CNN can be explained by its ‘about
us’ page. There it states that it wants to bring the top stories to the world, whereas the BBC
aims to inform the public, as does Al Jazeera by making a special page with the code of ethics.
CNN’s aim to bring top stories implies that the organisation wants to entertain people, while

This work is licensed under www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0 cbna KOEN GLOTZBACH 2011

CM1008 – Ass. 3 Koen Glotzbach (345346; Group B) 13-3-2011 3

the BBC and then Al Jazeera respectively communicate that they take a more serious
approach.
These different level of devotedness to journalistic values (as explicitly communicated
online), are in line with another pillar of independence as described by McKenzie (2006);
financial sources. Since CNN is a completely commercial organisation, commercial logic forces
the organisation to make attractive content. For the BBC and Al Jazeera this is different; the
former is owned and funded by the British government and the latter is funded by Qatar’s
emperor, making these broadcasters more or less public services.

Sources
About cnn.com/international (n.d.). Retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/about
BBC Mission and values (n.d.). Retreived from www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/purpose
Code of Ethics (n.d.). Retrieved from http://english.aljazeera.net/aboutus
McKenzie, R. (2006). Comparing media from around the world. Pearson Education, Inc.

This work is licensed under www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0 cbna KOEN GLOTZBACH 2011

CM1008 – Ass. 3 Koen Glotzbach (345346; Group B) 13-3-2011 4

Appendixes
After this page, you can find the front pages of the CNN, BBC and Al Jazeera news website.
They are retrieved on Sunday March 13th, 2011 from respectively www.cnn.com,
news.bbc.co.uk and english.aljazeera.net. Digital versions of these print screens can be
acquired through http://bit.ly/MSCP-frontpages.

This work is licensed under www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0 cbna KOEN GLOTZBACH 2011