Communication media analysis of news presentation and narrative perspective

¶ … Sydney Morning Herald is titled "Tom in wrong place at wrong time, say police." The story being presented is about an 18-year-old man who was punched in the face, fell and hit his head on the pavement and later died. The story is mostly from the police perspective, who say they have plenty of law enforcement coverage in the Kings Cross area on this particular Saturday night, July 7. The story is being told by the police, and it is presented this way because it is a follow-up to the original story of the killing, so the police have a chance in this follow-up to fully negate the argument that there aren't enough officers in that entertainment district. Assistant Police Commissioner Mark Murdoch said they could have had "a thousand police in Kings Cross on Saturday night" and the incident still could have happened (Kwek, 2012).

The story that is not being told is by the attacker, who at the time of this article was not identified nor was he in custody. Police are asking people through this article to come forward if they have any information that could help the investigation. The story is objective; there are no ideological sides taken. The writer, Glenda Kwek, is simply reporting the responses of the police and also reporting the posts of people who wrote about the incident on Facebook.

There are contextual issues because the young man who was killed was known and liked, so his life is in context. The article was not emotive in tone; it was not designed to arouse emotion, it was just an objective news story and no exaggeration was evident. The writer may well have feelings about the unfairness of this incident, but she does not editorialize. One thing that could have helped the article is if Kwek could have explained exactly how the victim died earlier in the article, instead of waiting until the last paragraph to do so.

The second article, "Offer Made In Bid To Break Coles Strike," is about striking workers keeping the grocery chain Coles from opening up its doors or re-supplying its warehouse in Melbourne. The latest move in the negotiations between the union, the Nation Union of Workers (NUW), and the management of Coles, is what is being presented in this article.

It is being presented in a straight news article, which brings readers up-to-date with the latest efforts to end the strike. The management, Toll, is said to have presented the union "…with an updated offer in a bid to end strike action," but the union spokesperson, NUW's secretary Tim Kennedy is quoted as saying the offer from Toll tit not meet the needs of workers in the five issues they want addressed" (AAP, 2012).

The union did not say what those five details were that workers wanted addressed.

The presentation of this article covers both sides of the issue. The union is on strike and they want to receive benefits before returning to work. But there are some striking workers that have been blocking "…staff and vehicles from entering or exiting the facility," and the spokesman for Toll, Chris Whitefield, wais that Coles will not tolerate "illegal actions" like blocking regular staff from coming to work.