week 7 first gas rig headed for NSW coast

Like most of environment news, the success of this article is still conflict: first, the construction of a gas dig and natural beauty of the coast; second, the conflict between Wyong council together with residents nearby and the developer. The significance is obvious. The built of the rig would help explore gas. Gas is a cleaner energy source as a fuel replacement for coal in power stations, which could help Australia meet its Kyoto protocol objectives. This is definitely of public interest too, as the subject of climate change and renewable energy is a hot topic recently. It is a piece of news happened in Sydney and posted in Sydney Morning Herald. This is the proximity of this news.
There are some explanatory words for how the rig is going to work. The picture gives a clearer picture about the scale of the rig and the depth of drill. It also offers the planned drill rig sites. The picture has added color to the online news story.
So good the scheme is, but the impacts on residents nearby should not be ignored too. It will cause noise and water pollution. It may also effect on fish, migrating whales and how any subsea rupture would be handled. The most apparent influence as the mayor of Wyong Bob Graham mentioned is on tourism- the construction would disturb the beauty of beaches and the noises would scare tourists away. So the impact is not only environmental but also economical.
The good feature in this article is the journalist interviewed two sides of people and got a variety of different perspectives. This help journalist reach a balance and keep the objectivity of the news.
Check out the news on Sydney Morning Herald website: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/first-gas-rig-headed-for-nsw-coast-20100829-13xnm.html

week 6 hotter weather results from climate change?

The success point of this article is, the journalist uses a lot of statistics of professional researches to improve the authority of the news. Statics is more impressive and persuadable than words. For example, “it was the fourth consecutive month in which the standing high mark was topped”, “the global thermometer could rise by 6 degrees compared with pre-industrial levels”, “Voluntary national pledges made after Copenhagen climate summit in December would most likely cap that increase at 3.5 to 4 degrees, still far short of the 2 degree limit that most scientists agree is the threshold for dangerous warming. Use statistics to compare, readers can have direct sense how serious the issue is.
However, there’s no evidence show the direct link between the year-on-year variations in the weather and change in climate. After listing the statistics, the journalist quotes experts’ analysis to support the news angle.
Moreover, the title is attractive. After the Copenhagen climate summit and the movie 2012, the issue of climate change has drawn a great level of public concern. People often question “Why weather becomes so extreme? The summers are much hotter and winters are much colder than 10years ago? Is it related to climate change?” The title is a common question in ordinary people, that’s why it’s closer to readers and can attract readers’ attention.
For the original news, check the website:
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/first-half-2010-hottest-ever-but-is-it-climate-change-20100720-10iz7.html

week 5 Roof gardens cool urban

The article is a piece of well structured news. It points out the problem-urban heat island first and then puts forward the solution- roof gardens. At the beginning, the journalist Peter Ker gives a specific example: the temperature of the “Tuesday”. He also quotes Professor Nigel Tapper’s words “Think how poor the productivity of Melbourne would have on Tuesday after nobody slept the night before” to prove the fact-hot. In the next paragraph “Tapper is one of many experts convinced that the way we have built modern cities has blunted the natural cooling powers of the night and amplified the heat of the day”, this is how Peter swift the small picture into a big one, and also emphasis the significance of the problem. The facts are all demonstrated by experts’ words, which also strengths the article’s reliability.
Considering the newsworthy, we can definitely see importance, proximity and conflict here. It is a piece of local news reveals how people build roof garden, benefiting in not environment but also economy. It cools the suburb and also gaining profits by growing plants.
The news is narrative and also flows of logic. The photo on the topic of the page gives the readers a picture of roof garden. What’s more, we can see photovoltaic panels beside the garden. How green it is! The photo exactly delivers the theme of climate change which resulted from human activities and the application of renewable energy and substantial development. Basically it is a piece of soft news which full of experts’ words, kind of one-side news.
Move on the news if you have interest:
http://www.theage.com.au/environment/roof-gardens-to-have-their-time-in-the-sun-20100115-mckc.html