The purpose of downloading news apps is primarily to be notified of the latest breaking news. While being engaged in our busy daily lives, we have little time to actively search for news articles in order to inform ourselves of the recent headlines. Thus, major news networks such as CNN and BBC have employed news apps to effectively reach their target readers. In this blog post, I will examine specific features of these major news apps and analyze the strategies they use to inform their readers.
Upon downloading the CNN news app, readers have the ability to choose whether they prefer to be notified of regional or global news. Additionally, readers can select categories of interest such as politics, business, health, entertainment, or sports. These options are labelled "Alerts that matter to you", which automatically personalizes the content for the reader. While browsing through the articles, readers can glance through article titles that are strategically worded to emotionally reel them in. Popular figures are featured in the front images to establish credibility and validate the opinions that are expressed in the article. This prompts readers, who identify with these famous celebrities, to develop similar opinions or viewpoints. A section titled "Must see videos of the week" entices readers to watch a series of videos pertaining to various interesting topics. Another category titled "Don't miss these" compels readers to explore more articles that span a range of topics. Alternatively, readers have the option to listen to the LIVE CNN newsroom, or their network HLN, which is shortly described as "news that hits home." Once again, the use of emotional appeal is employed to lure in readers. Readers also have the option to "save articles for later", thus, catering for busy readers who can avoid scouring through a plethora of articles in the search for a previously noted article.
On the other hand, the BBC news app directly provides global news encompassing each continent. The main page covers top stories and breaking news, with articles that are succinctly titled and corresponding images that immediately draw readers' attention. BBC news utilizes images that capture the essence of the story much better than CNN. However, similar to CNN, BBC offers a wide range of topics to choose from, including sport, technology, science and environment, and entertainment and arts. Unlike CNN, BBC news also allows readers to select news that are subdivided by continents. For example, readers can choose to be informed of news that specifically covers Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, or US and Canada. Embedded between the articles is a continuously alternating slideshow of videos titled "Videos of the day", intended to indulge readers who would rather "watch" the news than read them. At the bottom of the main page is yet another slideshow of still pictures titled "Week in pictures" that serve a persuasive role through emotional manipulation. BBC news allows readers to "Add topics to create your own personal news feed." Like CNN, this method provides personalized information to the readers. Another category titled "Popular" lists all the trending news articles, which is a strategic attempt to attract readers who prefer to be updated on the most widely discussed topics. Finally, the news app links readers to LIVE BBC world news, described to be "bringing you expertise and insight from our global network of correspondents." The adoption of words such as "expertise" and "global network" is a ploy to establish credibility with readers.
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