My part in the research on WAVE 3 was counting and categorizing top stories WAVE had online. Overall, I really liked the setup of the website. They had all their top stories lined up on the website with pictures that were interesting to see for the viewers/readers; and I felt that it was very organized to have different sections for different kinds of stories (national, sports, weather, international, "water cooler", etc.) it was more clear to the viewers were to go or click on to find current stories that interested them. I didn't agree with their chosen top stories or the ones recommended to readers. The stories with enlarged headings and photos made to attract readers most of the time about crime or fluff seemed to be less important than international stories that affect everyone. I had a problem with the fact that certain stories made the "top-page" list.
WAVE had a lot of crime stories compared to all other categories (accidents and disasters, politics and government, crime, war and diplomacy, business and economy, social issues, human interests, education, health, consumer, environment, celebrity, fluff, and other) but didn't have many political, business, economical, or war stories. Out of a total of ten news log WAVE had 74 crime stories (online and on television) but only 48 stories on political, war, business, and economical stories. That's a 37:24 ratio! And that's only comparing how many crime stories there was less than a third of the possible categories. At first, this seemed pretty normal to me for a news station but after the first few news logs it became this recurring fact that there were always an excess of crime stories compared to everything else.
On October 14th 2014 (News Log #5) WAVE finally had more than two stories (online and on television) in the health, consumer, and environment category (and more of these stories than crime stories.) But sadly, these were mostly on the "Ebola Epidemic"(except for about two of them which were on the weather). The average two-story category shot up to seven stories, mostly on Ebola. The category became the number one most top stories until about News Log #7 where the number of Ebola stories started to slowly decline. It then went back to it's average by the last news log.
Other than the fact that WAVE 3 is a local t.v. news station , it seemed like there were little to no international stories (that were classified as a top story). There were only nine top stories that were international. (now compare to that seventy-four crime stories, big difference isn't there?)
Ending on a positive note, WAVE 3 is very good at live coverage, updates, and breaking notes. During the epidemic of the Fern Creek Shooting and the Tornado Watch while I was counting stories online there were many updates to the top story. Every time a new piece of information cam out WAVE always made sure to cover it as fast as possible and keep viewers and readers informed. I liked how they kept the viewers posted and on the "edge of their seat" waiting for new info. So, I'd like to say thanks to WAVE for doing such a good job in a time of need! =)
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