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Last Updated: Friday, 1 September 2006, 15:43 GMT 16:43 UK
Jasdeep Mondae, 18
Jasdeep Mondae

Jasdeep has visited 20 different countries so it's not surprising she's interested in international news and current affairs.

She would like to get writing experience and have stories published on the BBC News website.

WEEK 5

Looking at how the Radio 1 website covers news in contrast to the BBC News website, Newsbeat states news in a shorter and more concise manner. It takes the one main significant point of the story whilst the main news website explains it further, with pictures and relevant links.

There is a lot more emphasis on Newsbeat to have stories largely appropriate to a younger audience whereas the news website has a wider range of stories catering to all tastes and interests.

There is an emphasis on the thoughts of listeners and readers on Newsbeat, whilst the BBC News website prefers to explain the story objectively and in more detail for all readers, often including too many opinions.

However, reading the news is sometimes more useful than reading reams of peoples opinions, though I think such opinions are better expressed on the radio.

Lastly, since Radio 1 news is to the point, which is important for a radio network, this means it lacks features, whilst the BBC News website can include interesting longer stories, like the article about the 34-stone teenager.

BBC News website stories are more informative but that is because the site provides a news service, whereas Radio 1 provides news as an extra on top of its music and so the website has essential links to the radio show. Consequently, Newsbeat has many entertainment-based stories, relevant to the nature of radio and the websites likely audience.

WEEK 4

Towards the end of this week, the UK buzz story was the A-Levels. Many articles on the website covered the story and some were repetitive.

Progression of the story in these articles was limited due to little new information. However, the links to similar stories alongside the articles were very useful.

I agree with all the articles stating that A-Levels ought to be phased out, but only when a better curriculum can be enforced. I did the International Baccalaureate and I do not believe that it could be applied nationwide as it only suits certain people.

As the calibre of students and the education ethics shift, A-Levels are no longer suitable for students and the BBC covered this idea well throughout the week.

A related story earlier in the week about the standard of UK science was also interesting because it was something I had not experienced whilst at school since science at my school was relatively good.

WEEK 3

This week I noticed a section on the BBC news website that I had not seen before: From Our Own Correspondent. It is a very interesting section which is very distinct from all the other news covered on the news website because of the in depth and analytic articles written about the news. It goes behind the stories and is very similar to the kind of article written by columnists, which I enjoy reading most.

I particularly felt that the article entitled "Deployed to Afghanistan's Hell" was well written. Over the last few weeks, behind the barrage of news about the Israel-Lebanon crisis, there have been trickles of news about the worsening situation in Afghanistan.

Not only did this article explain what the current offensive in Afghanistan is about, but also put an extremely relevant spin on it, interspersed with quotes from British soldiers.

Furthermore, the style in which the article was written was personal and did not just seem like a report of news but an actual articulate and eloquent piece of writing that required real thought.

In my opinion, although news stories always need to be concise and to the point, they are complimented by reports like "From Our Own Correspondent", because they contain a human perspective on the news.

I read that this segment of the BBC is often felt to be cathartic by the correspondents and that is highly evident in the contrasting writing style when compared to the regular news stories.

It is evident that someone with feelings has written the article on a topic that has made an impact on them and it is no wonder that this is consequently therapeutic.

I think all writing should be therapeutic, since writing is a creative art form. In many ways, news has lost the creative element and journalists need to return this to the media.

WEEK 2

There were many important international stories this week, particularly about the Middle East.

Earlier this week, when Condoleezza Rice was back in the Middle East, I really liked the way that Rice's actual words were embedded into the articles. It made the articles easier to read since there were not many instances of "she said".

This week I wasn't very impressed by the story about the Malaysian ruling about Botox and "unsuitable names" because I found the whole concept very dictatorial.

The UK Story about the Sumatran tiger cubs was really good because it made me go "awwww" and the video enhanced the story so much that it could rival the TV coverage of the story.

The story about the Chinese Valentines festival occurring twice this year was very well written with a lot of cultural awareness. It was fascinating to read about, and a nice respite from all the very serious stories on the News Website.

I really liked reading about the tale the festival is based on and the festival occurs when the two stars in the tale are at their closest point. I had never heard of this festival before and it was explained very clearly.

WEEK 1

The pictures for the heat wave articles on the index page attracted me this week. It is extremely current and is relevant to people living here so it was very interesting to read about. However, some articles were very long and the length made them laborious to read.

More emphasis should have been placed on the repercussions of the heat wave, in terms of the environment, but the articles had interesting, amusing sections about people and animals in the sun, alongside informative sections about the traffic.

The coverage of the Israel-Lebanon conflict demonstrates how complex covering ongoing news is. With regular developments, whether each new piece of news merits its own article is a hard decision, and public interest is foremost.

I really liked the Beirut wedding story, giving a sideways glance at the war. I think the Saddam Hussein trial proceedings were sidelined on the news website.

One of the things I've noticed most poignantly is the way BBC News articles don't have a voice and that makes them almost less human and harder for a reader to feel the article talks about something wholly relevant.






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