Mystery COVID-19 case in Victoria aged care home

by Sarah Cupitt

As additional exposure sites are notified, demand for testing has increased, as predicted. Source: 7 News

The news story regarding the mystery Covid cases in Victoria reported on 9 news and 7 news have different elements and approach when presenting the article on their website. Both stories were covered on May 30, with due timeliness, and both pieces have a banner above to show live covid updates. The main difference being the topic the article itself is filed under on the website itself. For 7 news, it is under lifestyle > health and wellbeing, versus 9 news who have opted for the more severe approach of news > national—showcasing the corporation's values and interest in communicating and connecting with their target audiences.

At the top of the articles were social media icons encouraging readers to utilise the Facebook, Twitter and email option to share the report. And both stories include hyperlinked information throughout the piece to link to other relevant news regarding other Covid cases. Both stories also used a solid interview candidate Testing Commander Jeroen Weimar. While tagging isn't important for SEO, it helps readers find news later on; 7 news only had two Health & Wellbeing and Public Health tags. Compared to 9 news, they used seven tags such as covid, location, and aged care to reflect the story content and importance.

Different news reporting styles showed 9 news having several READ MORE articles throughout the post, whereas 7 news had none. Similarly, 9 news added additional information - providing a detailed table updating readers on all the Victoria covid exposure sites - an interactive element divided into three tiers of urgency to encourage testing in the community. 7 news opted for a photo of covid testing to show the urgency amongst exposed venues. Still, only 9 news acknowledged there had been five covid cases reported on the day both media platforms published their articles, even though 7 news updated their article later the same day.

And while ads broke up both articles, 7 news had more prominent bulkier ads than 9 news having a table for three ads to prevent vertical clutter. In addition, although 7 news from a glance provided a clear news experience with a simple white background, 9 news had an animated credit card ad on both sides of the site page. The stories were also different, with 7 news focusing on how the one mystery case acquired covid and where she was working and vaccinated due to extreme concern. 9 news, however, approached it more broadly, with their angle focusing on investigation, community impact, and linking to ongoing information related to Covid-19.

Finally, in terms of multimedia as an extension to the news articles, both 7 news and 9 news incorporated video and photographic elements. However, 7 news featured a video not entirely specific to the mystery covid case discussed in the written aspect. Instead, the footage showed Victorian train passengers put into quarantine. 9 news had a multi-platform video to match the mystery case they discussed for the covid outbreak. The video news story also including additional remarks from Testing Commander Jeroen Weimar and updates for the covid cluster in the form of an animated infographic.

Sources

https://7news.com.au/lifestyle/health-wellbeing/victoria-records-new-mystery-case-of-covid-19-as-aged-care-home-forced-into-lockdown-c-2968951

https://www.9news.com.au/national/aged-care-worker-among-latest-cases-in-victoria/d750ba35-0152-43e3-98d9-b5403c5cd090