I. Introduction
This analysis selected two news articles on the controversial issue of “Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship,” one from the BBC and the other from HuffPost. By studying the same news topic from two different sources, the aim is to critically compare and analyse the various effects of different media using unique reporting techniques on the same news event.
II. Media Profile
1. BBC
In terms of history and ownership, the BBC was founded in 1922 and is the oldest public broadcaster in the world. It receives financial support from the UK government, and its management is appointed by the government. However, the BBC is guaranteed by its Royal Charter to operate independently of the government and strictly adheres to the principle of journalistic neutrality (McGuigan, 2006). These characteristics make it one of the most credible media outlets in the UK and the world.
Because of its unique management system, the BBC does not rely on advertising for its funding. It operates through a compulsory TV license fee, which is paid in part by British households. In addition, the BBC uses revenues from its commercial arm (BBC Studios and the BBC World Service) to ensure its independence. Still, it faces controversy as media changes in the digital age(Fenton, 2010).
In terms of audience and market positioning, BBC has a broad audience, covering audiences of different ages, interests, and regions. The BBC’s traditional segment has an older audience (35 +), while new news sites and streaming platforms continue to attract younger users (Nielsen & Schrøder, 2014, p. 478). The BBC covers a variety of genres, such as news, documentaries, TV dramas, and entertainment, to meet the needs of different audiences(Costera Meijer & Groot Kormelink, 2014). At the same time, because the BBC is known for high-quality, non-partisan news, it is unique among commercial media, and the audience has a high level of education.
2. Huffington Post
In terms of history and ownership, The Huffington Post was founded in 2005 by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti. It was acquired by AOL in 2011. Verizon acquired AOL in 2015, giving it indirect control of the Huffington Post. It was resold to BuzzFeed in 2020. In 2021, BuzzFeed closed its Canadian and UK editions, leaving only the US site, and moved to a leaner digital operation (Usher, 2014). This marks a new chapter in the development of the Huffington Post.
As a private media, it is funded primarily by unique market offers and relies on digital advertising, sponsored content, and affiliate marketing to monetize (Anderson, 2011, p. 558). The unique market quotation mechanism provides an open platform for ordinary citizens or professionals to share views and stories (Anderson, 2011, p. 553).
In terms of audience and market positioning, as an emerging open media, it is known for providing diversified views and in-depth reporting. It attracts a large number of young readers. These young readers tend to be well-educated, have independent thinking, are well-versed in relevant technologies, and are particularly interested in political, social, and life issues (Costera Meijer & Groot Kormelink, 2014, p. 669). Statistics show that the Huffington Post has reached 119 million unique user visits in the United States (Nielsen & Schrøder, 2014, p. 481).
3. Comparison
There are core differences between the two media, mainly reflected in ownership; BBC is a public institution, while Huffington Post is a private media. Regarding funding sources, the BBC mainly comes from license fees, while the Huffington Post comes from advertising and commercial partnerships. From the audience’s point of view, the BBC pursues universal coverage, while the Huffington Post focuses on young progressive groups. This is characterised by participatory journalism, with the BBC emphasizing neutrality while the Huffington Post advocating free speech.
III. Story comparison
1. News content: accuracy, credibility, and narrative style
In terms of news accuracy and credibility, the BBC, as the representative of traditional news, is fact-oriented and always maintains an objective and rigorous style. The report cited the work of legal scholar Sakrishna Prakash, a law professor at the University of Virginia, and used data from the Pew study to prove it. Further, historical Supreme Court cases such as the 1898 Wong Kinder Case were presented in detail, and the 14th Amendment was referenced via hyperlinks. This emphasis on sources is consistent with the “traditional media authority-building model” proposed by Franklin (2017,p.112). The report presents the opposing views of immigration hardliners and civil rights groups, reflecting Bosio’s principle of “balanced coverage of controversial issues” (2017,p.89).
The Huffington Post, on the other hand, adopts a more easy-to-understand conversational style and a distinct stand narrative. The report described Trump’s order as an attempt to “rewrite the Constitution.” The media is more inclined to simplify legal concepts and add artistic language to attract audiences. At the same time, this medium relies on the Constitutional Accountability Center (CAC) as its primary source of information and uses colloquial expressions such as “all is all,” in line with Goh and Bourne’s (2020, p.3) suggestion of “balancing clarity with urgency.” However, a single source of information can fall into the “digital-age echo chamber effect” that Bradshaw warns of (Bradshaw,2018).
In terms of narrative style, the BBC’s narrative is more formal and informative. It mainly focuses on a clear interpretation of the event and its related legal issues. HuffPost, on the other hand, focuses on the narrative style, using the form of dialogue and an approachable tone where “blatantly unconstitutional”, “frankly,” “un-American,” and other phrases to portray the lawsuit. The style is more intimate, especially for readers who do not understand the law, to increase the report’s readability.
2. Page layout: structure and legibility
The BBC’s page layout shows clear logic, divided by six subheadings, such as “What is birthright citizenship?” This layout illustrates Rickson and Graham’s (2017) “Hierarchical signposts to improve understanding.” Regarding page design, the report retains only one minimalist image of Trump, practicing the “clean layout aesthetic” advocated by Tanner (2012,p.102).
The Huffington Post, on the other hand, has only three subheadings, but six ads are included, which seriously violates the “visual noise damages credibility” criterion proposed by Briggs (2020,p.56). In particular, the 30-second advertisement before the Trump video undermines the “seamless integration of multimedia” concept emphasized by Usher (2016,p.122)
3. Technical presentation: hyperlinks, multimedia, and interactive functions
In terms of hyperlinks and multimedia, the BBC relies more on text. Although it only used a photo of Trump by Getty Images, it included hyperlinks to court decisions and Pew data. This is consistent with the “evidence chain jump” criterion proposed by Kronstad and Eide (2015). Its simplicity avoids cluttered layouts, echoing Briggs’ (2020, p.89) emphasis on digital storytelling’s “less is more” principle.
While HuffPost’s article incorporates many multimedia elements, the video at the beginning provides more background information for the story. This follows Briggs’ advocacy of the importance of multimedia in digital journalism to enhance storytelling (Briggs, 2020, p.120). At the same time, links to relevant news stories, legal analyses, and commentaries are included so that readers can gain insight into the issues. However, the principle of “multimedia redundancy for multiple cognition” advocated by Usher (2016,p.89) is ignored.
In terms of interactive features, the Huffington Post’s interactive features perform well. It created an interactive field with 1,100 comments and a social media share button and designed a “Support HuffPost” donation portal. This allows readers to post opinions and share articles with others, and these features facilitate interactive features for readers and the dissemination of information about the report, which corroborates Kulkarni’s (2022, p.15) finding that “audience engagement tools deepen engagement.” However, too much advertising can lead to the risk of “experience fragmentation,” as identified by Zhang Shixin (2022).
4. Audience adaptation strategy: Content design based on media user characteristics
BBC’s audience is skewed towards in-depth analysis and traditional news. Its articles have detailed historical background and technical terms. It is presented in a fair and formal manner, drawing extensively on the views of academic experts – serving a “high trust” audience as defined by Bradshaw (2018). The BBC takes a neutral tone in its reporting, focusing on providing accurate and comprehensive information. Tanner et al. (2012) also supports this approach. They believe it is important to adjust the content to meet the expectations of readers who prefer authoritative and research-based reporting (Tanner et al., 2012, p.118). But its dense paragraphs can alienate young readers, a gap noted by Kronstad in a study of digital news consumption (Kronstad et al., 2015, p.231).
The Huffington Post uses dots, bold headings, and short paragraphs to break up the text and make it easier to read. It simplifies complex legal terms using a more concise and understandable language style. For example, “Constitutional Accountability Center” is shortened to CAC and annotated. This reflects Zhang’s (2022,p.88) observation that “simplifying grammar improves readability.” The measure is more likely to resonate with a younger, casual audience. It also implements the recommendations made by Ricketson et al (2017), who emphasize the need for journalists to adapt language and style to make content more accessible to a wider audience. At the same time, on the basis of concise language, a large number of multimedia elements are incorporated, so Huffington Post effectively attracts readers who avoid intensive text.
IV.Conclusion
Both the BBC and Huffington Post provide valuable but distinctly different approaches to reporting on Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship. The BBC prioritizes legal precision, neutrality, and structural clarity, making it more suitable for readers seeking in-depth, research-informed analysis. In contrast, HuffPost focuses on accessibility, emotional appeal, and interactivity, effectively engaging a younger, more casual audience.
These contrasting strategies reflect broader shifts in digital journalism. As news audiences consume content differently, both styles serve important functions. However, a synthesis may be the ideal path forward. As Kulkarni (2022) and Usher (2016) suggest, a “fusion of seriousness and vitality” , combining the BBC’s authority with HuffPost’s engagement, is key to producing journalism that is both trustworthy and resonant in the digital age.
References
Anderson, C. (2011). Between creative and quantified audiences: Web metrics and changing patterns of newswork in local US newsrooms. Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism, 12(5), 550–566. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884911402451
Bossio, D. (2018). JOURNALISM AND SOCIAL MEDIA : practitioners, organisations and institutions.
Bossio, D., & Springerlink (Online Service. (2017). Journalism and Social Media : Practitioners, Organisations and Institutions. Springer International Publishing.
Bradshaw, P. (2018). The online journalism handbook : skills to survive and thrive in the digital age. Routledge.
Briggs, M. (2020). Journalism next : a practical guide to digital reporting and publishing. Sage Publications, Inc.
Costera Meijer, I., & Groot Kormelink, T. (2014). Checking, Sharing, Clicking and Linking. Digital Journalism, 3(5), 664–679. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2014.937149
Fenton, N. (2010). New Media, Old News: Journalism & Democracy in the Digital Age. SAGE Publications Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446280010
Franklin, B., & A, S. (2017). The Routledge companion to digital journalism studies. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
Goh, H.-H., & Bourne, P. (2020). Ten simple rules for writing scientific op-ed articles. PLOS Computational Biology, 16(9), e1008187. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008187
Kronstad, M., & Eide, M. (2015). How online journalists learn within a non-formal context. Journal of Workplace Learning, 27(3), 226–240. https://doi.org/10.1108/jwl-12-2013-0107
Kulkarni, S., Thomas, R., Komorowski, M., & Lewis, J. (2022). Innovating Online Journalism: New Ways of Storytelling. Journalism Practice, 17(9), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2021.2020675
McGuigan, J. (2006). Uncertain Vision: Birt, Dyke and the Reinvention of the BBC. European Journal of Communication, 21(1), 101–104. https://doi.org/10.1177/0267323106060993
Nielsen, R. K., & Schrøder, K. C. (2014). The Relative Importance of Social Media for Accessing, Finding, and Engaging with News. Digital Journalism, 2(4), 472–489. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2013.872420
Ricketson, M., & Graham, C. (2017). Writing Feature Stories : How to Research and Write Articles – from Listicles to Longform. Taylor & Francis Group.
Shixin Ivy Zhang. (2022). Digital Journalism in China. Taylor & Francis.
Tanner, S. J., Richardson, N., & Kasinger, M. (2012). Feature writing : telling the story. Oxford University Press.
Usher, N. (2014). Making news at The New York times. Choice Reviews Online, 52(04), 52–181352–1813. https://doi.org/10.5860/choice.186140
Usher, N. (2016). Interactive journalism : hackers, data, and code. University Of Illinois Press.
Be the first to comment