Noticias Univision 14, presented their opening newscast with a compassionate story on a victim in San Bruno. It showed a picture of the victim, Jessica Morales, and talked primarily about her boyfriend’s attempt to save her life. Family and friends at the funeral were integrated into the story with their commentaries. The story was definitely meant to be more emotional, based on the voice projected from the reporter, and the ongoing quotes such as “Today was Jessica Morales’ last goodbye.” This story wove nicely into the second story, which was about current explosions being experienced in San Bruno and how they have affected the region through major natural gases. This story however, rather than being an emotional one, focused on how to further prevent these incidents and how PG&E is currently dealing with the situation. I found it very interesting how this story, rather than including an actual scenery shot, portrayed a picture of a map. The map made the story more informational rather than emotional, like the first story. After these two leading stories were reported, a couple of buried stories continued, all of which included a fifteen year old high school student in Novato dying in a car crash due to alcohol intoxication, a shooting in Pittsburgh, a man accused of shooting a cop that had something to do with gang involvement, highway 680 fees and the debate of how much carpool fees should be for those who break this law, and how the decision of Arizona’s governor is experiencing decision making that may greatly affect immigrant rights. The second to last (leading) story focused on the declaration of the end to the United States recession as of June 2009. It was commented that it has been the most prolonged since the Great Depression. This story was followed by shots of families shopping and labor workers. In particular with this story, I didn’t like the tone of voice used on behalf of the reporter (which was a woman). It was somewhat deep which made me feel intimidated and alarmed. After a very small commentary on sports, the newscast ended with a one minute story on a classified heroic act of a man with one leg who managed to save a dolphin after swimming to reach it far out into the ocean.
Throughout the thirty-minute newscast, a series of four leading stories were outlined and a total of sixteen buried stories were delivered. This definitely gives me an idea as to how strictly time constraints are applied. Take into consideration that a total of twenty stories needed to be covered, and only four of them weren’t small segments (meaning more than a minute or two of air time).
Some of the foreshadowing in the newscast was very nicely integrated, creating the proper “suspense” needed in creative storytelling. Two of the foreshadows I noticed being used was one about how the recession in the U.S. has officially ended and the other one was about Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon commenting on the current underwater conditions of Veracruz due to the Hurricane.
The anchors in this newscast, just to provide a small visual, all wore black along with colored ties, one of which was pink and the other burgundy. This made me feel as if though the newscast was definitely on a high-ended professional level. I thought that there were various points throughout the report where the anchors were talking to fast and it was hard for me to follow along and grasp what the reporter was telling me. This newscast definitely abided by the “classic” newscast portrayal: conservative yet trendy. It was a good report, but on the negative side it was sometimes stale or “dry”.
After watching this newscast, I followed by watching the second one: Noticiero Univison. Unlike the first newscast which left this story almost until the end, Noticiero Univision opened up with the story of underwater Veracruz. Unlike the first report, they focused more on how people struggled looking for their personal items and families. They interviewed an affected person which was a more effective way to connect the audience with the people and situation. One of the things that I also noticed was that at one point, the reporter was shot on an actual boat floating over underwater houses, which made the story that more real to me. It portrayed the rescues of children at night and still the numerous amounts of people seeking aid. All of these things contributed to my favoritism for this report rather than the first one. Followed up by this leading story, came a second leading story about Colin Powell and the Dream Act. The newscast integrated an NBC recorded interview of Powell as well as a quote on his stance on immigration. There were a couple of commentaries from Republican analysts. This story flowed nicely with a buried story that came right after about how hundreds of students are actively protesting, advocating their rights and talking about their life situations. Another leading story, like the first newscast, revolved around the official declaration of the end of the United States recession. Interestingly enough, I liked the first report better because it gave me a better informational background on the recession as a whole, something which I am not too familiar with. The second one had commentaries from the general public which didn’t really give me much information. Oddly enough, the newscast ended with a report on Paris Hilton’s declaration of in fact having possessed cocaine. This gave the news more of a comic finish, which was fresh and witty.
In contrast with the first newscast, the second newscast conveyed a total of three leading stories and eleven buried stories to complete a total of fourteen stories. One of the things that I liked about having less stories, is being able to focus more on actually understanding most of the reports. I can honestly say that I felt more in connection with the three leading stories that were reported the second time than I was the first time, specifically because I had that extra time to connect.
The greatest thing about this newscast, unlike the first one, was that it was definitely a lot slower and a lot clearer. It included less jargon and was even though it was simple, it kept things much concise and to the point without confusing me and losing my train of thought as a viewer.
After watching both newscasts, I definitely think the second newscast (Noticiero Univision) did a better job of presenting a better connection with its viewers. The fact that they included all the commentaries made it easier for the viewer to stay interested in the story, giving them a sense of interaction with the anchor, reporter, or interviewee.
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