Online Journalism - Ayo Menulis FISIP UAJY

62 Online Journalism
and an email form. There is also a multimedia section offering audio
files of the 911 tapes, the Associated Press photo and video galleries
of the tragedy, an interactive chronology of the tragedy and a photo
gallery of other school shootings. While they do not purport to
explain the killings the sites comprise a resource guide and an
encounter arena for the grieving community. The sites act as a
medium through which those who are affected, both directly and
indirectly, can communicate with and support each other.
The volume of traffic that was attracted by the disaster also begs
the question as to why consumers abandon their regular national
news providers for the local perspective. The patterns of access
suggest that it is not a casual readership but one which will follow
the story through. Perhaps some of the answer lies in a readerly
response to impartiality and objectivity. Readers will get a more
authentic feel for the area and its people through the local media
and since the reporters are also local the reporting tends to be both
more informed and tactful. The reporters are often on first name
terms with, and often get better access to, officials, at least in the
early stages of an event like the Columbine killings. Finally – and this
also relates to the fact that the reporters are part of the community –
the story is more likely to be given a human context, with a view to
causes and effects that will continue to unravel long after the
national press corps have left town.
The experience of news sites that have had to report local disasters
suggests a predictable pattern of traffic. While it can increase by
factors of ten or more during the unfolding of the story, meeting a
global audience’s expectation that the local news sites will have the
most comprehensive coverage, such stories regularly leave behind
permanently increased levels of site traffic and the advertising that
accompanies them. 28 Of course, every title will try to place its own
inflection upon such a story to make it local. In this instance the
international press, for whom by 21 April Columbine was the lead
story, generally tried to apply a moral from the story to their own
context with the headline: ‘Could it happen here?’ Le Monde linked
the story to many of its primary sources in Colorado and to its own
report on school security while newsUnlimited produced a web documentary
on the killings with an investigation of whether the UK’s
stricter firearms regulations are more successful in protecting
children from such outrages.