This news story, featured on news.com.au., is a successful hard news world story, due to its multifaceted nature. Immediately when one clicks on the story, the readers can see a large photo slideshow with three photos depicting the event. The story even featured a video of parts of the incident, thus the story is comprised of pictures, print and video.
The story is hard news, and the lead is a strong one, with everything important being said in the first line, “A HOSTAGE situation ended in tragedy last night after a disgruntled policeman stormed a tourist bus and opened fire on passengers”. However, the print story does not mention straight away, WHERE this occurred, which is one of the first principles of a news story, WHAT, WHERE,HOW, AND WHEN. It is not until the third paragraph, the story mentions that, “The toll was also confirmed by the secretary general of the Philippine National Red Cross, Gwendolyn Pang”, that the reader realises where in the world this incident took place.
The print story includes quotes from the gunman who went on the rampage, "I can see a lot of SWAT (special weapons and tactics police) coming in. I know they will kill me. They should all leave because anytime I will do the same here."
The page also allows people to comment on the story, which provides an open discussion into the event.
Dave of Brisbane Posted at 9:00 AM Today
How utterly tragic. In circumstances like this, the Police should shoot the criminal as soon as they get the chance. To have lost 8 innocent lives because of this selfish lunatic is just so sad.
This allows people all over the world to come together and discuss what happened, and to communicate with each other.
Overall this story was successful due to its layout and multifaceted nature, despite some confusion with where the event took place in the print story, all these factors together made it a strong piece.
