NSW to grant coalmines licences for water from Sydney and Illawarra drinking catchments

News story by environment reporter Lisa Cox, published March 10, 2023 in The Guardian.

The news is about the NSW government introducing new rules for granting water licenses to coal mines in both the Sydney and Illawarra regions.

From comprehensibility to misleading

The main message of the message is not immediately clear to you as a reader. The subheading, which is meant to explain the main message of the article, is followed by a list of four hyperlinks in red bold type, all meant to promote The Guardian. As a result, the advertisement gets a visual priority and the reader gets confused.

Structuring of the text

Sadly, there are no subheadings used to effectively organise the entire content. Nevertheless, the pauses make the text read smoothly. However, it is noticeable that many quotes follow each other.

Hyperlinks

In three out of four cases, the hyperlinks are used sensibly and refer to relevant elements on the website. Another hyperlink refers to a serious NSW government press article. For The Guardian, it would have been beneficial here if the page opened in a different tab. Otherwise, the user leaves the page.

When advertising takes away quality

The news consists of about 500 words, whereas advertising takes up more than 340 words and a promotional video. It’s no secret that media companies struggle in the digital age and need to come up with financing methods. Yet, the reader should not be mislead, and journalistic material should always come first for moral and professional reasons.

(Word count: 213 words)