I actually interested how the foreign desk sets its agenda but not in any conspiratorial kind of way. I was just curious how the need to get a job done may conflict with getting important viewpoints out.

Anyways i enjoyed the post.

I do tend to check various websites for the ‘most read’, ‘most recommended’ and ‘most emailed’. Reuters, Yahoo News and the BBC all offer this service. Yahoo News has the most comprehensive I’ve found.

http://news.yahoo.com/i/964;_ylt=Al9WYuiT_6n3j3arA0Rv9nRvaA8F

This gives an idea of what stories people are finding interesting… and sometimes quirky stories make it to the top. To allow for this though, our paper runs these stories seperately on the back page.

In relation to editiorial discretion and how much influence it would have on myself, I would say that its dependent on the story. I guess it’s a balancing act between stories that are ‘important’ (or those I find important), and those ones people are actually clicking on.

For example the US-centred Yahoo News most viewed:

http://news.yahoo.com/ms/1776;_ylt=Au0gBzmpOu64_XiIjxLgP3EDW7oF

Over half of those stories would feature regardless of their popularity, simpy because they are important. Picking other ones to sit alongside the ‘big’ stories is a matter for the editor.

I would imagine other newspaper also look at these figures, though I guess that would also be dependent on how old the person is, and how digitally ‘native’ they are, to put it in Murdoch parlance.

For example yesterday I featured the story on earthquakes as a brief:

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jGtNgeoxLtX_60kT7_7qa2Kkj55AD900250O0

Partly this was because it was one of the most read stories yesterday, and partly because it was pretty interesting anyway. But then it was probably most viewed because it was interesting.

I’ve long since given up attempting to work out how the foreign pages set their agenda. There’s such a range of top stories on the uk broadsheets, largely dependent on the paper’s individual ideology. I’m intrigued, however, by the possibility that foreign desks could use the online uptake of their copy to influence their decision as to the weight they give a story - ie if there’s huge interest in an online piece, how much does that effect where it’s placed (if at all) in the paper? What are your thoughts?

The rundown in broadcast news is generally pretty uniform: the top three stories are usually the same no matter the outlet, although the order may differ. Foreign news is a different beast.

And before I forget - well done, mate. Nice wee step up the ladder, and in an area that you clearly have the cojones and knowledge to make it.

Not sure what you mean by online?

Unfortunately the resources needed for a translation service like that would be rather large, and most newspapers would not do that. I know some periodicals do that though.

Also do you think of what people can access on the internet and try to differentiate the reading experience from the online pick and mix?

Oh and one more thing I would love to see in a newspaper is stories written in foreign papers, especially China. They do it here in Japan sometimes but Japanese newspapers are focused mainly on domestic affairs.

Sorry for the long question.