부산대학교 도서관

A study was conducted using stories about crime and the environment to explore whether narratives “work” or whether the straight-news approach is unappealing to readers; whether the subject matter, separate from writing style, had an impact on reader assessment of story traits; and whether writing style affected readers' assessment of the salience of the news subject. Findings revealed that the narrative style was neither less nor more effective than was straight-news style in 12 cases and was more effective in four cases in readers' assessment of story traits. Furthermore, it was found that there was the possibility that readers came to the stories with preconceived notions about the subject matter, the story style, or both. It was concluded that although the narrative story was deemed more informative, more accurate, and more credible than the straight-news article, it was regarded as less interesting.