Princess Whats-Her-Name

Using social media, I sourced from CNN, “Britain's royalbaby, Princess What's-her-name, meets the family.” It engages me for many reasons. First of all, the headline is hilarious. Everyone was waiting with bated breath for the wee one’s name to be released (For the record, it’s Charlotte.), so the reporter chose to be witty when referring to the new princess. However, this is new information, and when the royal baby was born, people were thirsting for new information. The article is also littered with multimedia content including a video, a relevant Tweet from the Kensington Palace account and a photo story at the bottom of “Will and Kate’s love affair.” Yes, can you tell I’m a royal family aficionado? Additionally, I appreciate that there’s a sidebar with “story highlights” so that I know what I’m about to dive into.

The author chose a very straightforward and organized storytelling technique. He started off with the most important and relevant information about which family members the princess will be meeting, crediting sources such as the British royals spokesperson as well as the gaming site Ladbrokes. As a reader, I appreciate this wide range of sources, even for an article as small as this one, because it shows that the author did their homework.

Afterward, the author dives into how the princess will have a “much easier time of it than her brother.” I found this part rather amusing, adding to my engagement value. However, I do think that the royal historian should’ve been juxtaposed with someone who thinks that the new princess would actually have a tougher time than her brother. The journalist made sure to directly quote the expert to avoid any confusion. From a journalist’s perspective, I think this second angle is smart because it allows the social media manager to post the same story with different angles. Afterward, the writer and the social media manager can come together to see which angle performed better, thus gauging what the audience is truly interested in. To close the story, the author goes back to the subject that everyone is waiting for: the baby’s name.