Online V Online

Following on from our presentation this week I thought I'd conduct a friendly comparison of online news sources.

Do we really see the same stories on every site or does the news worthiness change depending on audience consumption?

Homepage news stories V most popular

Nine msn http://ninemsn.com.au/?ocid=hmlogout

Homepage: 1. Stroke restores eyesight
2. Man shot dead in front of son
3. Silent rock concert video wins art prize
4. Celebrity Master Chef contestants named
5. 'Feminist' porn film premiers in Sweden

Most Popular: 1. Man accused of murdering boyfriend
2. Aussie shock jocks grill Gaga on penis
3. Murdered businessman a terrific bloke
4. Celebrity Master Chef contestants named
5. Family of kidnap girl reconnect

SMH http://smh.com.au/?s_cid=GSMHNEWS1&A=0

Homepage: 1. Street Execution: killing in Cremorne
2. Left on bedpan for days
3. Tech billionaire mauled by elephant
4. Jaycee kidnapper raped girl, 14
5. LA biggest-ever fire 'caused by arson'

Most Popular: 1. Hit for six: Commodore V Falcon
2. Kevin in 07 became real chic magnet
3. WSJ's website adds facebook function
4. Britney tops yahoo searches

News.com http://www.news.com.au/

Homepage: 1. Tummy trouble: magazine dares to share model's real body
2. Shooting leaves family in shock
3. Tasers too dangerous, police review finds
4. Palin 'can't cook, can't shoot, a bad mum'
5. Stars salaries to be slashed at nine

Most Popular: 1. Tummy trouble: magazine dares to share model's real body
2. Shooting leaves family in shock
3. Stars salaries to be slashed at nine
4. 'Hot Coffee' sex scene finally closed
5. Bus driver caught reading while driving

ABC http://www.abc.net.au/news/

Homepage: 1. Mummy mummy: 9yo sees dad gunned down
2. Minister must go after grieving teen's eviction
3. Queensland stalls taser roll out
4. 'Human Flesh' found on Phillip Island
5. Echidna found in Maccas drain

Most Popular: 1. Della Bosca's femme fatale revealed
2. Man 'stole shipping container full of beer'
3. Territory evicts 14yo, days after dad's death
4. New Japanese PM's wife 'rode to Venus on UFO'
5. Storm Boy pelican dies

So from this comparison I can assert two things: one, surprisingly each news site's headline stories were different. Apart from the overlap of the businessman shooting, which appeared on all four sites, and the taser story, which appeared on two of the four sites, each news outlet has chosen stories that seem to reflect independent news values.
And two, that audience consumption, using most popular as a gauge, did not coincide with the headline stories except in the case of news.com (top three stories were headlines) and one corresponding story for ABC and Nine msn.

So, are the websites getting it wrong or are online audiences only interested in fluff?