From today's Poynter Institute email:

Conventional wisdom states that news sites must update to attract readers. Well, quite the opposite happened on Norway's site Bergens Tidendes (bt.no) this week.

Instead of giving heavy coverage to the recent Scandinavian Big Brother finale (in Swedish), bt.no decided that an ultra-short and to-the-point article (in Norwegian) would suffice -- adding that they probably would not be updating.

It was an obvious attempt to distance the site from a TV concept seen by many as vulgar and lowbrow.

The whole article reads: “Jessica won Big Brother. Jessica is 21 years old and comes from Kalmar. The first prize is one million Kroner. Bt.no probably won't come back with more.”

In a world gone reality crazy, the article was a little reminder of what's news and what's not, so it became something of a phenomenon in Norway this week. After having been e-mailed between friends and referred in other media, it attracted 25.000 readers during Tuesday, according to NA24 Propaganda (Norwegian). That kind of readership is usually reserved for much bigger stories and happenings on Bergens Tidendes.

Says Bergens Tidendes news editor Anne Gjerde: “We have never had so many readers for such a short article.”

Read other posts about: Big Brother

Today's finales guide is going to look at the silly spy shows of US TV.

Alias
Pants. I missed the Rambaldi episode. Instead, the finale dealt with a whole load of silly things, as you might expect with Alias. Various character arcs get resolved, both happily and happily, but ultimately you get the feeling the last five years was all for nothing. Oh well.
Disappointment factor: 5/10.

24
Not the most tense of seasons, but by no means the worst (season 3?), this year's 24 does have the most tense finale of them all. How does Jack get out of that one? Maybe Dale or Professor Zarkov can fashion a 'ray' to save him. Anyway, brace yourself.
Tension factor: 10/10.

The Unit
After a terribly impressive 12th episode that took virtually none of the conventional paths in the standard “bomb in the building that needs defusing” scenario, the finale proved to be a terrible piece of silliness that went for guns and ammo plus francophobia in preference to sensible plotting. The conclusion makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, either. It's not a cliffhanger, so the tension factor's low, but you really wish there'd been a better choice of episode to round off a good first season.
Tension factor: 4/10

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Today's Metro has this amusing bit in “The Green Room: Celebrities behind closed doors”:

EastEnder Ross Kemp could be in line for a role in a Bond film. The actor is top of the list for a part as a baddie in the next epic after new 007 Daniel Craig told bosses what a mean actor he was.

What's he going to be? A former SAS man (super army soldier) gone bad?

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The Media Guardian tries to make sense of Doctor Who's falling ratings. But with so many variables and factors to consider, poor old Jason Deans comes across as needing a whiteboard and a book of tables.

All the same, weren't Who's ratings at around the 6.8 million mark this time last year as well?

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I don't get it (yes, my camera phone is rubbish. That's not what I don't get).

Jade's from Bermondsey, isn't she, unless I flunked my last “failed Big Brother contestant” trivia challenge? So what's with the “Milan - Paris - Essex” line? Are they saying only people in Essex like Jade? That the show's going to be set in Milan, Paris and Essex? That Jade has a secret Essex past? That only people in Essex are like Jade? Are they under the mistaken impression that Jade's an Essex girl?

What's with the Essex? Anyone?

Or can we just assume that Living are a bunch of anti-Essex snobs?

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Continuing this year's season finale guide, today I'm going to be looking at the final US episodes of the latest seasons of the CSI shows: CSI, CSI: Miami and CSI: New York.

CSI
Despite the promised tension of the potential death of a much-loved character, the finale lacked any real kind of tension. Instead, it was business as usual as the team investigated various crimes while Character X languished on his or her death bed, flat-lining every time an advert break was due. However, the ending lacked life-and-death tension, but had an emotional tension instead that makes you wonder what direction the show will go in next year. Still the best of the CSI shows, but they really don't know how to open or close a season well, I'll tell you that much.
Tension: 6/10

CSI: Miami
With the promised conclusion of the “mole” storyline, the death of two 'regulars' and much more promised for this episode, it comes as no surprise to learn that it was all a bit of a letdown and astonishingly stupid at the same time. That's CSI: Miami for you. Everything's wrapped up nicely at the end with the traditional Miami message - the legal system is stacked against the victims and if only David Caruso was in charge and allowed to kill all the bad people, the world would be fine. A foreign trip and a reunion is promised for the start of next season, so long-time viewers are going to be all a tizzy; everyone else will be vaguely bored.
Tension factor: 3/10 (irregular viewers); 5/10 (regular viewers)

CSI: New York
On paper, this should have been quite exciting. But then so should the previous episode have been, in which a former favourite gets burnt alive. But it wasn't. This suggests there's something wrong in the whole New York set-up (maybe the direction; maybe the cast) that needs some fixing. It's also becoming clear that what the producers and cast would really like is a show about Mac (Gary Sinise), the ex-marine, and the skills he brings to everyday New York from the army. Sinise, whose band goes around playing gigs to support the US armed forces, would clearly like that too, and the show would certainly be more interesting than the cast-off forensics plots that CSI proper didn't want and anything involving the other 'characters'. So quite dull as a finale. But unlike Miami and regular CSI, which both had life-threatening scenarios for regulars, this don't cop out (ooh, what a pun) and someone is still in the poorly bed at the end. If you're a CSI:NY fan, it'll be a tense summer. Otherwise, you'll find it very easy to resist its pull.
Tension factor: 1/10 (irregular viewers); 7/10 (regular viewers)

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