Royal Baby News Or No? Guardian Lets Web Visitors Decide

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

When it comes to interest in the birth of the royal baby, the world seems to be divided into two camps. Recognizing that, one news organization has divided its coverage in like manner.

JANINE GIBSON: Guardiannews.com has introduced a special feature for the royal labor.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

That's Janine Gibson of The Guardian. She's the U.S. editor in chief, and she's talking about a small purple button at the top right of The Guardian's home page.

GIBSON: For those readers who find royal coverage to be dominating and trivial in the extreme, it helps them considerably if they can just press a simple button - not Republican, or in the U.S. we've called it non-Royalists - and that all that coverage can simply disappear, shrink away and be replaced by other news.

BLOCK: If you opt in, choosing Royalist, you'll be treated to a rolling slide show of pictures of the former Ms. Middleton and the ecstatic throngs. Opting out yields a completely different front page, as if there were no royals and no baby.

GIBSON: All that coverage can simply disappear, shrink away and be replaced by other news, thereby leaving those that do enjoy a bit of royal fervor a guilt-free wallow in the festive day.

BLOCK: So are you a Royalist or not? You choose. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.