Michael's News Blog

Nigeria's ruling party candidate Umaru Yar'Adua was declared winner on Monday of a presidential poll rejected by the opposition and condemned by observers as a "charade." The vote was denounced as deeply flawed by international observers and the opposition. Both articles cite Chief EU observer Max van den Berg as evidence that the vote was flawed.

Reuters:
"These elections have not lived up to the hopes and expectations of the Nigerian people and the process cannot be considered to have been credible," said chief EU observer Max van den Berg.

AP:
The European Union monitoring body found the elections ``have fallen far short of basic international and regional standards for democratic elections,'' said mission head Max Van den Berg. ``These elections have not lived up to the hopes and expectations of the Nigerian people and the process cannot be considered to have been credible.''

While Reuters decides to quote Berg directly, AP goes about citing him by paraphrase/direct quote format. This news story is written, in both articles, in the inverted pyramid style. Also, both stories incorporate the core journalist values of novelty, conflict, and impact.

Continue reading "Nigerian vote denounced as flawed" »

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Nigerian security forces killed 25 Islamic militants in an all-day battle on the outskirts of the northern city of Kano on Wednesday, authorities said. Troops surrounded the militants in the Panshekara district of the city early on Wednesday after they had burned a police station and killed 13 officers in an ambush a day earlier. Both articles take a different approach to this story, evidenced by the last paragraph in each of these briefs:

AP:
In a nation of 140 million roughly split between Muslims in the north and Christians and animists in the south, Kano is one of 12 northern states where Islamic law is practiced. Various groups have clashed before over its proper implementation. Hardliners, who make up a small minority, want a stricter inteor annulments. Current President Olusegun Obasanjo, a former military ruler, was elected in 1999.

Reuters:
Kano is one of 12 northern Nigerian states which introduced sharia law in 2000. The move by state governors alienated Christian minorities and sparked violence.
Southern Nigeria is predominantly Christian.

The point of emphasis is different in each article. Both articles are written in brief format and each article is written in the inverted pyramid style. The core journalistic news value of conflict is prominently on display in both articles.

Continue reading "Nigeria: 25 militants killed in fighting" »

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Unidentified gunmen killed five African Union peacekeepers in the Darfur region of western Sudan, the deadliest single attack against the force since late 2004, an AU spokesman said Monday. The spokesman, Noureddine Mezni, said the attackers fled the scene after AU troops killed three of them in an exchange of fire. The AP article has only one direct quotation and it comes at the very end of the article.

``The AU mission is very concerned about the increasing number of attacks and aggressions against our troops,'' Mezni said.

This is in contrast to the Reuters article that uses several quotes to contribute to the core journalistic values, especially timeliness and impact.

"The solution to the Darfur issue must be a national responsibility, with the sons and daughters of Sudan," al-Bashir told parliament.

"We strongly condemn this cowardly attack against the very people who are working hard to achieve peace in Darfur," Mezni told Reuters. "It was totally unprovoked."

The core values are exemplified in the quotes. Both articles use the inverted pyramid style of writing articles and also have filing time of less then an hour apart, so they were filed at very similar times.

Continue reading "Five African Union peacekeepers killed in Darfur" »

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Northern Ireland's major Protestant and Catholic parties have hailed a deal to form a power-sharing government as a "new era of politics" to end three decades of sectarian conflict in the British province. Protestant and Catholic parties agreed on Monday to start sharing power on May 8 after their leaders put aside decades of hostility to hold a historic first meeting. The CNN article focused mainly on the optimistic aspects that this meeting signifies. This style can be seen in the quotes of the CNN article.
CNN:

"We must not allow our justified loathing of the horrors and tragedies of the past to become a barrier to creating a better and more stable future for our children," Ian Paisley's of the Democratic Unionist Party.

"This is a very important day for the people of Northern Ireland ... In a sense everything we've done in the last 10 years has been a preparation for this moment," Gerry Adams' of Sinn Fein.

The Reuters article has far fewer quotes then the CNN article and the quotes it does have are mainly background informing. The Reuters article deals with more the details of this new deal and how it affects those involved which is different from the CNN article which takes an optimistic stance on the new era.

Both of these articles incorporate the inverted pyramid style of news writing. Also, both articles use exactly the same quote.� Today we've agreed with Sinn Fein that this date will be Tuesday, May 8, 2007," This is a great quote spoken by Paisley that sums up the entire event. Both articles place this quote early on in the piece. The CNN has a picture of the meeting while the Reuters article does not. It should be noted that the CNN article has a more current feel with the quotes and optimistic stance it incorporates. The CNN article, while the Reuters article doesn’t abandon them, does a better job incorporating the six key journalistic values into its piece, especially novelty.

Continue reading "Northern Irish power deal marks 'new era'" »

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A U.S. embassy convoy was hit by a Taliban suicide car bomber in Kabul on Monday, killing an Afghan teenager by the road and wounding officials in the motorcade. A 14-year-old boy was killed in the attack, which took place on a main road leading east out of the Afghan capital which is often used by NATO and U.S.-led coalition troops, police said. Both articles have similar information, but the CNN article encompasses more of the core journalist values.

The Reuters article does not have a direct quote in the article. This is interesting and leads me to believe that the information provided in the article is not as precise as the information in the CNN article. When a news story incorporates quotes the timeliness and impact values are greatly enhanced. The CNN article’s second paragraph is a direct quote:

"There were several injuries, including one American who was evacuated and is being treated at this time," said Joe Mellott, a U.S. Embassy spokesman.

This story encompasses many of the core journalist values, specifically impact and novelty. The impact of the loss of live is relatable to all people. Both articles are written in brief, inverted pyramid style. Both stories’ are very short yet have a great deal of information. Both articles are also accompanied by a picture of the effects of the bomb. Both these articles were filed only 20 minutes apart, so the timeliness of both is very close.

Continue reading "Bomb targets U.S. Embassy convoy in Kabul" »

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Copenhagen police arrested dozens of people early Sunday in a third straight night of unrest triggered by the eviction of squatters from a disputed youth center. The arrests followed violence early on Saturday, when police fought street battles with hundreds of youths who torched cars and vandalized a local school.

It is interesting to note that the Reuter's article has only one substantial quote in the entire piece and it is attributed to an unknown spokesperson:

“The struggle will continue for a long time. As long as there is no Youth House in Copenhagen, there will be a fight to get one,� said Jan, a spokesman for the youth center.

The AP article also has only one substantial quote:

"We are very happy that the situation was so quiet," police spokesman Lars Borg said. "The people who want to demonstrate have been more ... aware that the things they are doing are not the right things to do."

The AP quotes a police officer and Reuters quotes a spokesman for the rioters. It is a reflection of the type of article each reporter is writing. The AP gives a voice to the police and Reuters gives a voice to the rioters. While bias is not overly prominent, the time each article spends on a single side of the issue is noticeable. Each article uses an inverted pyramid style and each article has a picture of the riots near the lead. Many core news values are similar in each article. Timeliness, novelty, and conflict are a running theme in each article.

Continue reading "Denmark riots: Dozens more arrested" »

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U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice held talks Monday with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. It was reported that she expects more negotiations in a bid to restart the Mideast peace process. These articles represent the same event and have Rice as a key player, but there point of view regarding the event is very different. The difference in presentation can be seen in the headline of each article.

AP: Mideast summit ends with little progress
CNN: Rice vows more talks with Israelis, Palestinians

CNN has an uplifting point of view while the AP has a much more somber tone. This is a clear example of media bias on both parts. It is clear that each article is trying to communicate their own preferences into their piece. This is further established in how CNN quotes Rice.

"All three of us affirmed our commitment to a two-state solution, agreed that a Palestinian state cannot be born of violence and terror, and reiterated our acceptance of previous agreements and obligations, including the road map," Rice said, referring to the 2003 internationally backed plan for peace.

Neither of these reporters was able to leave opinion entirely out of their reports, which is a consistent problem in news reporting today. Also, both of these stories are written in the inverted pyramid style of structure.

Continue reading "Rice vows more talks with Israelis, Palestinians" »

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Both articles involve five explosions in central Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 90 people, amid memorials marking last year's attack on a revered Shiite shrine in Samarra. Both articles have the same picture of a man with a devastated look on his face and a cloud of smoke in the background as well as communicating similar events. The numbers from CNN are more accurate to time because the CNN story was published after the AP and thus had more timely information. In this regard, the timeliness of the CNN article is betters then the AP.

AP:
One 38-year-old Shiite man said the blasts were clearly timed to coincide with the commemoration of the bombing in Samarra. Other people in the area screamed, “Where is the government?� “Where is the security plan?� “We have had enough.� “We have lost our money and goods and our source of living.�

This does not specify why this man is important enough to be quoted. He is a Shiite and 38, while this section does provide great color for this article, it is not newsworthy. The CNN article also quotes a Shiite, but gives a much clearer title.

CNN:
Iraq's most powerful Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said in a statement that last year's attack "pushed the country into blind violence, in which tens of thousands of innocents were killed,"

Both quotes provide color for this article but the AP quote comes from an unnamed Shiite man, while the CNN quote is from the most powerful Shiite cleric. The CNN quote is better because it states who the quote is from and why he is important, as apposed to the AP.

Continue reading "At least 90 killed on day marking Golden Mosque attack" »

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These two articles, field six hours apart, deal with the same event but report different information. The leads for both of these stories do a great job summarizing the information as well as showing how in only six hors breaking news can affect a story. CNN filed this story at 4:39 AM on Monday with the lead:

"Floodwaters have forced more than 270,000 Jakarta residents from their homes, as the death toll from the natural disaster climbed to 25 Monday, according to the capital's flood crisis center."

The AP posted a story on the exact same events six hours latter with the lead:

"Horse-drawn carts rescued residents from flood-stricken districts in the Indonesian capital on Monday after flooding burst riverbanks, killing at least 29 people and forcing some 340,000 to flee their homes in recent days."

While both articles are clearly reporting the same event, the numbers provided by both sources are different. This shows how quickly news can change and also the importance of breaking news in updating information. The AP story deals with up to the minute information regarding the flooding in Jakarta. Going back to the leads, they are a great example of S-V-O. They give a summary of the information in an engaging way that both informs and hooks the reader. Even though both stories’ report different facts, they are very comparable in terms of style. They both list how many people have died as well as how many residents have had to flee their homes. Both reporters especially must view this information as important to place it in their leads. A problem I see in the CNN lead is that they list the 270,000 displaced people before the 25 dead. I would have done what the AP reporter did and place the number dead earlier in my lead then other less important information.

Continue reading "Between 40 and 70 percent of Jakarta inundated; more rain expected" »

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This event was covered by both the UPI and AP. It deals with an official in Japan being reprimanded for his comments concerning woman. The health minister of Japan referred to woman as "birth-giving machines" and came under extensive fire. Both articles use direct quotes early in the story to paint a picture of reality and summarize the event.

AP:
"I reprimanded him severely," Abe said, adding that he saw no reason for Health Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa to step down. "From now on, I hope he will remain fully devoted to his job and obtain the people's understanding."

UPI:
"The number of women aged between 15 and 50 is fixed," he said. "Because the number of birth-giving machines and devices is fixed, all we can ask for is for them to do their best per head, although it may not be so appropriate to call them machines."

The direct quotes reflect how each reporter deals with the story. While the AP dealt with the minister is reprimanded, the UPI deals with the actual events leading to the minister making his comment. To this end the AP has a much harsher tone as apposed to a less harsh tone of the UPI. Both articles do an excellent job avoiding jargon and clichés. The articles are strait forward and clear. The UPI article was published on the 28th and the AP article was published on the 29th. This is also seen in how both reporters choose to communicate the article. The content itself is full of color, which is not inflated with egregious quotes for either side. In all, both articles do a fine job illustrated their respective points of view towards this event.

Continue reading "Japan PM Rebukes Minister for Calling Women 'Birth-Giving Machines'" »

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I found this article on CNN.com. It deals with a French cargo ship that was damaged in a storm and ran aground. Oil, as well as toxic materials, was leaked from the ship. People have been stealing the ships cargo that has washed up on sore. This article deals with numerous types of jargon and clichés. The phrase "toxic material" is used throughout the piece, but is only explained once in the body of the article. Also, the dangers of this toxic material are never explained. This article focuses on the loss of property much more then it does on the risk to the local environment. MSNBC.com leads with: Chemical, oil cleanup where cargo ship breached. It too uses the phrase "toxic material" but specifically applies the danger to local bird and wildlife populations. Both articles also use the phrase "scavengers" when referring to those individuals that are taking cargo that has washed ashore from the wreck. Scavengers clearly gives a negative connotation to the people it is referring to. It reminds me of the news articles following Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. In comparing both articles to one another the accuracy of the content seems to be consistent. The numbers and dates listed in both articles show no discrepancies. Both articles focused heavily on the looting, but MSNBC does include more information on the environmental hazards of the spill.

Continue reading "UK workers race to remove fuel from listing ship" »

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