A View on the News

The article titled "Senate studies Katrina rebuilding" was printed by USA Today and written by a reporter from the Associated Press. As its headline suggests, the article discusses the rebuildling of New Orleans and a Senate Committee hearing held on Monday. The city's mayor, Ray Nagin, stated that he does not feel there is much effort being put into repairing the "hurricane-battered city" in comparison to what is being spent on Iraq. This hearing took place almost a week after President Bush's State of the Union Address in which he failed to comment on the damage that still has not been taken care of down south. This aspect is something the article focuses on, as well.

The author, like any other reporter, had the challenge of inserting quotations and attributing sources. Obviously, Mayor Ray Nagin was quoted throughout the article, stating his opinion and view on the subject. The reporter definitely allowed the quotes to explain what was said at the hearing, instead of explaining it in his own words. For example, in the very beginning of the article, Nagin is quoted saying, "I think it's more class than anything, but there’s racial issues associated with it also." This quotation sums up a lot of what Nagin is arguing and, although the article did not discuss this specific aspect of the topic in any further detail, the reporter obviously thought it was important and that the quote speaks for itself. Other individuals were quoted in the article, all of which were done well. There doesn’t seem to be many redundancies, if any, when it comes to the quotations and what is being reported in the reporter’s words. One quotation toward the end of the article stood out from the rest. The reporter notes that a man “interrupted committee chairman Senator Joseph Lieberman as he opened the hearing. The man yelled, ‘Stand up for justice! We want somebody to stand up for justice!’� The article goes on to describe Lieberman’s reaction by quoting what he said after this man was escorted out of the hearing room. Although this is a miniscule detail, it helps bring the audience into the story; it makes the reader feel like he or she was there during the hearing. Also, that incident is something that doesn’t normally happen, which makes the article itself stand out from the rest.

This article can be found at:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-01-29-senate-katrina_x.htm

An article on the same topic was printed in the Seattle Times and was written by Michael Kunzelman from the Associated Press. The reporter for this article, titled “New Orleans mayor criticizes pace of recovery� also had the challenge of picking and choosing quotations to use in telling the story. Although there are a few quotations that are used in both articles, for the most part the quotes used in this one are fairly different from the previous. The quotes in this article are way more in-depth on the subject; therefore, the feelings and opinions of the individuals involved really come out. Take this quote for example:

"And then I look at what we're doing in Iraq and how we spend money at an unprecedented level there, how we can set up temporary hospitals and designate money to rebuild their economy, and we have this dance going on in New Orleans," he said.

The first article does not go into great detail about this aspect of the issue. It is actually paraphrased in its lead (not a quote) but is never brought up again:

“Mayor Ray Nagin told a Senate committee Monday he doesn't see the will to fix his hurricane-battered city when compared with the billions spent on the war in Iraq.�

One can see that in this article, it is a fact. In the second article the reporter is quoting someone saying it, which is a fact itself but it give the individual a personality because of the wording of the direct quotation. This is the article’s way of keeping the attention of the audience – making them feel like they kind of know these people who are speaking.

This second article can be found at:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003547140_nagin30.html

I think these two articles are different because of the diverse choice of quotations. The USA Today article seems to be more facts based and concentrates on what happened and who said what in a very straight forward manner. This is good, in my opinion, because ultimately that is the job of a reporter – to report the news. The Seattle Times story, on the other hand, is more in depth and gives character to the quoted individuals due to the detailed quotations. This article may be more exciting to read; however I don’t believe that it is a newspaper reporter’s job to give someone character or make sure the audience knows what kind of a person he or she is. It can be, in a way, biased; giving a bunch of colorful quotations by certain people and not by others. So, I think the first article is more news-oriented and credible.