Gabe

My article for analysis is about recruitment of Somali men by terrorist organizations. The article uses quotes from a youth leader in a Somali community to say that it would be possible for someone in his community to join a jihad militant group. Then an FBI agent is quoted as saying a suicide bomber could easily strike in the United States. The largest portion of the article focuses on what is being done by the CIA to counter the threat. Examples are given. The end of the article offers a glimpse into the Somali community to balance a fairly one sided article. There is not a lot of physical observation. I learned that Minneapolis has the largest Somali community in the country.
http://www.startribune.com/local/43231252.html?elr=KArksUUUU

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The story I chose for analysis is based on a survey organized by the department of agriculture on cropland use in the coming season compared to statistics of past years.
The numbers used in the article are often given in relation other statistics to show relative change or to help give them value. Most percentage values are given to one decimal place. I think this is necessary because fractions of percents are more important when the values are small. Rates of change have been calculated.
The numbers of acres planted each year are very large and are difficult to grasp. Percentage change helps visualize this change.
The article appears to say that increased consumer cost of food is the overall news value. But, the majority of the article explains predictions of land use and possible effects on grain prices. It appears to be meant for an audience that may be more directly affected by this.
One improvement that I think would help: give information on recent fluctuations in grain prices, and not just give one set that implies reactions to the survey results. Explain relationship to oil.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123850608441073585.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

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This obituary does not reveal many sources. For what reason? I am speculating, but the author may have known the subject personally. The subject also lead a public and well documented life, and may have had a biography. Other sources: public record, news articles and books, Karen Sinsheimer, curator of photography at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.
The lead is in the standard format learned in class. Does it work? Yes and no. It did mentioned major life achievements that may have been most important. But, it wasn’t until later in the article where I realized I knew who the subject was and had seen many of his works.

The obit does not just list life achievements. It is a tribute. It tells life through a story, and ends with a nice quote.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/23/arts/23jones.html?_r=1&scp=8&sq=obituary&st=cse

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In an article in the star tribune titled "Weekend Options" the author offers a series of entertainment options for the weekend. Each is formatted like a brief, and they tend to follow a certain order of information. They each start with what will be happening and then give a description. Then the times of the event are given; then contact information last.

I also found some articles on the new movie—watchmen—that is set to debut Friday. One article focused on explaining the major characters in the film; allowing each a one paragraph description. Another article profiled an actor in the movie. They started the article by describing the interview site. They gave a quote from the actor and then gave some background information on his career. The article then assumed a format that was similar to a Q & A, but only told the responses given by the actor. The article then went into some depth on the plot and characters; a quote from the move producer was given during this section. Then it went back to the Q & A to end with a quote.

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On November 10, 2008 Governor Tim Pawlenty held a press conference to unveil the state’s “green job investment initiative.” I listened to the press conference, read the press release and found an article that was released the same day. The article basically reiterated what was said. It was similar to what we did in the speeches lab Friday, but it did not follow the point and support method. It was set up like a powerpoint presentation in article form that summarized key points of the release.
The star tribune put out an article the next day. It started by explaining that JOBZ, pronounced job-zee by Gov. Pawlenty, stood for Job Opportunity Building Zones. I have seen this acronym many times and never had any idea what it was or that it even was an acronym. The article then goes into the inverted pyramid format. It will cost $3.65 million next year and $6.6 million the following year and so on, for up to twelve years. It never mentioned that past incentive plans have created jobs or that some business that manufacture green products would be exempt from paying income and other taxes.

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An article published at the Star Tribune website reports that a person in Arizona died while base jumping.
The lead tells the basic facts: The what, where and how of the event.
The nut graph offers a little more detail and tells when it happened.
The article then goes into a chronology. It explains the initial call to rescuers, and then the trouble they had reaching the man (the who). It then explains that the he died an hour later.
There is no definite ending. The story is left open. More information will become available. If readers are curious to learn more they will have to read an update later.
The article is very short. but I think it is effective at getting the message to people.
A couple of other thing I noticed while reading this article: The author added the word “apparently�? to describe why this man died. I have seen this word used in other articles when they are speculating about something. It always seems out of place to me when I see the word in a news article. Also, the top of the mountain was referred to as the base. I’m going to look up the proper use of the word. --yup, a mountain base is the top of mountain.

Posted by knap0164 at 5:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sunday,The Minnesota Daily published an article on motivations students have to plagiarize.
This article cited 4 professors, a student and the director of Student Conduct and academic Integrity at the University of Minnesota.
The bulk of the article focused on why people plagiarize.
The first expert cited was Susan Blum, an anthropology professor at the University of Notre Dame who recently wrote a book on plagiarism.
Students plagiarize because it is easy, and because they aren’t motivated to do their work, Blum said.
The article then cites Eric Grodsky, a sociology professor at the U of M, who also said plagiarism was related to opportunity.
The topic then goes into the psychology plagiarism, and then into instances when it is done accidentally.
All sources were named in the article, and each was a credible authority on the subject.
The article offered reasons students could have to plagiarize
Each idea was supported by more than one source. This not only helped the story flow, it also added to likeliness of accuracy and believability for readers.
Almost every line in the article was cited. Most attributions were placed at the end of sentences. I think the overall approach to attributions in the article was effective.

Posted by knap0164 at 3:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)