Recently in Analysis Category

I analyzed the news story on the 1 percent American stock decline that happened on Friday. The reporter used points and percents; sales and stocks to report the story, which was convoluted at times but overall manageable and easy to grasp. It was a business article written for the finance section of CNN, so naturally the whole story revolved around figures and numbers. I rarely read the financial section from CNN, but there appeared to be a set structure to how the reporter attributed the sources and organized the story.

The sources were in blue type and bold letters, and each company mentioned was followed with the abbreviation and status of the company. For example, Bank of America was immediately followed by (BAC, Fortune 500).

The reporter used math to present the numbers in different ways. Every time the reporter wrote the points for the Dow Jones, S&P, or Nasdaq, the percent was also given. The reporter also calculated the mean of various sale estimates for companies in the article.

Overall I found the article manageable to read, well written, and well calculated.

I read the obituary of Rosemary Furtak who was a librarian for the Walker Art Center and built the internationally known collection of contemporary artists and avant-garde books.

The sources used included friends of Furtak, staff members from the Walker, the Walker's chief curator, and artists. There were no sources from her family.

The lead was not a standard obituary lead, but it did seem similar to other obituary leads I have read in the Star Tribune. It began with saying who Furtak was and what she was best known for, which was the creation of the Walker's acclaimed book collection. The next paragraph further explained why the collection was important, and thus why Furtak was important.

The lead didn't hinder or progress the report in my opinion. I had never heard of Furtak and if it hadn't been for the title I would have assumed it was an announcement of her retirement and not an obituary until reading the third paragraph. I think having a more traditional lead and explaining to the reader what happened would not have detracted from the story at all.

The obituary differs from a resume in that it tells a story. In a way Furtak's obituary made me proud of her accomplishments and contributions to the Twin Cities. This specific obituary allowed the reader to see Furtak as not only a creator of a great book collection or an award winning librarian, but as someone who was passionate and committed to their work and community. A resume doesn't say that.

I read the News event story by the Las Vegas Sun on Attorney General Eric Holder's speech from the National Council of La Raza Convention on Saturday.

The quotes that were used were primarily crowd-pleaser quotes. They were what got a reaction from the audience, which the author went into great detail about the size of the audience, the overall ethnicity of the audience, and how the audience responded through out the speech. The author included one direct quote from an audience member which was an "I love you!" directed towards Holder as he appeared on the stage.

The author gave a brief background on the convention, and explained what the audience was participating in and presumptions on why the audience was excited to hear Holder's speech.

The focus of the news event coverage was truly focused on the audience and the suggested height of emotion and excitement that was felt amongst audience members. The focus on the speech was primarily on Holder's support of NCLR, a national Hispanic civil rights advocacy organization along with the Dream Act, which whenever was mentioned the crowd apparently burst into cheers.

I analyzed the coverage of the mid-Atlantic storms from the New York Times and CNN.

From the front website page of both I was initially directed to a story of what happened along with the most recent statistics and updates. Both websites had a photo slideshow link near the top of the article. The New York Times had a slideshow link on the left, top side of the page whereas CNN had a slideshow directly above the article.

By placing the slideshow slightly departed from the article in the New York Times, this allowed the reader to read the most important information before being given the option of looking at photos from the event.

By having a slideshow be the first item available the readers are able to visually grasp the severity of the situation which may encourage the reader to continue down the written article.

The New York Times multimedia slideshow differed from CNN significantly. There were only nine photos in The New York Times which followed one couple from a block that had been damaged and was still without power. The captions in the photos told a very specific and detailed story.

Alternately, CNN had a much longer slideshow with pictures from around the different states affected by the storms with captions that told exactly what was going on in the photos.

I thought the different approaches and writing styles worked well for both papers in relaying the breaking news event.

In the news report on Rodney King's unexpected death, NPR's Stephanie Federico, wrote the lead directly and to the point. Her lead included who (Rodney King), what (his death), where (in his pool in Rialto, California), and when (Sunday). The only details she included were that he died in his pool, that the news was reported by police, and that Rodney King was 47 years old when he died. Federico left his name, death, and the time very general but explicit.

The lead was immediately followed by a one sentence history of who Rodney King was with a hyperlinked video of King being brutally beaten by police in 1991. Federico continued the story by providing more details on King's death.

The lead worked successfully because it informed the reader instantly what had happened with enough detail to keep the reader's interest. The inclusion of the pool and King's age were two points that made the lead stand out and engaging. Also, by including the brief history directly after the lead, readers were able to recall the importance of the news and thus feel inclined to continue reading.