Aidan's Blog of the Week

The final day of going across my twitter feed ends with looking at only two articles.

The first article I saw was on APNews and it addressed the new movie ‘The Way Back’. It addresses star Ben Affleck’s view on the film and how it interweaves with his life. The author writes about Affleck and his view on the film and how it has effected him. Due to his issues with alcohol and familial issues, the article is framed to center it around the life of Affleck and put the movie industry into it. Framing wise, it is quite well done including images which help the audience create a mental image. Also, something that is very different than the other articles I have read, is that is based on a celebrity and the film industry rather than politics. With this topic, the format is more informative and leaves room for less bias. As it is telling a story rather than giving their opinion on the subject.

Ending the trend of reading articles from my feed, I went back to another politic article on CNN. Unlike the previous article, CNN decides to tackle the issue of Confederate paraphernalia in the United States Marines. Again this is an informative article, as it is stating the issue rather than trying to pick a side of an argument. However, this is very different than the other article that was based on pop culture. This is an article based on only information and doesn’t choose to attempt to invoke emotion or try to get the audience to understand their point. Formatting wise, the lack of visuals makes the message the main focus rather than having an image take the reader away. With a simple structure, they achieve getting their point across while not making the information too hard to digest to the common reader.

Overall, these articles were very insightful into how different articles can be written. Even though most of the articles I read were based in politics, they chose to format them differently. With either the inclusion of images or length of the article. These were interesting reads and helped my understanding the current climate in America.

Today, I also looked at Twitter for my sources and news.

The first source was from the VirginianPilot and like the name implies, the issue is one that is prevalent in Virginia. Author Mary Albiges writes about the fact of popular vote in our state concerning the President. The narrative of the article focuses on the history of the idea in Virginia. The headline of the article brings the author’s idea on the subject to the forefront, blatantly stating that “Virginia won’t join national push to have popular vote pick the president, at least for now” as the title. Acknowledging that even though the option isn’t favorable now, there is a possibility for it in the future. Overall, the article was not too packed with information but it has enough for the basic reader. It effectively gets the point of debate across without bogging it down with too much extra material. This is a good starting point if you are interested in the subject, rather than something created for the demographic in which this knowledge is commonly known.

The next article was retrieved from FiveThirtyEight, a ABCNews site. This is an article on what defines Senator Sander’s “coalition”. The main point of the article is to inform about the voter demographic. One main example that is used is a visual of the voter demographic charting ages and party alignments. Format wise, this article is very much structured to inform and not just notify. Included in this article are detailed facts and verifiable information. Unlike the previous article, this is a topic that is country wide rather than located in a specific state. The author does an excellent job of informing the audience and expanding upon the information given.

Finally, I went to the New York Times Politics site to see their opinion on the current issue of coronavirus. The angle played by the author Neil Irwin is not that of health, rather it is of economics. In the article, it is addressed how current President Trump is focused on the stock market and its well-being rather than the outbreak of coronavirus that has many citizens concerned. With this premise, the article is obviously formed to inform of an issue and frame a perpetrator. The author is functioning as the critic against the government and its actions. This is done with quoting tweets made by President Trump and quoting members of the administration. Very different from the other articles read, this stands for a certain message and doesn’t have the audience form their own opinion and rather gives them one to side with.

Overall, these 3 articles were different but all had content based on the political system of the United States. However the differences such as scale and issue addressed really made the articles worth reading. As seeing the different perspectives and reasoning for covering the issues is interesting.

Today, I looked across my twitter feed to make sure I was up to date in the news. When looking, I found 3 articles that really stood out to me.

First, I read an article on intermittent fasting, written by Jane E. Brody. In this article by DailyPress, they outline the positives gained from fasting intermittently; something that was very evident from even just reading the headline. As a digital journalist, Brody does a good job as it starts with an image that draws the reader in. However, this is an article in which it is very information heavy and more list like in instructions to intermittently fast. The addition of a link to a video would be appreciated as hearing the process out loud could give the audience a voice to hear.

The next article I read was in the New York Times. Unlike the previous article on DailyPress, this is based on politics. A very political article, even starting from the headline of “To This Group, Labor Is More Than a ‘White Man Who Works in a Factory’”. The author, Isabella Grullon Paz, writes about the issues of domestic work and how the workforce is viewed by politicians. Obviously a very different article than the first, it is also framed differently. More to inform than instruct or provide a solution, this article is framed to bring up the issue and give a possible solution.

Finally, I read another article on the New York Times. Again the publisher has more political content than DailyPress. This time they focus on the global economy, specifically in India. Specifically, the Trump owned estates in the country and how the country isn’t suited for the business of real estate. Again focusing more on politics or economics, this article informs of issues while hoping for action. This article also includes visual aids throughout the writing as this helps create emphasis on the issue.

Overall the articles looked at were all quite similar in format, with the occasional deviation. All had a basic form of having the words speak for themselves, without too much aid from visuals or audio. However, it would have been useful in the first article. Regardless, these all gave a strong sense of what is happening and why it is important to us as the audience.