1. I read a 'hard news' story from The Washington Post about the U.S.'s unemployment rate dropping 8.8%.I thought that an article from The New York Times which seemed to be a "behind the news" would help me understand the Washington Post article (or give a sort of other-perspective follow up). While the article on The Washington Post is flooded with numbers, percentages and dates; the article on the Times opens with a personal story about a 61 year old unemployed man in Florida, Richard Dudenhoeffer. Yet after this, the writing tries to pull the focus outside of Mr. Dudenhoffer's story, by explaining the debates between House Of Representatives and the Senate about unemployment laws. The problem, the huge problem, is that this article confused me more, simply because I had to read it several times to try and understand exactly WHO was proposing WHAT:
"The Florida House of Representatives approved a bill in March that would establish the deepest and most far-reaching cuts in unemployment benefits in the nation. Like the law signed in Michigan on Monday, the measure would reduce the number of weeks the unemployed could collect benefits from the standard 26 weeks to 20.
But the House proposal in Florida — in a high-unemployment state that already has some of the lowest benefits — takes it one step further by tying benefits to the unemployment rate. If the rate falls, so do the number of weeks of benefits. If the rate dips below 5 percent, the jobless would collect only 12 weeks of benefits, the lowest level.
This has workers worried in Florida, where the unemployment rate, while continuing to inch down, is 11.5 percent, considerably higher than the nation’s rate of 8.9 percent. Michigan’s rate is 10.4 percent.
The Senate is taking a less stringent approach in its bill, choosing not to reduce the number of weeks or tie benefits to the unemployment rate. The two chambers are expected to resolve their differences within the next few weeks.
The House version, which would take effect Aug. 1 if signed into law and affect people who apply after that date, would also make it easier for businesses to fire employees, who would then not be eligible for unemployment benefits."
The syntax of some of these sentences makes the information confusing.
These feature stories have a very specific type of structure it seems. First, in a lede-like manner, this article states the current development:
KAZO CITY, Japan — For four years, the abandoned high school in this sleepy farming district two hours north of Tokyo symbolized the decay of Japan’s rural hamlets, whose children had left for more promising futures in bustling urban centers.
Yes, it is 'newsworthy' because it is recent. However, the article compliments this development by bringing the human element into play. I have been following the story of the Japan earthquake and nuclear crisis closely enough to notice that the writing is usually focused on the immediate happenings of the story and not focusing on the effect it has on its residents. This article focuses specifically on the relocation on residents of Fukuba city (evacuated due to the spill) onto Kazo City. The writer makes a beautiful job of highlighting parts of the refugees daily lives now, emphasizing on the fact that the refugees might not return to Fukuba any time soon.
3. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-libya-europe-20110330,0,3821890.story
This article focuses on the international conference in London that was set up to discuss the future of Libya. But what the author is specific enough to point out is that there was barely any Libyan representation in the conference:
A few representatives of the rebels fighting Kadafi hovered on the fringes of the high-level talks. However, their absence from the meetings was a reflection of just how politically delicate the crisis in Libya remains, and how much its outcome could depend on outside factors.
The focus of this article puts the U.N.'s Security measure in another perspective for me. I myself was skeptical of the motives behind the international intervention in Libya, but I had never thought about what this article presents…That perhaps the Libyan opposition itself is too weakened for a fair fight?
Some good points here. I especially think number two was a good example of a 'behind the news' story. Good reading!
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