Commentaire d’ articles de presse

1. Commentaire d’ articles de presse ContinuousAssessment instructions

2. Comparingtwo articles • Pick up twofairlyrecentnewspaper articles dealingwith the sametopic. The articles may have been printed in the samepaper or in a different one, depending on whetheryouwant to studypolitical biais or the evolution of the perception of an event for instance. e.g. By comparing an article on the creditcrunchfrom the Daily Mail with one from the Economistyoumay explore the degree of languagetechnicality and the way the journalistadaptshislanguage to the paper’sreadership. By comparing an op.ed. with a feature on studentprotest in the UK, youmayunderline the specificity of an editorial. Your articles must beprinted versions, not online versions. Many magazines are available in the library.

3. Do make a comparison! • Do not separate the commentaries of the articles: the two articles must bedealtwith in the same successive sections. • NOT : « I shallstudy first the way the facts are presented in the Guardian and then focus on the wayfacts are explained in The Economist. ThenI will compare the two ». • BUT: « The readers are given more accurate figures in The Economistthan in The Guardian, which shows that The Economist’sreaders are more interested in technicaldetailswhile the Guardian’sreaderswanta syntheticaccount ».

4. Writing the introduction The first article, entitled « Wasting money on climate change » wasprinted / published in the December 2010 issue of The Economist. This publication is a weeklytargetting / aimedatwell-educatedreaders / people interested in economicaffairs / conversant with finance. Much of thispaperisindeeddevoted to finance, the Stock Exchange, and global economics. The readerswon’tbesurprisedatfindingsuch an article in the first pages of the paper. Otherusefulwords: Readerswell-versed in finance / in sports / in literature… A wide range of topics Topicsrangingfrompoliticalaffairs to sports Readersfrom all walks of life Readersat the bottom end of the social spectrum Low vs. High incomereaders

5. Introduction… The lay-out canbetelling: • The article issued in The Economistwasmentionedon the cover / front page, whichindicatesits importance in the eyes of the editor while the article from The Guardian isfeatured in the last pages of the paper, which tends to provethat the staff considered the subject of lesserinterest. • The subjectisgiven far less importance in the second paper: the headline isprinted in smaller fonts and the article is made up of 4 columns, compared to eight in The Economist. • The first article stretches over two full pages and iscomplemented by a set of colorphotographswhereas the second article issmaller in size and not illustrated.

6. Introduction … The headlines and subheadlinesmaybe … Catchy- attention-grabbing – aluring – funny – clever – mysterious – provocative – unusual – hackneyed… Theymaybebased on puns, or maybe a blend / a combination of two phrases; theymay allude to a saying or hide a cultural reference. The headlines mayleave no doubt as to the position of the writer and give us to understandthathewillbehighlycritical. From the headline one maygatherthat the journalistwilltreat on / dwellupon / underscore / put the light on / deal with / focus on The journalist Identifying the journalistmaybe relevant: if youwork on an article about the gender gap, itisnecessary to know whetheritwaswritten by a man or a woman; if your article deals with the overthrow of Ben Ali in Tunisia, itcouldbeinteresting to know whether the article waswritten by a special correspondant whowitnessed the protest, or by a politicalanalyst.

7. I. THE INFORMATION • Your first paragraphshouldanswer the following questions and bebackedup by quotes: What are the main informative elements in the two articles? Are the sameparticulars or detailsmentioned? Are wegivenonly the bare, essential facts? Do the journalists use specific, technicalwords and a precise lexical lexicalfield? List them. Do the articles include data, dates, or figures? Do the journalistsgivetheir sources? Givesomeexamples. Are the article first-hand accounts? Do the journalists have anyspecificlegitimacy to enquire? Which of the two articles wouldyouconsider as the mostreliable one? Why?

8. II. The analysis made by the journalists • Are the articles organized in the sameway? Are theredifferent parts? Do theyfollow a clear line of argument? Is there a logicallinkbetween the paragraphs? (Mind the presence of linkwords) • Are the readersgiven the historical, economic, social background of the events? Whatis the time spanchosen by the author? Are the journalistsreportingisolatedevents or a set of relatedevents? Are causes and consequencesinvestigatedtoo? • Do the journalistsgiveenoughexplanations? Whichdevices are used to make the situation understandable? Is thereanyvisualelementcomplementing the article? Is thereanycomparisonthatmay help the readersgrasp the situation?

9. III. THE SUBJECTIVE ELEMENTS • Do the journalistsgivetheir opinions overtly or in a verymutedway? Are theystraightforward, manipulative, hypocritical, outspoken? • Whatis the toneused by the journalist? Give and analyse quotes. Is the tone in keepingwith the other articles printed in this issue? Is the tone consistent with the subject? Is it the same in the two articles? • Are theresomerhetoricaldevices or images worthmentioning? Quote the textsand compare the styles. • In which article are the adjectives or adverbs more neutral? Quote the text. • Are the journalistssilent on other aspects of the issue? • Which of the two articles is the least biased one?

10. Conclusion The content of your conclusion willdepend on the nature and content of the text, and the interest of the comparisonitself. • You mayeventually compare the journalists’ commitments to journalismethics. Do theyshare the sameprofessional values? • You may end up with a comparison of the twooutletsthemselves and their histories. • You mayintroduce a third source to broaden the scope of youranalysis. • You mayconclude on the readers’ possible choice and the possible standardization of opinions. • You mayalsoconclude on the journalists’ freedom of speech: are theypayinglip service to the chief editor or the newspaper’sowners? • ETC.

11. THE NOTS • Do not giveyourown opinion on the subject. • Do not sum up the events or explain the situation. • Do not separate the analysis of the two articles: thisis a comparison. • Do not forget to quote the textor youranalysiswillremainshallow and disputable. • Do not forget to includeperipheralelements in youranalysis.

12. How to quote a text. • The journalist uses manywordsrelated to finance: « … », on line 2, « … » on line 6, etc. • One mayfind a few wordspertaining to finance (e.g.junk bonds, shareholdersin the openingparagraph; stock exchange in the Third one, etc.) • Adverbslike « unashamedly » (l. 3), or « conspicuously » (l. 20) betray the author’s point of view. • The journalistgives the readersprecise figures. He reports thatthe unemployment rate reached 12% in decemberfor instance; further in the text, heindicatesthat part time jobs account for 40% of all jobs. • The readers are givenseveralexamples of criminalacts, namelyburglary, robbery, aggravatedtheft (§4), whichenable the author to hammerhis point home. • Someexamples are particularlytelling, like the Gramsceen Case, whichiscited and analysed in details in the 4th paragraph. • Throughhisanalysis of the 1996 crisis, the authorevidences / illustrates / exemplifies histheory.