Newspaper Comparison of the US Media - Case Study Example

Newspaper Comparison Assignment: Washington ‘concerned’ about Syrian troop movements US warns Syria against Lebanon interference (Al-Aribiya.net) & US warns Syria against interfering in Lebanon (Reuters.com) Summary Both news articles, which are entitled as “Washington ‘concerned’ about Syrian troop movements, US warns Syria against Lebanon interference” and “US warns Syria against interfering in Lebanon” respectively, talk about Syria and their military advances in Lebanon and the United State of America’s stand on the issue. 1,2 The US reacted to Syria’s recent military actions towards Lebanon – it seems that Syria’s military is having a military build-up in its northern border. The military measures were caused by the immense bomb attack of Damascus recently. The US expressed their concern towards these military advancements, saying that the said bomb attack in Damascus is not enough to be an excuse in order to interfere into Lebanon. US’ spokesperson, Robert Wood, stated to the reporters that the US and other countries as well had already warned the Syria regarding their actions. They claimed that the interference that Syria is planning is intolerable. Wood added that Lebanon should be left alone in dealing with their internal affairs. Syria has always been involved in Lebanon’s internal affairs for 29 years, however, this involvement was put to an end in the year 2005 when the former prime minister of Lebanon, Rafiq al-Hariri, was assassinated. Nonetheless, recently, Damascus was given notice due to the increasing Islamist militancy from north Lebanon. Syria also claimed that there was a vehicle that was used in the bomb attack in Damascus that made their way through other Arab states which is probably Iraq and Jordan. This incident caused Syria to send military troop in their border with Lebanon, however, other countries view these actions as combat smuggling. According to Wood, their country is apprehensive towards the Syria’s possible interference in Lebanon’s domestic dealings. Even Syria’s adversaries from Lebanon look at this action as an excuse for intercession. Positively, Syria is very well aware of the opinions of the US and other countries regarding this issue especially since, last September, the US Secretary of State and the Syrian Foreign Minister have met with one another in the UN General Assembly. The US has been trying to evaluate the current situation in order to find a way to change Syria’s behavior. As of the recently, the US has already imposed sanctions against Syria. Title The title of the first news article is “Washington ‘concerned’ about Syrian troop movements, US warns Syria against Lebanon interference.” Simply by looking at it, it can be said that the title of the first news article is very well constructed as it can be seen below. Washington ‘concerned’ about Syrian troop movements US warns Syria against Lebanon interference2 Moreover, it is very well-thought off and is very journalistic in appeal. From the title itself, it can already give readers a glimpse of what the news article is talking about. The first line which is “Washington ‘concerned’ about Syrian troop movements” can already say that the article contains the US’ point-of-view regarding the issue at hand. The word ‘concerned’ is stressed by using quotation marks in order to clearly show what the US feels about the issue – a reader could already see that the US is anxious, troubled, worried, etc. Consequently, the second line which is “US warns Syria against Lebanon interference” could serve as a stand-alone title for the article. However, the first line enhances the whole structure of the title as it can already answer why US warned Syria about interfering in Lebanon. On the other hand, the title of the second news article is “US warns Syria against interfering in Lebanon.” The title was constructed in a very simple and direct manner as it can be seen below. US warns Syria against interfering in Lebanon3 Unlike in the first article, the title of the second news article did not use any terms like ‘interference’ which is could give a strong journalistic appeal to the title – words such like ‘interference’ could make the title or the news article as a whole sound professional in a sense. Since this title is also seen in the first news article as its second line, it only does prove that it can serve as a news article title already as what was stated earlier. Sources The first news article was taken from Al-Arabiya.net.4 Al-Arabiya.net is the internet site of Al-Arabiya, a news channel which is in Arabic language. The said news channel is based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and is partially owned by Middle East Broadcasting Center or MBC. This internet site was first unveiled in the year 2004 at the month of February. Since the first internet site that was launched was in Arabic, Al-Arabiya again launched another Al-Arabiya.net which is in the English language in 2007. The second news article was found in Reuters.com.5 Reuters.com is Reuters’ consumer website based in the United States of America. Originally, it was based in the United Kingdom. Ever since its establishment, it has always been centered on news service. The company gives news and reports from around the world by providing recent and up-to-date reports to newspapers, news channels, reporters and newscasters. They are able to fulfill this service by having a pool of thousands of journalists that covers major world events. In addition, the second news article indicates its reporter and editor who are Sue Pleming and Eric Walsh, respectively. Time The first news article which is from Al-Arabiya.net is dated October 7, 2008, Tuesday while the second news article from Reuters.com is dated October 6, 2008, Monday, moreover, it constitutes the exact time it was published – 4:25pm EDT.6,7 Just by looking at the dates of the article when it was published on the two internet sites, the second news article was released ahead of the first news article. It could be that the reason behind this is because the content of the both news articles itself was situated in the US and since Reuters.com is based in US – in New York City, USA to be exact – Reuters.com could get the story ahead of time. Moreover, as mentioned before, Reuters.com possesses thousands of reporters that can cover any major events globally. Another possible explanation is that of the time difference between US and Dubai. Asian countries are ahead of one day than western countries; hence, it is possible that is already the 7th of October in Dubai while it is still the 6th of October in the US. Unfortunately, it is impossible to say whether both news articles were published in the Al-Arabiya.net and Reuters.com at the same time. This is because the first news article from Al-Arabiya.net was published online without stating the specific time unlike in the second news article where Reuters.com specified that the article was published only at 4:25pm. Content The first news article and the second news article have the exact same content. The similarities do not only appear in what the story is about but also in each and every word that were used in both news articles. Hence, the two news articles are exactly the same. For example: First paragraph of the first news article:7 The United States voiced concern over Syrias military build-up at its northern border and said the recent massive bomb attack in Damascus must not be used as a pretext to get its forces back into Lebanon. First paragraph of the second news article:8 The United States voiced concern over Syrias military build-up at its northern border and said the recent massive bomb attack in Damascus must not be used as a pretext to get its forces back into Lebanon. Last paragraph of the first news article:9 So far, U.S. strategy has been to impose a raft of sanctions against Syria, which is also on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. Last paragraph of the second news article:10 So far, U.S. strategy has been to impose a raft of sanctions against Syria, which is also on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. Moreover, even the quotations that were used in the first news article are the same with the quotations in the second news article. In addition, the quotations could be found the exact same location. Yet another example: First quotation used in the first news article, third paragraph:11 "The recent terrorist attacks that took place in Tripoli (Lebanon) and Damascus should not serve as a pretext for, you know, further Syrian military engagement or, should not be used to interfere in Lebanese internal affairs," Wood told reporters. First quotation used in the second news article, third paragraph:12 "The recent terrorist attacks that took place in Tripoli (Lebanon) and Damascus should not serve as a pretext for, you know, further Syrian military engagement or, should not be used to interfere in Lebanese internal affairs," Wood told reporters. Second and third quotations used in the first news article, eighth and ninth paragraphs:13 "Obviously were concerned about this type of activity along the border and that it not lead to any further interference on the part of Syria into Lebanons internal affairs," Wood said.   "The Syrian government is well aware of our views with regard to any kind of military activity along the border," he added. Second and third quotations used in the second news article, eighth and ninth paragraphs:14 "Obviously were concerned about this type of activity along the border and that it not lead to any further interference on the part of Syria into Lebanons internal affairs," Wood said.   "The Syrian government is well aware of our views with regard to any kind of military activity along the border," he added. The only difference of the two news articles is that the second news article consists of thirteen paragraphs while the first news article only has twelve. This is because first news article when it was published in Al-Arabiya.net, the news article’s original twelfth paragraph was omitted. The second news article’s twelfth and second to the last paragraph is:15 Two days later, the State Departments key Middle East policy diplomat met Moualem again to discuss that and other issues. However, there is no case of plagiarism done in this case. However, it can be said that Reuters.com was the original internet site who published this article. As mentioned before, Reuters.com provides news to newspapers, news channels, reporters and newscasters from all over the world, hence, it is totally possible that Reuters.com gave Al-Aribiya.net this story for them to use since Al-Arabiya.net is the official website of Al-Arabiya news channel, Conclusion The two news articles that were used for this Newspaper Comparison Assignment are the same exact articles. The only differences that were seen are its title construction, sources, time of publishing and the missing twelfth paragraph that is in the second news article that is nowhere in the first news article – other than those that were mentioned, there are no other differences can be noted from the two news articles. However, if it is asked which between the two news articles is more inclining to read, it could be that it will be the first news article. This is because the news article has a more well-constructed title compared to the second news article. It is possible, however, that readers could be misled by the date and time that the news articles were published if they are not aware of the existing time difference between US and Dubai that they may think that the news article taken from Al-Arabiya.net is already late compared to the ones taken from Reuters.com. Read More