News Post #5

“In his weekly address, President Obama warns Congress against shutdown”

This Politico article, written by Abby Phillip, is a news post summarizing a portion of President Obama’s weekly address. The weekly address is the only source used by the writer. The article focuses specifically on Obama’s warning of a government shutdown. The deadline, March 4, is only days away, and both parties have yet to agree on a compromise for a short-term federal budget. Obama was quoted as saying that both Republicans and Democrats need to compromise in order to avoid the government shutdown, and said that neither party will get what they want. Republicans are proposing a short-term continuing resolution that includes cuts to the federal budget, while Democrats have proposed a bill that would temporarily extend the government’s spending level. Obama also said in his address that he is willing to consider any new ideas from either party to help reduce the deficit, as long as those ideas don’t cut much-needed investments. Additionally, Obama noted in his address that his administration has already begun making cuts by freezing non-discretionary domestic spending for the next five years, foregoing federal employee salary increases for three years, and slashing the budgets of programs designed to help low-income neighborhoods. The article ends with a quote in which Obama refers to the nation as a family; a family that has to live within its means.

            The article, written with a hard news approach, is a descriptive news article of President Obama’s discussion on the approaching government shutdown on March 4. In it’s entirety, the article is extremely objective, and uses very little descriptive words or opinions from the writer. The article includes a brief quote in the first paragraph, and quickly includes a quote in the second paragraph of the story. As a whole, the article uses more quotes than the average article, allowing the quotes, more than the writer, to tell the story. The article is very descriptive, and includes views of the ideal proposals from both parties. Finally, the article ends with a strong quote. In the quote, Obama compares the nation to a family, discussing the family’s need to keep finances in order. Ending with a slightly lengthy, yet strong quote proves to be the most effective way to end this article.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0211/50241.html