I picked up a recent copy of The Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper at my local news stand and I decided to give it a read. Normally, I am not very impressed by news sources that are not the Los Angeles Times (or the New York Times) because I typically try to stick with a few view points that I am familiar with. So, this time around I decided to venture into the Philadelphia Inquirer and here are my thoughts.
For starters, I will be comparing only two articles about a single subject, not necessarily discussing the same topic, but I am simply giving an extremely biased opinion on the styles and abilities of the authors who wrote these articles. The subject I chose was oil. Since oil prices have been soaring all across the nation (Monday 3/3/2008, the cost for crude oil was just over $103), this subject has been the focus of many peoples concern because it is something that everyone needs.
The LA Times article seemed a lot more casual and more readable to the casual reader. The author laid out some historical facts and numbers but stayed away from throwing too many analytical information for the reader. Instead, the author painted a picture that seems more reasonable and less “to the point”.
The Philadelphia Inquirer article was very straight and to the point. As you read each fact and and opinions by analysts, I felt unsure exactly what opinion I should be forming about our subject. From a strictly analytical point of view, the article was very solid and to the point, but without some actual opinion (stated or otherwise deduced) it was hard for me to differentiate between the authors words and the facts being provided.
I completely understand that news articles are suppose to be written without biasness and opinion, but let us face the facts; every word you read has a tone and opinion that speaks for itself. Whether the glass is half empty or half full it would be difficult to completely write without any biasness, so in retrospect, the Inquirer did a much better job reporting on “Oil price: Salt in a wounded economy,Record high will sting every sector and all people“, where as the Times painted a better picture of “Oil touches an all-time high“.
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