Category: News Posts

Biden Rejects $450,000 Payments for Separated Migrants

This article, in the Politics section of the New York Times, written by Zolan Kanno-Youngs, details how President Biden opposed the idea of paying migrant families $450,000 in compensation after former President Trump’s “zero-tolerance” policy forcibly separated around 5,500 children from their parents at the southern border.

I thought this was really interesting because it seemed like the U.S. government’s position was going to be to pay them this money, but all of sudden Biden comes out of left field and shoots that option down. The article includes a quote from the executive director of the ACLU, who criticized Biden for the remarks.

News video from CBS News: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kids-covid-vaccine-cdc-recommend/.

Article from USAToday: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2021/11/02/covid-vaccine-kids-children-approved/6233927001/.

These two stories from CBS News and USAToday are remarkably similar in content even though they are from two separate news sources. Both are similar leads, with the CDC recommending the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 5-11. It makes sense, though, because they are covering the same story.

Just as an article would include quotes from an expert, the news story from CBS also includes an interview clip with multiple doctors. The written story from USAToday includes multiple quotes from doctors and even a quote from President Joe Biden.

I feel like videos are more personable than written news stories but that only makes sense. I really enjoy reading, but it is also pretty nice just to be able to sit back and consume the news without too much effort. I thought both the CBS News and USAToday stories were well executed overall.

House Democratic Retirements Pile Up as Party Fears Losing Majority

This article was published this morning in the New York Times in the Politics section. It was authored by Jonathan Weisman.

The article details that around a dozen House Democrats have announced they are not running for re-election for the next term, including a couple from historically contested and competitive seats. It gives a couple of the reasons why these congresspeople have given for why they aren’t running again. It gets quotes from those congresspeople, a political science professor, and someone from the Republican side of things. I think the quotes are adequate and add to the story in a positive manner. I think this is interesting because I really politics in general.

Most Abortions in Texas Are Banned Again After Court Ruling

This article, written by J. David Goodman, was published U.S. section of the New York Times. It details how a federal appeals court reinstated the Texas ban on almost all abortions that had been blocked by multiple lower courts.

The author uses quotes in this article to present both sides of the argument. He quoted the spokeswoman for the organization Texas Right to Life, who lobbied in favor of the bill. He also quoted the president and chief executive of the Center for Reproductive Rights, who oppose the law. He lays out the situation in an unbiased manner, as well.

A Year After ‘Defund’, Police Departments Get Their Money Back

This article, written by J. David Goodman, was published in the U.S. section of the New York Times. It talks about police departments across the country saw their funding get slashed in response to the killing of George Floyd last year. However, this year, those same departments are getting their funding back in response to rising levels of crime in major cities.

This article utilizes a decent amount of quotes. The author quotes people such as the executive director of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, Chief of Police in Dallas, TX, and a worried barber from south Dallas. The quotes are all fine, and the author presents both sides of the argument through these quotes. As a fan of reading about politics, I enjoyed this article.

House approves $1 billion for the Iron Dome as Democrats feud over Israel.

This article, written by Catie Edmondson, in the politics section of the New York Times, details the vote by U.S. House today to approve $1 billion in new funding for Israel’s Iron Dome system. The vote was overwhelmingly in favor of the measure.

I think the lede does a good job of describing the situation. Not sure if the use of the word “bitter” is necessary for it, though. It provides a good quote of someone opposing and supporting the measure. I think it is interesting because I love learning about Israel, and I care about politics in America. This is a good intersection between the two areas.

New Study of Covid Booster Shots Fans Debate Over Benefits
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/15/health/covid-booster-shot-data.html

The New York Times published an article by Apoorva Mandavilli in their Health section describing a recent study performed by researchers in Israel that shows a booster of the vaccine is effective at preventing infections and severe illness in adults over 60 years old.

I’m not a fan of the article’s lede. It starts by saying, “Wading into an acrimonious debate over booster doses.” That isn’t necessary and leads should just be stating the news. It could’ve very easily just started with, “Researchers in Israel…” and nothing would have been lost. Also, I had to look up what “acrimonious” meant.

I really don’t have a problem with the rest of the article. It is informative and lays out the facts well. I’m undecided on how I feel about booster shots.

Biden to Announce Sweeping Vaccine Mandates Affecting Millions of Workers

NBC News published an article written by Shannon Pettypiece and Heidi Przybyla explaining describing President Biden’s executive orders today mandating vaccines for federal workers and contractors.

I’m interested in this story because I am interested in politics, and it is something that affects so many people. Biden had previously said he would not impose any sort of vaccine mandates.

I believe the lede for this story does a good job. It gives the reader the right amount of information. Who, what, when, and why are all answered in the lede. The where was not important to the story and was not answered.

Answers to Questions About the Texas Abortion Law

The New York Times published an article written by Roni Caryn Rabin explaining the a recently passed Texas law banning most abortions. This article is found on the Health section of the newspaper.

I found this article to be an interesting read because I am fascinated by politics, evidenced by the Political Science degree I am working towards. I rarely read the New York TImes, but I thought I would try it out this time around. The article is very informational, giving commonly asked questions about the law (such as “Is the law a complete ban on abortions?” and “Does the law make exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest, or to protect the life of the mother?”), as well as answers to those questions.

However, I’m rather disappointed in the author of the article for only getting one side of the story. The author gets quotes from a policy analyst at a research organization which supports abortion rights and the executive director from an organization that helps low-income women pay for abortions, among others. No one from the pro-life side of the issue is brought in to bring the other side of the story into view, which is interesting as 47% of the country identifies with such as stance, according to a Gallup poll.