Weekly News Comment #2- “Michelle Obama Tops Opening Night for Democrats”
5 09 2012Jim Rutenberg’s New York Times article “Michelle Obama Tops Opening Night for Democrats” summarizes the events and speeches of the first night of the 2012 Democratic Convention. The article began by highlighting some of Mrs. Obama’s main points from the speech, and then moved downward to talking about some of the lesser speeches of the night. (I found that this really seemed to reflect the upside-down triangle of newswriting that we studied earlier this month.) The article especially seemed to highlight the non-confrontational essence of Mrs. Obama’s speech and contrast it with the direct anti-Romney tactics of the other speakers of the night.
This article comments on an event that is, most definitely, newsworthy. The results of this year’s election will have an effect on each and every U.S. citizen’s life and the first step toward the election is the Democratic and Republican primary. While the world already knows that President Obama is going to be the Democratic Party’s candidate, this week is very important in solidifying the Democratic platform and deciding the main issues that will be discussed in upcoming debates. Michelle Obama, as the first lady, as a mother, as a woman, and as a different type of public speaker, can give light to important aspects of the campaign that no one else can. Her speech revealed aspects of the President’s character that he, himself, cannot reveal and it should definitely be covered by the news media.
The article was well-written and used the right quotations to set the tone of the speech. It also pulled really useful quotations from the other speakers, although they weren’t as thoroughly covered. From reading the article, I was able to feel the tone of the whole first day of the convention: a focus on hard work to reach your dreams, the idea that Mitt Romney’s top-down tactics have been tried before and failed, how Barack Obama has made the U.S. a better place than it was four years ago, and the idea that all Americans should have the chance to succeed “no matter who we are, or where we’re from, or what we look like, or who we love.”
However, a two-page article can only give so much information. Mrs. Obama’s speech painted a picture of the American dream that almost drove me to tears at a couple of points. The depth, full meaning, and emotion behind her speech cannot be completely described in a newspaper article. I’d recommend that everyone, Democrat or Republican, watch at least a part of it to see a masterful speaker at work, and to hear exactly what our President and his family think it means to be an American. The link below contains the full speech, both in text and video.
Hannah: You don’t have to include the whole URL as a link. You can just type, “Read the story here” and then make that the link.
The comment is right on, Hannah, though maybe a bit too thorough. Your passion is much appreciated.