If a news article is an objective report that traditionally answers the questions who, what, where, when, why, and how (Journalism's 5W's and 1H), readers should not find any differences in articles on the same subject or event published in different news sources. Yet, such differences do exist. In fact, a news article is shaped as much by context as by content. For your first formal paper, you are to write a comparative analysis of a single, current news story--which may include not just one article per source but also a series of articles--published in a newspaper and a second news source of your choice.

In preparation for writing your paper, you may want to begin by focusing on content: What are the facts of the story? How do they differ? What sources are cited in the story? What is the emphasis of each story (consider the headline and lead)? Your analysis, however, will become more sophisticated and complex as you consider the context of the article. What do you know about the news source in which the article appears? What is its geographic and demographic range? What is the bias or perspective of the news source? Where in the newspaper/program/web site does the article(s) appear? Are there other stories, editorials, or columns related to this story in the news source? How much space (column inches, time) do they devote to the story? Is the story a news article or news analysis? These questions are here to guide you and not to dictate the content of your paper. Undoubtedly, you will develop more specific and pointed questions once you have selected the stories you will analyze.

A comparative analysis considers both comparisons and contrasts, similarities and differences. The purpose of a comparative analysis, however, is not simply--and simplistically--to demonstrate that "these are the same" or "these are different," in the immortal words of our childhood educator, Sesame Street. Rather, we conduct a comparative analysis to reveal a nonobvious insight about the subject (to be redundant), which will form the basis of the thesis statement.

A wide range of newspapers is available to you daily in the Galant Reading Room on the first floor of the Scribner Library. Our News Resources page also offers link to a current news resources.

If you have any questions about this assignment, please raise them in class so that we all may benefit from the answer. I am happy to meet with you at any time to assist you in developing, drafting, and revising your paper. Please feel free to arrange a conference with me