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Kathleen Parker was born in Winter Haven, Florida and received her masters' degree at Florida State University. She is conservative leaning and writes for the Washington Post. She's worked as a columnist for about 31 years for five different news papers and several magazines, including Time and Cosmopolitan. She now writes bi-weekly articles for the Washington Post about politics and culture. She received the Pulitzer Prize in 2010 for her work, particularly her unique perspectives on an array of topics like gender equality as well as her "graceful" and witty writing style. She also received the H.L Mencken Writing Award and wrote a book titled "Save the Males: Why Men Matter, Why Women Should Care" in 2008 demonstrating her unique perspectives on modern feminism. She's been writing for the Washington Post for 12 years now.
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Erik Wemple is a media critic for the Washington Post. He is a popular writer for opinion pieces on the website, earning his own category under the opinions tab. Born in Niskayuna, New York, he attended Hamilton College and graduated with a bachelors in government. He also attended Georgetown University, earning a masters degree in foreign service. He's been a journalist reporting on Washington, D.C over 20 years, and he now reports on and writes opinions about media organizations for the Washington Post. Before this, he covered export controls and focused on the Commerce Department, particularly the Bureau of Export Administration. This interest evolved into a passion for local affairs, landing him a job as a columnist for Washington City Paper. He then worked eight years as editor of City Paper and one year as editor of TBD.com before finally writing for the Washington Post.
"North Korea threatens to cancel summit with Trump over military drills" - SOAPSTone AnalysisSPEAKER - Anna Fifield, the author of this article, is a journalist from New Zealand who worked for the Financial Times for 13 years where she reported from almost 20 countries before writing for the Washington Post. She is the Tokyo bureau chief for the Washington Post, where she's been reporting on Japan and the Koreas. She mostly focuses on the lives of North Korean citizens and the regime.
OCCASION - This article was written shortly after the leaders of North Korea and South Korea agreed to end the conflict there, which relieved a lot of tension. For the past decade, North Korea has been acting hostile towards South Korea and the United States in building up a nuclear arsenal. Shortly after this, President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un planned a summit for next month, however North Korea has threatened to cancel. AUDIENCE - Fifield currently works in Tokyo reporting on events in Japan and North and South Korea, so her audience in that region is going to consist mainly of Japanese and South Korean citizens. However, a large portion of her audience is U.S citizens, who've been keeping up with North Korean "drama". North Korea's nuclear weapons and Kim Jong Un, the aggressive leader of the nation's regime, is often a topic of discussion among American citizens. PURPOSE - The purpose of the article is to keep the readers informed and updated on current events and progress made relieving tension in the Korean peninsula. Americans have been keeping up with the events in this region and the actions of North Korea's leader and military for the past decade or so. Fifield often reports on North Korea's regime, so this is most likely the purpose for most of her articles. SUBJECT - About a week ago, North and South Korea reached an agreement that resulted in piece relieving years of tension. President Trump and Kim Jong Un, North Korea's leader, have planned a summit for some time in June. However, because of the U.S's continued drills with South Korea's Air Force, Kim Jong Un is beginning to feel doubtful about the summit. He sees the drills as ruining the diplomatic mood, however even though there is peace between North and South Korea, South Korea still wants U.S troops to stay. Tone - The author does a good job of maintaining a non-biased and purely objective tone throughout the article, avoiding personal opinion as much as possible and only reporting statements of others, like those of Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State. Because of the looming potential for the summit being cancelled, the author ends with an uncertain tone. "Pashtun people power is jolting the military establishment in Pakistan" - SOAPSTone AnalysisA map demostrating the location of the lesser-known Middle-Eastern ethnic group, the Pashtuns. SPEAKER - The author of this opinion piece is Abubakar Siddique. While Siddique doesn't have a page on the Washington Post, he can be found elsewhere. Siddique is a senior correspondent for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, an Eastern European/Middle Eastern radio news broadcast. Based in Prague, the capitol of the Czech Republic, he often reports about updates in the Middle Eastern conflicts, including Pakistan and Afghanistan. He specializes in the Pashtun heartland where he was born, making him a credible source for this information.
OCCASION - This article was written about a week after Manzoor Pashteen, leader of the Pashtun Protection Movement (PTM), gave a speech in Swat, Pakistan. The focus of the speech was the PTM's campaign, which began in February, pushing for the undoing of many destructive policies negatively affecting the Pashtun people in the past forty years. AUDIENCE - Being the editor for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) which reports to Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East, Siddique chose to write this article for the Washington Post. Since the Washington Post is more accessible Western countries than RFE/RL, Siddique's intended audience is most likely Westerners. PURPOSE - Not only did Siddique cover this at RFE/RL, he also chose to cover it in the Washington Post, which is more accessible to Westerners. His goal for reaching out to Weterners is probably to bring attention to the struggle of the Pashtuns, which many Westerners, America in particular, which has had military involvement in Pakistan in the past, have probably never heard of. His goal is most likely to bring awareness to the Pashtuns' struggles and to show that they are making progress. SUBJECT - The subject of the article is the Pashtuns, a large ethnic group in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and their struggle against the Pakistan government. Over the past 40 years, the Pakistan government has made destructive policies that are harmful to the Pashtuns. The 30 million Pashtuns in Pakistan now want recognition of their fundamental human rights and justice for the victims of disappearances and executions. So far, progress has been made as military leaders have complied to some minor requests like relaxation of curfews, but there is still a long way to go until the PTM reaches its long-term goals. Tone - Siddique's tone in the beginning of the passage changes quickly, from highly subjective by making clear it is his personal opinions and that they don't represent his employer, to grim when mentioning the treatment and struggles of the Pashtun people. He then changes to an optimistic tone by mentioning the minor victories of the PTM and ends with a demanding tone by requesting for Pakistan generals to listen to their country's interests. The military's latest plan to save lives on the battlefield: Building driverless vehiclesAn explosive ordnance disposal robot, or EOD, that is driverless and currently used by the military to locate and dispose of bombs. Speaker - The author of this article is Peter Holley. Holley has reported for the Washington Post for four years and also has experience at the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News. He has reported from Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Holley specializes in reporting on technology, and his experience in these countries makes him a credible source for technology updates concerning the military.
Occasion - Holley reports on this innovation in military technology after continued conflict in the Middle East. "Force protection", or finding ways to lower the risk of hostile action towards U.S soldiers, has become a priority in many branches of the military, hence the reason for driverless vehicles. Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in particular have cause thousands of deaths of U.S soldiers and driverless vehicles are being develop to prevent this. Audience - Holley's reporting may be of interest to anyone concerned with the safety of our soldiers in the Middle East. These people may include soldiers in training or young adults planning to join the military, whose safety will be directly affected by these improvements in technology. This article may particularly comfort families of current troops who face the risk of IEDs, which unfortunately aren't too uncommon. Purpose - On the surface, the purpose of this article is simply to inform the public of advancements being made in military technology. It is often said that whatever technology we as civilians have now, the military is fifty years ahead of it, so being informed on their advancements is interesting for a lot of people. However, while this may have not been the author's intended purpose, the article also reminds people that conflict in the Middle East is still going on, as some people may have "forgotten" about it since it's been happening for so long. Subject - The research for self driving cars in the military is taking place in Silicon Valley, a technological center in the United States, and Detroit, the U.S's automobile center. Research has to be done separately from research done by commercial companies such as Uber because unlike in a commercial setting, self driving cars in the military will be used in rigid conflict zones mostly without pedestrians and traffic laws. These automated vehicles would need the ability to go off road or survive sand storms and would have to be loaded with sensors that can distinguish bushes from disguised enemies or locate and detect bombs. Tone - Holley's tone throughout this passage is mostly optimistic. While he continues to mention challenges that are faced while developing this technology, he ultimately focuses on what the technology will do for our troops and the problems it will solve. "Trump-FBI feud over classified memo erupts into open conflict" - SOAPSTone AnalysisSPEAKER - This article is credited to Josh Dawsey, Devlin Barret, and Karoun Demirjian.
The only information provided by The Washington Post about Dawsey is that he is a White House reporter in Washington D.C. Barret is a reporter for The Washington Post and Demirjian is a congressional reporter. OCCASION - Posted January 31, 2018, this article was written after "the long-simmering feud" between Trump and the FBI regarding whether or not to release a classified memo regarding Russian involvement in the 2016 election. AUDIENCE - The article, being classified under politics, is obviously geared toward people who are interested or involved in politics. More specifically, however, this article would especially appeal to "members" of the #releasethememo campaign, a movement on Twitter composed of people who want the memo released. PURPOSE - This article's purpose is indicated by the time frame of the event. Because the authors themselves note that the event has been ongoing, the purpose of the article is to keep followers of politics updated on the situation being discussed. SUBJECT - To be more specific than the title suggests, the subject of the article is the dispute between President Donald Trump, who wants to release a classified FBI memo on the role of Russia in the 2016 election, and the Justice Department, who is urging him to keep it classified. According to the article, the president "sees it key to making changes at the Justice Department" - which may indicate an unsettling outcome if the memo is released - and is most likely exactly why the FBI, especially Rod Rosentein, U.S Deputy Attorney General, who Trump hopes to push out, wants to keep it classified. Tone - In the beginning of the article, the authors' tones at first are reminiscent of gossip, carrying a sort of "he said that she said" tone. The politics being discussed sound like personal relationships, especially in the 8th paragraph - "particularly pushing out Rosenstein" sounds as if Trump has a personal distaste towards him. This tone continues throughout the article, especially in phrases like "Few things have frustrated Trump as much as...", which continue to carry a personal sense. "A December tax bill means a messy 2018 tax year" - SOAPSTone AnalysisSPEAKER - This is an opinion piece from Kim K. Seifert, a resident of Harrisonburg, Virgina. Seifert states in the very first sentence of the article that he is a payroll supervisor. This means the author pays employees by collecting payroll information and keeping records. The author can be trusted with money, which is the only thing crediting his opinion.
OCCASION - The article was written on December 19, 2017, just one day after the tax reform bill passed through congress. A tax reform bill is a bill that alters the way taxes are collected or managed by the government. AUDIENCE - The audience of this article is anyone who is affected by the tax reform. Anyone who pays taxes and lives in the United States is affected by this tax reform in some way. The effect can be major or barely noticeable/important. PURPOSE - The purpose of this article, being an opinion piece, is to serve as a platform for the author to express their opinion and inform people of some of the effects of the tax reform bill. SUBJECT - In summary, this article explains that the author's main concerns about the GOP's new tax reform bill is its late-year timing and the fact that congress would "completely alter the structure of the tax-withholding system". The author explains that the change to the withholding system can't be done by January first and will result in complications for everyone who pays taxes when it changes midyear. Tone - The tone not only indicates that the author is opposed to the tax reform itself, but also the planning of it on the GOP's part. Dramatic words and phrases like "dramatic" and "herculean task" add to the notion that because of the bill's timing, complications will arise for employers in the middle of next year. The use of the word "proper" when referring to the GOP's planning of the bill expresses the author's disappointment. "What happens once 'net neutrality' rules bite the dust?" - SOAPSTone AnalysisAjit Pai, Chairman of the United States Federal Communications Commision, wishes to undo the nation's net neutrality laws. Background If you regularly log in to any major social media platform such as Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook, you've definitely heard about the possible end of net neutrality. Before the panic the news incited, most people didn't even know what net neutrality was, myself included. It turns out that net neutrality is a fundamental concept that allows us to use the internet the way we do today - freely and openly. So what is it? According to The Washington Post's article "What happens once 'net neutrality' rules bite the dust?", net neutrality requires internet service providers like Verizon and Comcast to treat all internet traffic equally, regardless of the user or accessed site. If net neutrality were to be ended, ISPs could manipulate customers' internet usage for profit by blocking certain sites or apps of competitors or charging customers extra to continue using a certain site. SOAPSTone AnalysisSPEAKER - The author of this article is Tali Arbel, a well renowned and reliable writer not only for The Washington Post, but also Associated Press.
OCCASION - The context of this article arises out of the recent controversy sparked when the Chairman of the FCC (Federal Communications Commission), Ajit Pai, discussed his proposed alternative to the current net neutrality laws on November 21, 2017. This article was published one day later on November 22. AUDIENCE - Arbel's audience is everyone who will be affected if the FCC changes net neutrality laws, so alternatively, everyone in America. Seeing as almost everyone uses the internet in one way or another, and as previously stated, not many people know what net neutrality is, Arbel's audience is quite broad. PURPOSE - Building off of the article's audience, the amount of people who don't know why net neutrality is important, let alone what it is, Arbel's purpose is to educated Americans on how their internet usage will be affected if the FCC changes net neutrality laws in the way that they are planning to. SUBJECT - The article delves deep into both the obvious and the not-so-obvious effects of net neutrality laws being removed by the FCC, which include ISPs charging extra to use certain cites or completely blocking cites from customers' use. TONE - The author makes strong and effective use of rhetorical devices to argue their point, mainly appealing to logos throughout the article. Arbel uses almost exclusively facts and direct quotes from FCC officials and officials of ISPs including AT&T and Comcast to construct their argument. Arbel elaborates on these quotes by analyzing the differences between these groups' words and their actions, which sometimes can be pretty drastic. This results in an overall skeptical tone for Arbel about what the FCC plans to do concerning net neutrality laws, especially due to the frequent use of words like "but", "however," and "although". Overall, Arbel almost completely avoids bias except when analyzing both sides of the net neutrality argument to build a strong and consistent use of his appeal to logos, resulting in a skeptical tone. |