analysis

SampleArgumentPaper.pdf

Source: Hacker/Sommers (Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016, 2014). This paper follows the style guidelines in the MLA Handbook, 8th ed. (2016).

Argument Paper, MLA Style (Jacobs)

Marginal annotations indicate MLA-style formatting and effective writing.

Jacobs 1

Sam Jacobs

Professor Alperini

English 101

5 November XXXX

From Lecture to Conversation:

Redefining What ’s “Fit to Print”

“All the news that ’s fit to print,” the motto of the New York

Times since 1896, plays with the word fit, asserting that a news

story must be newsworthy and must not exceed the limits of the

printed page. The increase in online news consumption, however,

challenges both meanings of the word fit, allowing producers and

consumers alike to rethink who decides which topics are worth

covering and how extensive that coverage should be. Any cultural

shift usually means that something is lost, but in this case there

are clear gains. The shift from print to online news provides

unprecedented opportunities for readers to become more engaged

with the news, to hold journalists accountable, and to participate

as producers, not simply as consumers.

Guided by journalism’s code of ethics—accuracy, objectivity,

and fairness—print news reporters have gathered and delivered

stories according to what editors decide is fit for their readers.

Except for op-ed pages and letters to the editor, print news has

traditionally had a one-sided relationship with its readers. The print

news media’s reputation for objective reporting has been held up as

“a stop sign” for readers, sending a clear message that no further

inquiry is necessary (Weinberger). With the rise of the Internet,

however, this model has been criticized by journalists such as

Jacobs provides background in opening sentences for his thesis.

Jacobs does not need a citation for common knowledge.

Thesis states the main point.

4/16

Hacker-Jacobs-MLA-Arg-01.indd 1 02/05/16 1:56 PM

Source: Hacker/Sommers (Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016, 2014).

Jacobs 2

Dan Gillmor, founder of the Center for Citizen Media, who argues

that traditional print journalism treats “news as a lecture,” whereas

online news is “more of a conversation” (xxiv). Print news arrives

on the doorstep every morning as a fully formed lecture, a product

created without participation from its readership. By contrast,

online news invites readers to participate in a collaborative

process—to question and even help produce the content.

One of the most important advantages online news offers

over print news is the presence of built-in hyperlinks, which

carry readers from one electronic document to another. If readers

are curious about the definition of a term, the roots of a story,

or other perspectives on a topic, links provide a path. Links

help readers become more critical consumers of information

by engaging them in a totally new way. For instance, the link

embedded in the story “Credit-Shy: Younger Generation Is More

Likely to Stick to a Cash-Only Policy” (Sapin) allows readers to

find out more about the financial trends of young adults and

provides statistics that confirm the article’s accuracy (see fig. 1).

Other links in the article widen the conversation. These kinds of

links give readers the opportunity to conduct their own evaluation

of the evidence and verify the journalist’s claims.

Links provide a kind of transparency impossible in print

because they allow readers to see through online news to the

“sources, disagreements, and the personal assumptions and

values” that may have influenced a news story (Weinberger). The

International Center for Media and the Public Agenda underscores

the importance of news organizations letting “customers in on the

often tightly held little secrets of journalism.” To do so, they

Jacobs clarifies key terms (transparency and accountability).

Transition moves from Jacobs’s main argument to specific examples.

Hacker-Jacobs-MLA-Arg-01.indd 2 02/05/16 1:56 PM

Source: Hacker/Sommers (Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016, 2014).

Jacobs 3

suggest, will lead to “accountability and accountability leads to

credibility” (“Openness”). These tools alone don’t guarantee that

news producers will be responsible and trustworthy, but they

encourage an open and transparent environment that benefits

news consumers.

Source is cited in MLA style.

Sources: The Denver Post; article by Rachel Sapin, special to the Denver Post; graph courtesy of PEW Research Center.

Fig. 1. Links embedded in online news articles allow readers to

move from the main story to original sources, related articles, or

background materials. The link in this online article (Sapin) points

to a statistical report by the Pew Research Center, the original

source of the author’s data on young adults’ spending practices.

Source: Hacker/Sommers (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2014).

Jacobs 3

suggest, will lead to “accountability and accountability leads to

credibility” (“Openness”). These tools alone don’t guarantee that

news producers will be responsible and trustworthy, but they

encourage an open and transparent environment that benefits

news consumers.

Source is cited in MLA style.

Sources: The Denver Post; article by Rachel Sapin, special to the Denver Post; graph courtesy of PEW Research Center.

Fig. 1. Links embedded in online news articles allow readers to

move from the main story to original sources, related articles, or

background materials. The link in this online article (Sapin) points

to a statistical report by the Pew Research Center, the original

source of the author’s data on young adults’ spending practices.

PEW RESEARCH CENTER

www.pewresearch.org

$15,473

$30,070

$21,912

$32,543

Younger than 35

35 and older

2010 2007

29% decline

8% decline

Percent change

83 84

78 75 77

73 75 74

100

2001 2004 2007 2010

Younger than 35

35 and older

All

Young Adults After the Recession: Fewer Homes, Fewer Cars, Less Debt By Richard Fry

OVERVIEW

After running up record

debt-to-income ratios during

the bubble economy of the

2000s, young adults shed

substantially more debt than

older adults did during the

Great Recession and its

immediate aftermath—

mainly by virtue of owning

fewer houses and cars,

according to a new Pew

Research Center analysis of

Federal Reserve Board and

other government data.

From 2007 to 2010, the

median debt of households

headed by an adult younger

than 35 fell by 29%,

compared with a decline of

just 8% among households

headed by adults ages 35 and

older. Also, the share of

younger households holding

debt of any kind fell to 78%,

the lowest level since the

government began collecting

such data in 1983.

Debt reduction among young

adults during bad economic

Median Total Debt of Households, by Age of Head, 2007 and 2010 in 2011 dollars

Note: The median is calculated among all households, including those without any debt.

Source: Pew Research Center tabulations of Survey of Consumer Finances data

PEW RESEARCH CENTER

Share of Households with Any Debt, by Age of Head, 2001-2010 %

Source: Pew Research Center tabulations of Survey of Consumer Finances data

PEW RESEARCH CENTER

Hacker-Jacobs-MLA-Arg-01.indd 3 02/05/16 1:56 PM

Source: Hacker/Sommers (Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016, 2014).

Jacobs 4

Not only has technology allowed readers to become more

critical news consumers, but it also has helped some to become

news producers. The Web gives ordinary people the power to

report on the day’s events. Anyone with an Internet connection

can publish on blogs and Web sites, engage in online discussion

forums, and contribute video and audio recordings. Citizen

journalists with laptops, cell phones, and digital camcorders have

become news producers alongside large news organizations.

Not everyone embraces the spread of unregulated news

reporting online. Critics point out that citizen journalists are not

necessarily trained to be fair or ethical, for example, nor are they

subject to editorial oversight. Acknowledging that citizen reporting

is more immediate and experimental, critics also question its

accuracy and accountability: “While it has its place . . . it really

isn’t journalism at all, and it opens up information flow to the

strong probability of fraud and abuse. . . . Information without

journalistic standards is called gossip,” writes David Hazinski in

the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (23A). In his book Losing the

News, media specialist Alex S. Jones argues that what passes for

news today is in fact “pseudo news” and is “far less reliable” than

traditional print news (27). Even a supporter like Gillmor is willing

to agree that citizen journalists are “nonexperts,” but he argues

that they are “using technology to make a profound contribution,

and a real difference” (140).

Citizen reporting made a difference in the wake of Hurricane

Katrina in 2005. Armed with cell phones and laptops, regular

citizens relayed critical news updates in a rapidly developing crisis,

often before traditional journalists were even on the scene.

A vivid example helps Jacobs make his point.

Opposing views are presented fairly.

Jacobs counters opposing arguments.

Jacobs develops the thesis.

Hacker-Jacobs-MLA-Arg-01.indd 4 02/05/16 1:56 PM

Source: Hacker/Sommers (Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016, 2014).

Jacobs 5

In 2006, the enormous contributions of citizen journalists were

recognized when the New Orleans Times-Picayune received the

Pulitzer Prize in public service for its online coverage—largely

citizen-generated—of Hurricane Katrina. In recognizing the paper ’s

“meritorious public service,” the Pulitzer Prize board credited the

newspaper ’s blog for “heroic, multi-faceted coverage of [the

storm] and its aftermath” (“2006 ”). Writing for the Online

Journalism Review, Mark Glaser emphasizes the role that blog

updates played in saving storm victims’ lives. Further, he calls the

Times-Picayune ’s partnership with citizen journalists a “watershed

for online journalism.”

The Internet has enabled consumers to participate in a new

way in reading, questioning, interpreting, and reporting the news.

Decisions about appropriate content and coverage are no longer

exclusively in the hands of news editors. Ordinary citizens now have

a meaningful voice in the conversation—a hand in deciding what ’s

“fit to print.” Some skeptics worry about the apparent free-for-all

and loss of tradition. But the expanding definition of news provides

opportunities for consumers to be more engaged with events in their

communities, their nations, and the world.

Conclusion echoes the thesis without dully repeating it.

Jacobs uses specific evidence for support.

Hacker-Jacobs-MLA-Arg-01.indd 5 02/05/16 1:56 PM

Source: Hacker/Sommers (Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016, 2014).

Jacobs 6

Works Cited

Gillmor, Dan. We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People,

for the People. O’Reilly Media, 2006.

Glaser, Mark. “NOLA.com Blogs and Forums Help Save Lives after

Katrina.” OJR: The Online Journalism Review, Knight Digital

Media Center, 13 Sept. 2005, www.ojr.org/050913glaser/.

Hazinski, David. “Unfettered ‘Citizen Journalism’ Too Risky.”

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 13 Dec. 2007, p. 23A. General

OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/.

Jones, Alex S. Losing the News: The Future of the News That Feeds

Democracy. Oxford UP, 2009.

“Openness and Accountability: A Study of Transparency in Global

Media Outlets.” ICMPA: International Center for Media and the

Public Agenda, 2006, www.icmpa.umd.edu/pages/studies/

transparency/main.html.

Sapin, Rachel. “Credit-Shy: Younger Generation Is More Likely to

Stick to a Cash-Only Policy.” The Denver Post, 26 Aug. 2013,

www.denverpost.com/ci_23929523/credit-shy-younger

-generation-stick-cash-only-policy.

“The 2006 Pulitzer Prize Winners: Public Service.” The Pulitzer

Prizes, Columbia U, www.pulitzer.org/prize-winners-by

-year/2006. Accessed 21 Oct. 2013.

Weinberger, David. “Transparency Is the New Objectivity.” Joho

the Blog, 19 July 2009, www.hyperorg.com/blogger/

2009/07/19/transparency-is-the-new-objectivity/.

Works cited page uses MLA style.

List is alpha betized by authors’ last names (or by title when a work has no author).

Access date is used for a Web source that has no update date.

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