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Subdued Job Report

Decent Essays

In this presentation I will compare two articles on the latest jobs report published by the U.S. Department of Labor. I will contrast Danielle Paquette’s article “Job growth slumped in August” with Nelson D. Schwartz’s article “Manufacturing Is a Bright Spot in a Subdued Jobs Report”. I will first begin by simply looking at the tone of each title, as that is the first thing that catches the reader's eye. The next element I will examine is the choice of Schwartz to begin his article with an anecdotal lead prior to the “nut graf.” Paquette, on the other hand, immediately begins her article with the “nut graf.” I believe that Schwartz made the right decision to begin his article with an anecdote, but I think the quality of the anecdote could be improved. Namely, the overabundance of commas in the first sentence distracts the reader and the anecdote would benefit from a more personal touch. Perhaps Schwartz could have highlighted a particular worker who was rehired after being laid off. I believe Schwartz’s decision to revisit the Mack anecdotes throughout the article leads the article to lose focus; in a way, Schwartz has written two articles: one on the state of the Mack autoplant and one on the jobs report and manufacturing as a whole. While I like Schwartz’s decision to include an anecdote, I believe that he could have done a better …show more content…

The image showing the Mack autoplant is effective at grabbing the reader's attention. The inclusion of graphs is also a smart editorial choice. Although the “Change in Jobs” graph contained in the New York Times Article could benefit by perhaps being more interactive and including major events on the timeline, it is largely very informative. The same can’t be said of the graph showing the unemployment rate that follows. The axes are unlabeled and there is no title. While this is unlikely the fault of Schwartz, it is still an oversight that detracts from the

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