Andrew Wright's Blog

For this week's analysis, I listened to the most recent episode of the New York Times' podcast The Daily. On this episode, the podcast talks about the release of the Mueller report and what information was found in the investigation.  The podcast progressed by explaining different aspects of the Mueller report and going over the information Mueller found in relation to Trump's relationship to Russia. The podcast starts out by Mueller's reporting on the accusations of collusion with Russia by the Trump administration. Then, the podcasts shifts to discussing accusations of obstruction of justice against Trump.  The podcast included two reporters as guests who spent a large amount of time reading the Mueller report. The two guests explained what they read in the report to clarify what was said in the report, what information the special counsel found in its investigation and what charges, if any, were found during the investigation.  The podcast included sound b...

BY ANDREW WRIGHT For this week's analysis, I found an article from the Associated Press that covers President Trump's remarks about sending illegal immigrants to sanctuary cities as a way to teach the cities a lesson for not working with Trump on his immigration policy. The author of the article sourced Trump and parts of his administration when the president and his press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders discussed the idea of sending illegal immigrants to sanctuary cities. Additionally, the author sourced immigration organizations and attorneys in sanctuary cities o cover the pro-immigration side of the debate as a contrast to President Trump's anti-immigration idea. The author used an analysis from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University to report on statistics and data about immigrant populations in sanctuary cities and the probability of immigrants being arrested compared to immigrants living in non-sanctuary cities. In any immigra...

BY ANDREW WRIGHT For the analysis article this week, I found an article from the Star Tribune that looks at the increase in CBD sales in Minnesota. The author focuses on the effects and uses of hemp-based CBD products and how more people are turning to CBD to cope with mental issues and other illnesses. The author points to the increase in CBD sales across the United States as evidence that more people are relying on CBD products to relieve their illnesses. The author needed to understand several aspects of the data to be able to report on this story. First the reporter needed to be able to interpret the data to understand the trends in CBD sales in Minnesota and across the United States. Another important skill the reporter needed for the story was to have a basic understanding of the effects of CBD and why more people are turning toward the drug. This is something that could not be found in the data, and as a result the reporter needed to find the information from other source...

BY ANDREW WRIGHT In one of the obituary stories of the Star Tribune, the author writes about the life of former Twins outfielder Jim Holt. The author detailed Holt's life by focusing on his time as a player for the Twins. The author included Holt's stats while he played for the Twins and his impact in the Twins organization.  The author focused on Holt' relevance to Minnesota and the Twins, but also included other interesting facts about Holt's career that were not necessarily focused on Holt's career on the Twins. The author included how the Twins acquired Holt from Oakland. The author also included that the Twins traded Holt to the Oakland Athletics and how Holt went on to win one World Series ring with Oakland. Overall, the author spent very little time talking about Holt's death and instead focused on the most intriguing and important aspects of Holt's life and career.

BY ANDREW WRIGHT In a Minnesota Daily article, the author covered a recent meeting if the University of Minnesota's Board of Regents, where the board discussed a report on renaming certain campus buildings. The author focused on the possible renaming of four university buildings. The people whom the buildings are named after have recently been criticized for their behavior when they were administrators of the university. The debate about the buildings has gained attention, with President Eric Kaler recommending the board to approve renaming the buildings. The background information the author included in the article covered information about the task force that originally recommended the four university buildings be renamed. The author also included President Kaler's recommendations as background information for the story. The author's main sources are comments from members of the Board of Regents. Several of the members commented their displeasure with the task fo...

BY ANDREW WRIGHT With the advent of the internet and other advancements in technology, news organizations have  adapted to new ways communication and created new ways to spread information. The New York Times and Washington Post are two organizations that have adapted and offer several different options for obtaining information. The New York Times feature their traditional newspaper, website, social media, a magazine section on their website, and a podcast. The Washington Post offers much of the same options as the New York Times. The Washington Post also offers a traditional newspaper, website, social media, a magazine section, as well as their own podcast. The two organizations distinguish themselves from others with their podcast. The New York Times podcast, the Daily, is  popular podcast and id featured on the Amazon Alexa. The Post's podcast, Post Reports, is a less widely known podcast to the New York Times and started more recently than the Daily. With thes...

BY ANDREW WRIGHT In the story from the New York Times,  Marlins Rookie Victor Victor Mesa Appears to Hurt Hamstring , the author covers the breaking injury report on one of the Florida Marlins up-and-coming players. When the article was first published, there was a lot of speculation in the article since the facts of Mesa's injury were not completely known. All that was reported in the beginning of the story was Mesa appeared to injure his right hamstring as he grabbed onto his leg after attempting to run to first base before being called out. As the story developed, more facts were reported on the specifics on the injury and the timetable for Mesa's return. The author confirmed that Mesa appeared to injure his right hamstring, and that the team was classifying the injury as a right hamstring strain. the author also updated the story by saying that Mesa would be undergoing further tests Monday to confirm the injury and begin healing the hamstring. Once Mesa undergoes addi...

BY ANDREW WRIGHT In the Star Tribune article, "Sen. Amy Klobuchar points to importance of Midwest in campaign stops in Wisconsin, Iowa,"  the author focused on Sen. Klobuchar's trips to Wisconsin and Iowa and the message she's sending as Klobuchar prepares for her presidential campaign. The author starts the article by reiterating the apparent foundation of Klobuchar's campaign, which is her pledge to reinvigorate bipartisanship in Congress. Klobuchar has emphasized her ability to work with representatives on the other side of the political spectrum and has made it a staple of her campaign. Including this point in the beginning of the article shows the importance of Klobuchar's emphasis on bipartisanship and separates it from the other points in the article.  The author then explains another major point in Klobuchar's campaign, which is her emphasis on her Minnesota roots. The author expands on this point in a subhead as Klobuchar has put great i...

BY ANDREW WRIGHT In the Star Tribune article, "Possible impeachment could further upend Virginia politics,"  the author includes numerous sources regarding controversies about Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, and Attorney General Mark Herring. The author's sources primarily include quotes from Northam, unnamed Virginia legislators, and political observers. Northam was the primary source the author used in the article. Since Northam holds the highest political office in Virginia, the author used the governor as a consistent source throughout the article, although increasing controversy is building around Fairfax, who is accused of sexually assaulting two women. The attributions are scattered throughout the story and are not really clustered in any section of the article. The sources are typically from people, specifically individuals involved with lawmaking in Virginia politics or political analysts. The one relevant record to the story would be ...

BY ANDREW WRIGHT In the Star Tribune article,  "Grammy-nominated rapper 21 Savage in US immigration custody,"  the author begins the article by stating what event happened to the notable music artist and where the event occurred. The author makes sure to point out 21 Savage's relevance to society and pop culture by including that 21 Savage is a Grammy-nominated rapper. The author also makes clear to point out that 21 Savage is in immigration custody but doesn’t elaborate on that point in the lead. The lead does a good job of notifying readers the main point of the article without explaining the details of the situation to try and get the audience to continue reading the story. The author decided to exclude when, why, and how 21 Savage’s arrest occurred. The story is currently ongoing, which could explain why the author excluded when the event occurred from the lead. The author expanded upon why 21 Savage was taken into custody later in the article and thus di...