Ridiculing the nonsense of the San Angelo Standard Times Editorial Board since 2007

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Yeah, I've been thinking too much about sports lately

Game time!!! What percentage of SASTEB articles are unexamined quotes or summary and what percentage is actual analysis? The April 1 article is 330 words long. Let’s see how many words are in each category!

Republican nominee-apparent John McCain is at increasing pains to show that his presidency would not be a third term of George W. Bush's presidency.

Excellent: A quick, simple, and reasonable thesis. I’ll count this as analysis.

Analysis: 25
Summary and Quotes: 0

In a recent major speech on foreign policy, he emphasized that his administration would substantially differ in tone and outlook. He would not be the go-it-alone cowboy as Bush has been caricatured by foreign leaders.

Ok, sure. A nice and concise summary of McCain’s words in a previous speech - an easy way to show his point in only 37 words.

Analysis: 25
Summary and Quotes: 37

"Our great power does not mean we can do whatever we want whenever we want, nor should we assume we have all the power and wisdom to succeed. We need to listen to the views and respect the collective will of our democratic allies," he said.

Ugh. Lots and lots and lots of unnecessary words. This is just the same stuff you said he said! 

This is the new way to write persuasively: tell them what you say they said, tell them what they said, and tell them what you said they said.

Analysis: 25
Summary and Quotes: 83

With the glaring exceptions of the war on terror and the invasion of Iraq, Bush was never quite the unilateralist he seemed. He was quite willing to work with other nations, the European Union and the United Nations on such problems as North Korea, Iran and the Mideast. His flip attitude put off many foreign leaders and many of his own constituents.

Nice job. This is all rather debatable and definitely not well backed up, but it is certainly analysis.

I like how Iran and “the Mideast” are separate entities. I also want to see somebody express a “flip attitude.” I’m guessing the president’s emphasis on gymnastics hurt his image at home and abroad.

Analysis: 87
Summary and Quotes: 83

OHH!!!! And analysis pulls ahead! Clearly, this late in the game, the SASTEB will be focusing on analysis to build their argument, so it looks like analysis will be in the lead for good!!!

McCain promised to be a different kind of leader, "a realistic idealist," and in doing so he sounded much like another Bush, George H.W. Bush.

Hmm. The first part is summary, but the last part is analysis. Not bad - I like how the SASTEB interwove the summary, the quote, and the analysis. Impressive.

Analysis: 101
Summary and Quotes: 95

Turn off the lights, the party’s over!!!! Looks like analysis has this locked up.

McCain's speech indicated that had he had to fight Gulf War II it would have looked much more like the grand coalition that fought Gulf War I. He promised an activist foreign policy - free-trade agreements, cooperation on fighting AIDS and environmental degradation, and the creation of a League of Democracies to advance the cause of democracy.

Wait! An entire paragraph of nothing but summary!!!

Analysis: 101
Summary and Quotes: 152

The big finish is coming....

On the biggest foreign-policy issue, McCain did not flinch from the Iraq war's increasing unpopularity. He would continue to fight that war, only smarter and better than the Bush administration, and do so on moral grounds. Abandoning Iraq would be "morally reprehensible." A hasty withdrawal, he said, "would be an unconscionable act of betrayal, a stain on our character as a great nation." In essence, McCain pledged to win the war George W. Bush could not.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES????? YES!!!!!!!!

Summary and Quotes went on a 134-0 run to end the article. What an amazing finish.

The final score:
Analysis: 101
Summary and Quotes: 229

The article was 70% summary and quotes and 30% analysis. And the analysis was completely uncritical of McCain’s speech - there was not even a whiff of a counter-argument.

The necessary question: why didn’t the SASTEB just completely reprint the speech?

1 comment:

O. J. said...

This was an awesome post. I love reading about substandard crimes.