Children! News! Plain Styles! Hut! Hut! Hike!

Sports are a nearly universally beloved leisure activity in the United States whether you play it or watch it. Sports entertainment is indiscriminate in popularity among people of any gender, race, and in in this case, age. That is why sports events are usually G-rated, in a sense. Not just the events but the news, television programs, and the commercials in sports channels are very child friendly. When it comes to writing, the writer shouldn’t just worry about whether they use inappropriate language or not, but they should worry about if their intended readers can comprehend what they’re trying to say to begin with. They aren’t just writing for patrons who are regulars at sports bars, but even children who are most likely unable to comprehend most large words.

This article from NPR (National Public Radio) titled “No March Madness: NCAA Cancels Men's And Women's Basketball Tournaments” is a good example. The content within the article is very self-explanatory just from the title. It starts out by stating the obvious, “The NCAA has announced that it is canceling its Division I men's and women's college basketball tournaments. This year, there will be no March Madness.” That was the kicker. The first section of every paragraph in the article starts off with the most important information first and secondary facts afterwards.

The article then goes on to explain that this announcement came after multiple colleges have decided to not have their teams participate in the games. All due to fears of the further spread of COVID-19. Like most AP style articles, this short article relied on a lot of quotes from individuals who are subject to the situation.

As I stated previously, news like this doesn’t just affect athletes, but also the fans who watch it from home in front of their TVs, many of whom are children. The average reading level of this article was at a seventh grade level. If you look at any other article that has to do with closings or cancellations due to the Coronavirus, such as “Performing Arts And Cultural Organizations Close Their Doors Due To Coronavirus,” you will see an eighth grade reading level. The Wamsley article was also well catered to a younger audience because it doesn’t have any additional information about COVID-19 that are less suitable for children. Information that is common on this topic include the number of people who are infected, how infectious it is, or how many people died from the coronavirus that could alarm people.

Despite the limited information from the article, the medium is made to for a wider audience, meaning it can be consumed by children. According to Media Bias/Fact Check, NPR is put left center in their in their political spectrum because the stories that uses loaded words to favor liberal causes but are very factual in their reporting. For the sake of perspective, a news organization like Fox News is put closer to extreme right for using loaded language as well but are also show more mixed results in their factual reporting.

            Overall this piece, compared to other genres, is easier to read. There are a lot of issues that come about making something easier to read. One issue, especially with news articles is that the author may not be credible. The credibility of the author isn’t obviously stated in the article but since this is an online article, all you have to do is click or tap the name of the author and you’ll find a page that leads you to a mini-biography about the author and all the previous articles they’ve published.  The article isn’t controversial in any way. All the author did was state what happened and gave context to the reason why. Personally, this isn’t the type of news I would pay attention to so I did find it boring, but then again, I am not a sport fan. Many people are though and that’s why this article was written in the first place.

            This article, written in AP style, and fits in plain style. It’s very accessible since it was written at the seventh grade level. The topic, other than COVID-19, is sports which is very popular and will impact a lot more people, especially with regard to age. The platform also serves to reach a larger audience due to its tractability and overall trust. It prioritizes important information for the reader to read as should any article written in AP style thus making it plain style.

-Abdulla (Mustafa) A. Gaafarelkhalifa 

Article Links
www.npr.org/2020/03/12/814992409/in-the-age-of-covid-19-event-cancellations-precipitate-a-large-economic-impact.
www.npr.org/2020/03/12/815115557/no-march-madness-ncaa-cancels-mens-and-women-s-basketball-tournaments.