Article Review

http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/12/news/economy/gas_prices/index.htm?postversion=2008101215

This article is in pretty standard hard news format and content.

It begins with a fact, which illustrates the topic at hand: falling gas prices. It then goes on to outline the issue, which, while not a controversial one, still layers quotes from multiple sources and factual databases.

The nutgraph, which highlightes the connection between the declining economy and commodity prices, comes in the third brief paragraph.

"The decline comes as hurricane season winds down and oil prices drop because demand is likely to weaken as the economy slows."

I feel that this effectively ties the issue to the larger point.

This article is interesting because there is no room for alternate viewpoint as I see it. I would say its "ABAB" in format, but there is one single fact that this article is reporting on: gas prices are falling. There is numberical evidence to this point. So, in that light, the article is a good example of how to write a piece when there really isn't much of an opposing viewpoint.

I would say that this is somewhere between a fizzleout kicker and a fact-based kicker. The article ends with "The survey is conducted for AAA by Oil Price Information Service from credit card swipes at more than 85,000 service stations nationwide" and this highlights the signifigance of the evidence contained in the piece. However, the detail is probably erroneous to the overall message of the article.