Coverage of a Major News Story

The story chosen for this review is about the death of three students on the 18th of March 2007. This tragedy took place in an Islamic school in Sabayoi, southern Thailand. Explosives were thrown into the school where another seven students were wounded. This attack also sparked a riot by angry Muslim villagers, where another three Buddhists were shot dead. Although the relationship between Buddhists and Muslims is fragile, these events could lead to an open conflict between the two communities. By comparing the story in four different sources, we can admit that different stages of the story are presented in different manners. In the following review, several aspects of each article will be compared.

The first aspect is the title. In the articles presented; CNN, The New York Times, BBC News and Herald Tribune, the title is phrased differently. However, the information it contains is similar, with reference to “three” and “Thai School” which can not be changed. All the remaining words are diverse, and the structure of the phrase is different. BBC focuses on the word “Attack” while the three remaining articles focus on the death of the three students. The way the title is said will have a very important impact on the reader, because it will give him a first impression and help him understand the subject of the article. Everything written afterwards in the article will be of secondary importance.

The second aspect is the introductory sentence that summarizes the main points mentioned in the article and written in one sentence. This sentence is closely linked to the title. In the BBC article which focuses on “attack” rather than “death of students”, the sentence begins by using the following approach: It begins by describing the sequences to arrive at the main point, the “attack”. While the other three articles begin by informing the readers that an attack occurred, and finish by pointing out the death of the three students.

The third aspect is the interpretation of the information said by the local chief of police Thammasak Wasaksiri. Although he is personally cited in all the articles, the information given is different. BBC only informs the readers that the local chief of police believes that Muslims