Article Commentary 1

Article

August 26, 2008

Obama assassination plot fears as armed men arrested

Tim Reid in Denver

US police are investigating whether they have foiled an assassination plot against Barack Obama after four people were arrested near the Democratic convention in Denver in the possession of high powered rifles.
One of the suspects told police they were "going to shoot Obama from a high vantage point using a ... rifle ... sighted at 750 yards," Denver television station CDS4 is reporting. Police have told the television station that one of the suspects "was directly asked if they had come to Denver to kill Obama. He responded in the affirmative."
The suspects were arrested on Sunday when local police arrested a man, identified by the television station as Tharin Gartrell, 28, who was driving a rented pickup truck erratically. CDS4 is reprrting that in his truck police found two high powered rifles with telescopic sites, as well as camouflage clothing, walkie-talkies, a bulletproof vest, a high powered spotting scope, licences in the names of various people, and the drug methamphetamine. One of the rifles is listed as stolen from Kansas.
When police accompanied Mr Gartrell to his hotel in Denver a second man, who was wanted on a number of arrest warrants, jumped from a window and was injured in a six-story fall. He broke his ankle and was arrested shortly afterwards. Sources told the television station that he was wearing a ring with a swastika, and was thought to have ties to white supremacist organisations.
A third man, associated with Mr Gartrell, was also arrested and told police that Mr Gartrell and the second man arrested "planned to kill Barack Obama at his acceptance speech."
A woman has also been arrested.
Denver police refused to comment on reports that they might have foiled an assassination plot, but have scheduled a press conference for today.
Mr Obama, who will accept the Democratic presidential nomination in Denver on Thursday, has been under Secret Service protection for over a year after receiving credible death threats.

Article Commentary

The article entitled Obama assassination plot fears as armed men arrested follows the particular format of a newspaper article designed for an audience with relatively little time and which cares relatively little. The format of the article, its short length, the division into many smaller sections and the succession of declarative sentences assist the process of skimming for the reader. The headline is already alarming, serving to capture the reader's attention, and the introductory section at the very beginning then serves to answer the four most important questions who, what, where, and when. In this case, 32 words sufficed to answer the above questions. The "foiled assassination plot against Barak Obama" is the what. The four men, who were arrested answer the question of who and the indication that it took place at the Democratic Convention in Denver answers the where and the when, for the well-informed audience of The Times. As the piece progresses, there is more detail to be found. Essentially, however, only the introduction is really designed to be read. Like many other newspapers, The Times, seeks to save as much space as possible to save space for advertising, but it distances itself from most other publications by its thoughtfulness and consideration of the topics discussed. The Times finds that opinion is no commodity and therefore, opinion is scarce in the account above.