Source Notes 3

All aboard? Not so fast; High-speed rail fans say now is time for closer look (USA Today, 08/27/2008)

Summary:

USA Today reported that advocates of high-speed rail argue that the United States should follow California’s example from their January approval of Proposition 1A and invest more money in high-speed rail.  USA Today is one of the most popular publications in the country, which makes its content politically powerful.

Topic:

High-Speed Rail Policy

Category:

Journalistic

What is it?

a newspaper article

Publication Information:

The name of the publication is USA Today.  The article was published on August 27, 2008 in the United States.

Author:

Larry Copeland

Location:

USA Today

Accessed:

January 29, 2008

Support:

John Mica, representative of the House in Florida

Mark Yachmetz, representative of the Federal Rail Association

California voters, residents of California

Peter LeCody, representative of Texas Rail Advocates

Robert Poole, Reason Foundation’s director of transportation studies

William Garrison, a retired civil engineering professor at the University of California-Berkeley

Quentin Kopp, chairman of the California High Speed Rail Authority

FRA, Federal Rail Association

John Mica argues that high gas prices and traffic jams are increasing support for high-speed passenger rail.  Mark Yachmetz reiterated Mica’s claim, and referenced an increase in Amtrak ridership.  California voters are deciding whether or not to start the first high-speed rail line using an electric bullet train.  Peter LeCody agrees with Yachmetz that a new high-speed rail line in California would be a wake-up call to the rest of the United States.  Robert Poole claims that the benefits are not worth the cost.  William Garrison claims that high-speed rail lines are just a refitted version of the same old technology.  Quentin Kopp says that construction on the new high-speed rail line could begin as early as 2010 if voters in California approve an upcoming proposition.  The Federal Rail Association described three different types of high-speed rail including incremental upgrades; new high-speed rail lines; and magnetic levitation trains.

Audience and Agenda:

USA Today is a national general interest periodical that started in 1982.  It claims an unspecified readership of 2,246,996 spread out across the United States. It is published by the Gannett Company, which is a publicly-traded media holding company in the United States.  The paper focuses on providing simplified news articles with extensive use of graphics.

Investors in the company funded this article and stand to gain from any new high-speed rail lines, as infrastructural improvements have a good chance of increasing the population wherever present.  The article is trying to reach the broadest national audience to inspire support for federal legislation that would help high-speed rail.

Usefulness:

This source is in a national context, focusing on the entire nation.  The document was created by USA Today to place attention on high-speed rail in the United States and the upcoming vote in California over Proposition 1A.  The magazine attaches itself to new national trends, which is a sign that high-speed rail is gaining political clout.  USA Today generally tries to reach the widest audience possible, with simplified articles and many images.  This publication is most likely to reach the largest audience, which makes it that much more valuable politically.

It is making the argument that the United States needs to follow California’s example in paying more attention to high-speed rail investment.  This article leans toward support of high-speed rail.

It leaves out the opinions of many opposing groups.  In another simplification, it calls Proposition 1A a “high-speed rail project in California” and never mentions the exact name of the legislation.  It also leaves out information on some of the 11 high-speed rail corridors proposed by the U.S. Department of Transportation.  USA Today is beginner’s reading, but it’s a very influential publication.

Focusing on California, this source relates to Source Notes 2, Source Notes 9, Source Notes 21, Source Notes 27, Source Notes 19, and Source Notes 28.

Works Cited:

“USA Today.”  Wikipedia.  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_Today>

“Ulrichsweb.com.”  Ulrich’s Periodical Directory.  <http://www.ulrichsweb.com/ulrichsweb/>

“Gannett Company.”  Wikipedia.  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gannett_Company>

USA Today.  <http://www.usatoday.com/>

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Filed under: Journalistic