Source Notes 19

Vegas, Midwest seek the $ billion for fast trains (Associated Press, 02/22/2009)

Summary:

The Associated Press reported that Las Vegas and the Midwestern United States are two major contenders for part of the $8 billion dollars that President Obama’s February stimulus bill set aside for high-speed rail research and development.  This source focuses on actual federal appropriations for high-speed rail and where it might be invested.

Topic:

High-Speed Rail Policy

Category:

journalistic

What is it?

a newspaper article

Publication Information:

The name of the publication is the Associated Press.  The article was published on February 22, 2009 in Washington D.C.

Author:

Jim Abrams

Location:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hvI1CJJAftYDlkzZCzpxkIl-30SQD96GNGP00

Accessed:

February 22, 2009

Support:

Howard Learner, president of the Chicago-based Environmental Law and Policy Center

Quentin Kopp, chairman of the California High-Speed Rail Authority

Mike Simpson, a Republican congressman from Idaho

John Boehner, House Republican leader and congressman from Ohio

Neil Cummings, president of American Magline Group

Curt Pringle, mayor of Anaheim and a member of the California-Nevada Super Speed Train Commission

Howard Learner said the Midwest is in a good position to receive a lot of the appropriations.  Quentin Kopp said there are over $2 billion in California state projects that the stimulus bill could help out on.  Mike Simpson said that a line between Los Angeles and Las Vegas is not necessary.  John Boehner asked how a line from Los Angeles to Las Vegas would help workers in Ohio?  Neil Cummings said the prospects for a California-Nevada line are good.  Curt Pringle said that the Los Angeles-Las Vegas line is a good idea because of the population growth of the two areas.

Audience and Agenda:

The Associated Press’ website received approximately 2.7 million visitors at the end of January.  The majority of those readers were male, 35 or older, Caucasian, childless, earned above $100,000, and either didn’t attend college or had graduate degrees.  They use Associated Press as a conglomerating news agency.  They expect news general interest news articles from around the world that could end up in any news publication.

This article was ultimately payed for by the stockholders in the publicly-traded Associated Press.  They are trying to bring attention to national developments in high-speed rail.  Their targeted audience is the entire U.S. population.

Usefulness:

This source is in a national context, focusing on both the southwest and Midwest.  This article was created by a staff writer with the permission of an editorial board to bring attention to national developments in high-speed rail.  It is trying to address a national audience mostly uninformed about high-speed rail in the United States.  It is making the argument that high-speed rail is becoming more important in  the United States.  It is leaving out information about in-depth information about any other corridors besides Los Angeles-Las Vegas and Chicago-Minneapolis.  It is probably because those are the two undeveloped corridors dealing with the highest populations.

Looking at specific corridors, this source relates to Source Notes 17 and Source Notes 11.  In terms of the Midwest, this source relates to Source Notes 5.  In terms of developments near California, this source relates to Source Notes 2, Source Notes 3, and Source Notes 9.

Works Cited:

“Quantcast – ap.org.”  Quantcast.  <http://www.quantcast.com/ap.org>

“Associated Press.”  Associated Press.  <http://www.ap.org/>

“Associated Press.” Wikipedia.  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Associated_Press>

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Filed under: Journalistic