Day 9

Happy Thanksgiving! We're eating our Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow, thanks to the six-hour drive that delivered us to our destination late this evening. Up for analysis today is a Wall Street Journal article that was one of the few government articles I could find unlocked on their website. There was, of course, a plethora of unlocked articles on Black Friday shopping - but that's American consumerism at its best, with no government involvement! The article I found here is another article about the rollout of the Affordable Care Act.

"Health Website Deadline Nears." Wall Street Journal online. Colleen McCain Nelson, November 26, 2013

This newspaper article found online concerns the deadline, set for this Saturday, that the Obama administration put in place for the Healthcare.gov exchange to work better for "the majority of people who are using it." The article is about three-and-a-half laptop screens long. It contains some background information about the history of the deadline that the administration set but does not contain information on the Affordable Care Act itself or on the specific problems Healthcare.gov has faced. Readers who have not been following the rollout of the Affordable Care Act would have no context reading this article. There are quotations from seven different people in this article. Five are Democrats or Obama administration officials, while two are Republicans opposed to the Affordable Care Act. This would seem to suggest a liberal bias in the article; however, the article itself presents a balanced view of the issue, calling to attention the discrepancies and vagueness in the White House's promises regarding the fixing of Healthcare.gov. The model of media of this article is objective reporting.

I see this article as more of an update for those who have been following the enactment of the Affordable Care Act than as an informative article on the act. I read it within the context of all I already know about the act; however, those who have not been following the issue closely would probably be confused. I would have also liked to see more specific information on the problems the Act has faced, as well as the White House's proposed solutions to these problems. Nevertheless, the article contained important information on the Obama administration's promises about fixing the website. It also seemed fairly objective, which is a plus for any article concerning a controversial topic like the Affordable Care Act. The Wall Street Journal is usually seen as a reliable source. This article was interesting and was a quick and easy-to-follow update on the healthcare issue; however, readers unfamiliar with the issue should look for articles with more information on the act itself.