Contaext

Contaext

For the context and audience analysis I chose the article “Brawn & Brains: Student Athletes Get a Bum Rap” written by Dave Newhouse and originally published in the Oakland Tribune on March 23, 2006.   The Oakland Tribune is a moderate circulation paper (roughly 80,000 copies) which is distributed throughout Oakland California as a daily newspaper.   It is wholly owned by MediaNews Group, edited by John Schueler and edited by Mario Dainda.   A typical issue of the paper would include general news articles, sports, editorials and the other traditional newspaper segments.   The primary audience is residents of the Oakland California area with no discernable political target though it is considered to be the typical newspaper which is slightly liberal.
The article was written by Dave Newhouse as a response to the stereotyping of athletes and athletics as a detraction from educational perfection and the idea that athletes are overall less academically inclined than most college students.   The audience for this article was the readership of the paper and most specifically those who followed the stereotypical belief that athletes are “dumb”.   His personal stake in this argument is unclear from the article itself but through review of other articles by Mr. Newhouse, it is clear that he supports athletics and sees it as an injustice that athletes are branded this way.   The larger framework of this article tended to extend to educational circles and the general stance in the article of student athletes being better academically than most students is contrary to popular belief.   In general all of the public has some experience with this topic as they would have attended a high school where athletics played a part in the framework of the school.   While this article primarily focused on the collegiate level, it could be related to by almost anyone regardless of educational level.   The fact that everyone has had some experience with athletics in school and most people have had...