Evaluation of News Magazine Sources

In this blog I will discuss two articles I read in magazines concerning my field of interest: business. The two magazines I read were Fortune and Forbes.

Hawkins, Ken. "City Java Magazine Rack" uploaded on 2/15/2011 via flickr.

What is the debate, disagreement or argument in the story about?

Fortune: This article is about the battle between the FCC and major cable companies. The FCC wants consumers to be able to buy cable boxes from any vendor (which would lead to them being much cheaper). this is obviously not an interesting prospect for cable companies. Their defense is an interesting one: they say its a bad idea because they themselves are working towards eliminating the need for a cable box entirely.

Forbes: This article is about the mismanagement of Walmart and how it effects its customers. This argument is made up of the author highlighting and arguing points brought up in another article. He responds to comments left on the other article, and analyzes what they are saying. Like most comment sections on the internet, it turns out to be a lively debate.

Who is the most sympathetic character in the story?

Fortune: The most sympathetic character in the story is the FCC. The reason I can sympathize with them is that they seem to be trying to help the people of America. By opening up the market on cable boxes, the allow for competition, which is the most prominent factor of any business.

Forbes: The most sympathetic character in this article are the people commenting. They are easy to sympathize with because they are everyday people sharing their everyday problems which I can easily relate to.

Who is the least sympathetic character in the story? 

Fortune: The least sympathetic character in this story is the cable companies. It is very apparent that they are charging far too much for a cable box, and they can only do this because they have a monopoly on the market. I have a very hard time sympathizing with anyone who has a monopoly.

Forbes: The least sympathetic character in this story is Walmart. A massive business well known for terrible customer service that I have experienced first hand. With big companies like this, you know they have the money to fix the problem, they just aren't willing to spend it.