Research Project According to Alexandra Zavis, Christine Mai-Duc, and Tina Susman in the Lexington Herald Leader, published on October 23, 2014, in the article titled “Canada’s Parliament under Fire”, they cover the story of the recent shooting in Canada’s capital city of Ottawa. This article accurately summarized the events surrounding the instance where a shooter had killed a soldier pulling guard duty at the war memorial, and then proceeded to the foyer of the parliament offices where he was stopped by a hail of gunfire. There were a few things that made this article interesting. One major part that stood out was that Canada’s “high-risk traveler” watch list has 90 people on it (Zavis, Mai-Duc and Susman). This sounds like an awfully low number considering the US probably has thousands. To me it would seem you could afford to assign 90 agents to follow these “high-risk” individuals at all times. This article was a pretty quick and easy read. It was laid out in a good chronological order with added quotes from witnesses in the area which helped it flow well. The facts have been confirmed by numerous sources including those witnesses. Another interesting note is where the soldier who was killed had been identified by a friend who had recognized him in television video of paramedics trying to save his life (Zavis, Mai-Duc and Susman). The audience the authors were targeting is just about everyone who has heard about the shootings and might not have known any of the details. This article had been placed on the front page, because of the potential ties to the radical Islamic group ISIS. ISIS has been a huge focus point in the news as a whole in recent months. It’s hard to pull out any kind of opinion in this type of informational article. My opinion stands with the importance felt by this article. A month or so ago ISIS had asked that Muslims all across the world should attack soldiers, veterans, and their families. Whether this shooter is actually confirmed to have carried out this attack in response of this request, it does raise concern. As a veteran myself, I have increased my situational awareness and preparedness just in case. We live in a troubling time, and where the chances that any kind of attack might happen to me remains slim to none, I feel better being more alert and prepared. Works Cited:
Zavis, Alexandra, Christine Mai-Duc and Tina Susman. "Canada's Parliament Under Fire." Lexington Herald Leader 23 Oct. 2014: A1-A2. Print.