The following is a memorandum from the business manager of a television station.
Over the past year, our late-night news program has devoted increased time to national news and less time to weather and local news. During this period, most of the complaints received from viewers were concerned with our station's coverage of weather and local news. In addition, local businesses that used to advertise during our late-night news program have canceled their advertising contracts with us. Therefore, in order to attract more viewers to our news programs and to avoid losing any further advertising revenues, we should expand our coverage of weather and local news on all our news programs.
Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if the assumptions prove unwarranted
A manager suggests that they should structure their late-night news program to the previous one of how they devoted time to national and local news. His or her reason for such suggestion is based on viewer's complaints and the cancellations of local business. He or she argues that it can attract more viewers and avoid losing revenues. It might seem reasonable at a first glance. However, there are some logical inconsistancy in this memorandum.
To start with, the coverage of national or local news is largely depends on what actually takes place rather than people's preference. Also, the priority of news reporting changes and the manager does not clealy states whether there is something important happening the country so that time for national news increases. Take federal election for a example, it is obiviously that the news room has to devote some more time in such national news than the local news.
Secondly, whether local businesses cancel their advertisement on the program is due to less time for local weather and news in the program is early to tell. The manager fails to provide enough details on this. Is it due to the local businesses' market strategy that they are putting more efforts on internet marketing rather than on traditional medias? Plus, are there any new comers to make advertisment? We don't know. Blaming more national news for losing contracts is not grounded.
Thirdly, even if the news room does restore the time devoted to weather and local news to its old level, will they successfully acttract more viewers? It is just too early to tell regradless that the manager does not specifiy that how many viewer are complaining about the coverage. Do those who complain represent the viewers as a whole? We don't see at this memorandum.
In sum, the suggestion on time reallocation of the news is somewhat inplausible due to the fallious drawbacks discussed above. To better understand what is going on, the television station should conduct a comprehensive study of who the viewers are and how they fell about the news. For the local bussinesses who cancel the contracts, specic details should be collected.
Comments
Essay evaluation report
Attribute Value Ideal
Final score: 3.5 out of 6
Category: Satisfactory Excellent
No. of Grammatical Errors: 0 2
No. of Spelling Errors: 0 2
No. of Sentences: 21 15
No. of Words: 360 350
No. of Characters: 1748 1500
No. of Different Words: 186 200
Fourth Root of Number of Words: 4.356 4.7
Average Word Length: 4.856 4.6
Word Length SD: 2.634 2.4
No. of Words greater than 5 chars: 121 100
No. of Words greater than 6 chars: 99 80
No. of Words greater than 7 chars: 63 40
No. of Words greater than 8 chars: 38 20
Use of Passive Voice (%): 0 0
Avg. Sentence Length: 17.143 21.0
Sentence Length SD: 8.049 7.5
Use of Discourse Markers (%): 0.286 0.12
Sentence-Text Coherence: 0.287 0.35
Sentence-Para Coherence: 0.488 0.50
Sentence-Sentence Coherence: 0.081 0.07
Number of Paragraphs: 5 5
Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 5, column 346, Rule ID: EN_A_VS_AN
Message: Use 'an' instead of 'a' if the following word starts with a vowel sound, e.g. 'an article', 'an hour'
Suggestion: an
...ws increases. Take federal election for a example, it is obiviously that the news...
^
Line 7, column 1, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
Message: Possible typo: you repeated a whitespace
Suggestion:
...h national news than the local news. Secondly, whether local businesses cance...
^^^^^
Line 9, column 410, Rule ID: EN_CONTRACTION_SPELLING
Message: Possible spelling mistake found
Suggestion: don't
...any new comers to make advertisment? We dont know. Blaming more national news for lo...
^^^^
Line 11, column 1, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
Message: Possible typo: you repeated a whitespace
Suggestion:
...or losing contracts is not grounded. Thirdly, even if the news room does rest...
^^^^
Line 13, column 236, Rule ID: MANY_NN[1]
Message: Possible agreement error. The noun viewer seems to be countable; consider using: 'many viewers'.
Suggestion: many viewers
... the manager does not specifiy that how many viewer are complaining about the coverage. Do ...
^^^^^^^^^^^
Line 13, column 343, Rule ID: EN_CONTRACTION_SPELLING
Message: Possible spelling mistake found
Suggestion: don't
...in represent the viewers as a whole? We dont see at this memorandum. In sum, th...
^^^^
Line 17, column 196, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
Message: Possible typo: you repeated a whitespace
Suggestion:
... going on, the television station should conduct a comprehensive study of who the...
^^
Transition Words or Phrases used:
actually, also, first, however, if, second, secondly, so, third, thirdly, as to, to start with
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 17.0 19.6327345309 87% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 6.0 12.9520958084 46% => OK
Conjunction : 10.0 11.1786427146 89% => OK
Relative clauses : 10.0 13.6137724551 73% => More relative clauses wanted.
Pronoun: 30.0 28.8173652695 104% => OK
Preposition: 38.0 55.5748502994 68% => OK
Nominalization: 8.0 16.3942115768 49% => More nominalizations (nouns with a suffix like: tion ment ence ance) wanted.
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 1802.0 2260.96107784 80% => OK
No of words: 358.0 441.139720559 81% => More content wanted.
Chars per words: 5.03351955307 5.12650576532 98% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.34981470047 4.56307096286 95% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.68432120846 2.78398813304 96% => OK
Unique words: 184.0 204.123752495 90% => More unique words wanted.
Unique words percentage: 0.513966480447 0.468620217663 110% => OK
syllable_count: 553.5 705.55239521 78% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.5 1.59920159681 94% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 7.0 4.96107784431 141% => OK
Article: 6.0 8.76447105788 68% => OK
Subordination: 1.0 2.70958083832 37% => OK
Conjunction: 0.0 1.67365269461 0% => OK
Preposition: 3.0 4.22255489022 71% => OK
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 21.0 19.7664670659 106% => OK
Sentence length: 17.0 22.8473053892 74% => The Avg. Sentence Length is relatively short.
Sentence length SD: 48.8056444451 57.8364921388 84% => OK
Chars per sentence: 85.8095238095 119.503703932 72% => OK
Words per sentence: 17.0476190476 23.324526521 73% => OK
Discourse Markers: 4.47619047619 5.70786347227 78% => OK
Paragraphs: 5.0 5.15768463074 97% => OK
Language errors: 7.0 5.25449101796 133% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 5.0 8.20758483034 61% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 8.0 6.88822355289 116% => OK
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 8.0 4.67664670659 171% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.396919855278 0.218282227539 182% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.107061234818 0.0743258471296 144% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.107226417046 0.0701772020484 153% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.228025887922 0.128457276422 178% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0564138925681 0.0628817314937 90% => OK
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 10.8 14.3799401198 75% => Automated_readability_index is low.
flesch_reading_ease: 62.68 48.3550499002 130% => OK
smog_index: 3.1 7.1628742515 43% => Smog_index is low.
flesch_kincaid_grade: 8.7 12.197005988 71% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 11.6 12.5979740519 92% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 8.45 8.32208582834 102% => OK
difficult_words: 90.0 98.500998004 91% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 6.5 12.3882235529 52% => Linsear_write_formula is low.
gunning_fog: 8.8 11.1389221557 79% => OK
text_standard: 9.0 11.9071856287 76% => OK
What are above readability scores?
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Rates: 75.0 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 4.5 Out of 6
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Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.