0910AW 同主题写作第二期 ARGUMENT173 by 辰[Co]

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173、The following is a memorandum issued by the publisher of a newsmagazine, Newsbeat, in the country of Dinn.

"Our poorest-selling magazine issues over the past three years were those that featured international news stories on their front covers. Over the same period, competing news-magazines have significantly decreased the number of cover stories that they devote to international news. Moreover, the cost of maintaining our foreign bureaus to report on international news is increasing. Therefore, we should decrease our emphasis on international news and refrain from displaying such stories on our magazine covers."

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In this argument, the author suggested that we should decrease emphasis on international news and refrain from displaying such stories on our magazine covers based on the three reasons above. It seems to be somewhat plausible and reasonable at first blush, but we may find it unwarranted and of some logical flaws on several aspects with a deep thought.

First of all, though as the author claims, no evidence shows that all the issues featured international news stories on their front covers have a poor sale. On the contrary, it is possible that these issues sell very well. In addition, my commonsense tells me the contents may be much more concerned by the readers rather than the covers stories. Perhaps the three years poorest-selling issues lies exactly in the disappointing contents. It is foreseeable that people will not buy our magazines if the news we have displayed is out of date, or there is no more insightful or objective analysis of the news than those on TV or radios, by which can people get news in a much more time-saving way. Furthermore, the other parts of the magazine, the whole packing, the reputation, the prices or some other factors can also influence people's willingness of purchasing our magazines on a certain degree. In case the local is suffering a financial crisis, the majority of the buyers are no longer able to afford the extra spending. Therefore, it is more appropriate for the publisher to focus on various possibilities relevant to poor-sells instead of the cover stories only.

Secondly, it is unwise for us to imitate other competing newsmagazines to cut down international news as a front cover without getting an entire scope on this situation. No one informs us of the real reasons why they did so. No evidence shows that it has helped the sales and really made profits. Is it likely that they falls to sustain the part of international news, such as lacking pieces worth reporting, having no fund to hire outstanding editors, being unable to maintain their old readers in contrast with us, or even they have curtailed some other parts so as to go through the shortage in budget, due to the global financial crisis? Besides, these newsmagazines are adjusting their markets to another age group readers is also possible. To put more emphasis on the other realms, for instance, entertainment news, will certainly cause the decreasing number of international news stories and it is no need to display them on the covers. Therefore, the author's suggestion is quite open to doubt..

Finally, the increasing cost of maintaining our foreign bureaus to report international news is not equal to burden of the publisher. No evidence has shown that our company cannot afford such an increase, or perhaps the increasing cost of foreign bureaus may only be caused by the global financial crisis or some other temporary factors. And how about the case if our magazine is exactly well known and makes much profit from it by our excellent clerks of the international news part? It is obvious that though this trend of increasing will last long, it is still not necessary for us to follow the other competing ones to cut down the costs supporting the part.

To sum up, the author's suggestion is neither effective nor logical. Unless the author realizes the elements and alternatives resulting in the three years poor-selling, and find more convincing evidence to support his suggestions, otherwise, his conclusion is unconvincing.