Commentary on NATO article

The article uses factual information to convey across the main details of this article. This makes the article more reliable, as well as more interesting, because statistics make an article more thought-provoking. One piece of factual information uses interesting language, ‘to intercept and shadow two Russian military aircraft’, in order to bias the article against the Russians. The word ‘intercept’ suggests an intrusion into the Russian military forces, giving the article a negative tone that comes across to the readers. This potentially gives the reader, who is most likely British as they are viewing the BBC website, the ‘us versus them’ attitude that the article’s use of lexis gives off.

The main body of the article uses direct quotation, which helps to mix up the structure and entertain a reader, as it is easier to read a quote when it has been separated by quotation marks. The direct quotations are from Michael Fallon whose title is Defence secretary which suggests that he has some expertise in his field of work. This gives a more serious, formal tone to the article as well as adding some credibility to what is being said. It also interests a reader who is reading in order to find out the facts of Britain’s stance on Russia’s military backing. The second expert in this article gives his opinion on the possible political outcomes of NATO deployment in the Baltic countries by saying that ‘this move is likely to irritate Moscow.’ This allows the reader to be educated through a human view point, making it more personal and easier to connect with, as well as informing a reader on the different social dilemmas such as what ‘NATO does not want to be accused of.’

The complexity of the sentences creates a formal tone that invites a reader into focusing on the content of the article. Embedded clauses are especially inviting as they help to create the complexity. A complex sentence that draws attention to itself is the one that states Vladimir Putin’s views on ‘the stationing of British troops.’ The person who is quoted on this, ‘Sir Andrew Wood, a former British ambassador to Russia’, is suggested to know Vladimir Putin as he had previously worked in Russia. This also suggests that he knows the area and the political stance well. He makes an inference using direct speech, ‘Vladimir would see’, as to how the President would react which also suggests there is personal element to it. This makes the article more reliable and concrete. The use of the word ‘provocation’ suggests a surplus of emotion and spins the tone of the article through the use of emotional empathy by suggesting that it would be Britain’s fault for pushing Russia into a defensive position. There is an implication of warning from Sir Andrew Wood through the use of this lexis. The reader is engaged with the use of this emotive language as it makes the article less cold and detached despite the formal, clinical tone of language.

As many people do not like reading long winded paragraphs, the article is broken down into smaller sections which make the article more engaging for a reader. One of the smaller paragraphs uses the metaphor of a ‘regular drumbeat’ in order to describe the movement of the soldiers. Drumbeats are often associated with the military so it gives the visual imagery of calm and peaceful military marches. ‘Regular’ suggests it is an on-going process so it gives a time period to the plans, allowing a reader to consider that the impact of the deployment of troops is long term rather than a short term event that could be easily forgotten. This provokes thought and draws the reader in. On the other hand, when the defence correspondent gives his view, ‘it will be a ‘persistent’ rather than a permanent presence’, so it can be inferred that there is uncertainty in the article as to what is likely to happen. This draws a reader in as they have to determine the outcome for themselves, which seems to be the purpose of the article.

The personification of the ‘nervous NATO allies’ infers that emotion is involved in a place where it may not otherwise be. This helps to create a more human situation, allowing a reader to emotionally engage, instead of looking at the countries as an abstract noun that has no emotions.

 The use of photos to break up the paragraphs also helps to contextualise and put an image in a reader’s head as to what is going on. It helps to inform readers visually, as you can infer the emotions of soldiers from their facial expressions in the photo, which helps the reader to infer the general mood of the forces in relevance to what is going on in Europe.

The use of direct quotation also helps to mix up the structure and entertain a reader as it is easier to read a quote when it has been separated by quotation marks. In general, the structure helps to engage an audience and make them want to read on. The headline is in a larger font, has been bolded, and is as attention grabbing as a title referencing NATO deployment could be. Other phrases in the article that have been bolded are also  eye catching.