Text analysis. analiza artykulu z the independent

artykul:

The Independent
By Geoffrey Lean
Published: 21 October 2007
http://news.independent.co.uk/sci_tech/article3081833.ece
SECTION: Environment
LENGTH: 413 words
HEADLINE: Legal threat to Apple after toxic chemicals discovered in iPhone
BODY:
Apple's best-selling iPhone, due to be launched in Britain next month, may be forced to carry an official health warning after being found to contain toxic chemicals.
The discovery could threaten the expected worldwide sweep of the device, whose US sales topped one million in just two and a half months.
It is also likely to embarrass Al Gore, who this month won the Nobel Peace Prize for his environmental campaigning. The former US vice-president is a prominent member of the hi-tech company's seven-member board.
The California company, which widely touts its green "leadership", was last week notified that it is in violation of its home state's law. It must respond within 60 days. If found to be in breach it could either to have to rebuild the phone, eliminating the toxins from the much-marketed product, or attach a warning label to it.
The iPhone, billed as revolutionising the mobile phone, combines three devices in one ? a phone, a video player and a mobile internet device. But Greenpeace bought an iPhone in the United States in June and had 18 of its materials and components independently tested for toxic substances.
Half of them tested positive for bromine, "suggesting widespread use" of brominated flame retardants; these are suspected of a range of threats to health, and the bromine itself can cause pollution when disposed of as waste.
Four items also tested positive for antimony, a toxic mineral often used with flame retardants, and others contained very small amounts of chromium and lead. Chlorine was found in the plastic coating of the headphone cables, indicating the presence of PVC.
In May, Apple promised that both PVC and the flame retardants would be banned from all its new products by the end of next year.
But the greatest headache for Apple is the discovery of phthalates, used to make plastic more flexible, in the cable coating. The chemicals are suspected of causing birth defects and gender-bending effects. The Center for Environmental Health (CEH) says that under Californian law, products containing them must carry a warning label.
The CEH has formally notified the company that it is in violation and is threatening to sue. It believes the company may prefer to eliminate the materials rather than face the stigma of carrying a warning label.
Greenpeace says that all the chemicals found would be allowed under European law and that it does not know whether they will be contained in the phones sold here. Apple declined to comment.

analiza:

The Independent is a British national, elite, compact newspaper published by Independent Newspapers (UK) Ltd. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily newspapers, with a circulation of 251,470 in October 2007 according to the UK Audited Bureau of Circulations.
The readers of The Independent are politically left-wing and a Liberal Democrats, or perhaps a Labour voter. A 2004 poll by MORI showed that 39% of its readers were Liberal Democrat voters whilst 36% supported Labour.
In May 2006 The Independent showed support for Bono?s (lead singer of U2) Product RED brand by creating an occasional edition of the paper called The (RED) Independent that gives half of the day?s proceeds to the charity. The first edition edited by rock singer sold more than 70,000 extra copies. This is more than after London?s bombing in summer 2005.(Red Independent see sale flurry, MediaGuardian , May 22nd 2006).
The newspaper consists of World and UK news, as well as business, sport, science, travel, health, media, art, education and environment news.
The article I decided to choose has been published on 21st of October 2007 by Geoffrey Lean, the environmental editor. The article?s headline - Legal threat to Apple after toxic chemicals discovered in iPhone , gives away its content. iPhone is the Apples best selling phone, in the first two and a half months in United States its sells reached 1 million. Half of the 18 materials and components the phone contains, tested positively for bromine. Bromine is used in brominated flame retardants (BFRs),that are believed to be dangerous for environment, wildlife and people. (Environmental Health Perspectives Volume 112, Number 1, January 2004).It also contained chlorine and phthalates.
The discovery threatens the authority of Al Gore, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, who is a member of the hi-tech company's seven-member board.
The article is informing and formal in the manner it conveys the story. It is objective and the author is not trying to persuade any point of view. It lacks the author?s personal comments and opinions and leaves the reader to his own devices, when it comes to the judgment. Language is tecnicaql and used only to inform. The author?s aim is only to inform, not to evoke emotions.
The use of sophisticated vocabulary such as ?brominated flame retardants?, ?antimony?,? phthalates? indicates that the reader is educated, of a higher socio-economic group, interested in environmental issues. The specific language keeps the reader interested.
Sentences are long and complex:
? Four items also tested positive for antimony, a toxic mineral often used with flame retardants, and others contained very small amounts of chromium and lead?
In this sentence, as well as in the whole article, there is no colloquial language. The article is complexed, detailed and informative due to the use of technical language, scientific evidence and several numbers: ?Greenpeace bought an iPhone in the United States in June and had 18 of its materials and components independently tested for toxic substances. Half of them tested positive for bromine, "suggesting widespread use" of brominated flame retardants; these are suspected of a range of threats to health, and the bromine itself can cause pollution when disposed of as waste.?
The views of the claim makers are reported neutrally. People and organizations mentioned in this article are well known and respected. The Independent claims to represent contrasting political opinions
However, in this article they all seem to be eco-friendly, which in my opinion, does not let the reader be fully objective and puts Apple in the lost position. Greenpeace is an independent, campaigning organization whose goal to expose global environmental problems, The Center for Environmental Health (CEH), according to the official website, protects the public from environmental and consumer health hazards and Al Gore is known for his global warming campaign. But even though the claim makers represent the same view when it comes to the environment, they might be persuasive and they?re opinion valuable to the reader, due to their popularity and authority.
All this shows that the article is aimed at capable readers. There is hardly any emotive language due to the informative focus.
?The CEH has formally notified the company that it is in violation and is threatening to sue. It believes the company may prefer to eliminate the materials rather than face the stigma of carrying a warning label.?
The CEH?s formal statement mentioned in this sentence makes the article seem to be more informative. It also backs the article because it shows evidence for what it is trying to convey.
Same with this sentence ?Greenpeace says that all the chemicals found would be allowed under European law and that it does not know whether they will be contained in the phones sold here.?
Although the article is being informative and objective, the last sentence of the report ??Apple declined to comment.? ? shows the phone producer in bad light. It suggests that the concern tries to escape the responsibility.
I think that the technical jargon, presented views and complexity keep the reader informed, attract him and keep interested. That all makes the author very successful.


bibliografia:

Legal threat to Apple after toxic chemicals discovered in iPhone
http://news.independent.co.uk/sci_tech/article3081833.ece
Birnbaum, Linda S. , Staskal, Daniele F.
Brominated Flame Retardants: Cause for Concern?
Environmental Health Perspectives Volume 112, Number 1, January 2004
The Independent website
http://www.independent.co.uk/
MORI poll 2004
http://www.ipsos-mori.com/polls/2004/voting-by-readership.shtml
UK Audited Bureau of Circulations.
(http://www.abc.org.uk/cgi-bin/gen5?runprog=nav/abc&noc=y)
Red Independent see sale flurry
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2006/may/22/theindependent.pressandpublishing
The Center for Environmental Health (CEH)
http://www.cehca.org/about.htm

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