In Grant Gordon’s NFL article, “These Niners Look A Lot Like ‘94 Super Bowl Champs,” he opens with a very touching description of the 49ers coach receiving the Halas trophy from his father, also former coach. Gordon continues the piece with an admiring tone to hold the audience’s attention as he compares the current 49ers to the ‘94 49ers.
He relies on facts, anecdotal evidence and statistics/figures to create this piece as he explains the significance of the Shanahans, how the two teams compare in terms of records, defenses and players and what’s going to happen in this year’s Super Bowl. This article is an example of verification journalism as Gordon uses a very matter of fact tone and seems to value accuracy and context when he’s relaying the facts and figures about the 49ers.
The only sources Gordon refers to are “NFL research”–for when he’s discussing team statistics and histories–and the Niners quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo for a quote on coach Kyle Shanahan and franchise history.
While “NFL research” is a vague way to address a source, readers can assume the proximity is low, but the independence and expertise are probably high, as sites/sources with sports statistics rarely have conflicts of interest and have specialized knowledge. On the other hand, Jimmy Garoppolo has a high proximity as well as high expertise. He might not be the most unbiased source, but for this article, it doesn’t really matter as it’s mostly about the 49er’s win and what’s going to happen at the Super Bowl. Also, the piece is still logical as all the numbers and comparisons between the two teams’ players and techniques make sense with the argument Gordon is making.
Although to be less biased towards the 49ers, Gordon could’ve talked about the possible weaknesses the team has, what would prevent them from winning the Super Bowl or the Chiefs’ chances of winning the game. Also, Gordon didn’t really address peoples’ lifestyles or values, but does talk from a very optimistic point of view when explaining the 49ers’ chance of winning the Super Bowl. While fans of the 49ers might interpret this article as confirmation in their hopes that the team will win, people who aren’t fans of the 49ers (or Chiefs fans) won’t buy it.
Overall, this article isn’t a credible piece. It’s mainly about the 49ers possibly following in the ‘94 team’s footsteps and winning the Super Bowl; therefore, it’s pretty biased towards the team. While this point of view does seem necessary when discussing the teams’ (the 49ers and Chiefs, the two teams in the 2020 Super Bowl) chances of winning the game, to be a more balanced article, Gordon could’ve included information about the Chiefs and their players strengths and history, to truly give the readers a more accurate idea on which team has a better chance to win the Super Bowl. Gordon’s motivations are clearly to just praise the 49ers rather than logistically reason which team is going to win.
The Web's Not Dead 