Assignment: Find article about Roberts and find the news values we discussed in class

Article: Roberts confirmation hearing set for Monday Tue Sep 6, 2005 01:38 PM ET Top News By Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Chief Justice-nominee John Roberts' Senate confirmation hearing will begin on Monday, Senate leaders said, with Democrats vowing to take as long as necessary to question the 50-year-old conservative who could lead the nation's highest court for decades. At the White House, President George W. Bush said the field was "wide open" for his other pick for the U.S. Supreme Court but that this pending nominee was unlikely to be in place when the high court opens its new session October 3. Bush also dampened Democratic hopes they would know who the second nominee was before they vote on Roberts, a federal appeals court judge the past two years. "I want the Senate to focus not on who the next nominee is going to be but the nominee I've got up there now," Bush said. Roberts' hearings were to have begun on Tuesday but were sidelined by the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist. In announcing the rescheduled hearing to begin at noon EDT September 12, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist expressed confidence Roberts would win Senate confirmation by the time the high court begins its new term. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, promised bipartisan cooperation but said there was no guarantee on when a Senate vote would take place. Bush originally nominated Roberts to fill the lifetime post of retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, a moderate conservative who had been a swing vote on the sharply divided court. Bush on Monday nominated Robert to replace Rehnquist, a strong conservative who died Saturday after a long bout with cancer. "There are no commitments of a date certain to vote on the nomination, so everyone should understand that," said Reid, flanked by fellow Senate leaders. At the White House Bush noted O'Connor, who will not step down until her replacement is confirmed, would still be on the nine-member court when the session begins. "The list is wide open, which should create some good speculation here in Washington," Bush added. "And make sure you notice when I said that I looked right at Al Gonzales." Gonzales, the attorney general, has been among those considered potential picks for the Supreme Court even though some of Bush's fellow conservatives complain his longtime friend may not be not be conservative enough. The Senate Judiciary Committee will spend four or five days on the nomination of Roberts, who despite concerns expressed by some liberal groups, appears to enjoy broad support in the Republican-led Senate. "While we mourn the chief's passing, we look forward with confidence at the president's new nominee for chief justice," said Frist, a Tennessee Republican. Several Senate Democrats have spoken glowingly of Roberts, who served in two Republican administrations and received the American Bar Association's highest rating for a seat on the Supreme Court. But a number of Democrats and other groups have questioned his record on civil rights and women's rights, based largely on a review of tens of thousands of pages of documents from his work as a young lawyer in the Reagan administration two decades ago. Democrats have said they will withhold final judgment until he answers what promises to be tough questioning at his confirmation hearing. "I'm very happy that (in) my Democratic caucus -- no one has made a commitment how they're going to vote," Reid said. "And I think that's appropriate because these hearings, as far as I'm concerned, are very important." (Additional reporting by Tabassum Zakaria) © Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved. Homework: The news values I'm looking for in this article are: Timeliness Impact/Significance Conflict Proximity Human Interest Objectivity Timeliness was well done on the part of the writer, because Robert's hearing, originally set for the day Mr. Thomas Ferraro wrote the article, was moved forward to this coming Monday because of the death of Chief Justice Renquist. I would have to say that timeliness was very well done. Impact is strong because the chief justice really impacts the nation. What I mean by that is, he helps make decisions that will influence issues like abortion, homosexual marriage, etc. Really, I have to class the above issues together! Mr. Robert's position on these issues will influence the nation, hopefully in a positive way. Conflict always exists between the two parties, Republican and Democrat. The article mentions that the Democrats are going to take as long as possible to question him. Some Democrats are not going to fight, but many are. They don't like the look of Robert's past cases. Luckily, there is not too much conflict. Proximity is an issue as well. True, the man is not going to be judging here in the state of Colorado, but he's going to be Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Seeing as how we live in the U.S., it is in proximity, geographically to us. I have a hard time deciding if it's in social proximity with us, because this whole thing is a government thing, while we are just "normal" citizens, not working in the government. Human Interest has me rather stumped. I should have asked what Human Interest really means, but didn't think of it in class. Okay, I'll try to be eloquent, since I do own the Blarney Stone Blog! This is of interest to the humans in America because it will affect their nation. They should be cheering on Roberts and Bush, and thanking those Democrats who are kind enough to go in unbiased as much as possible. Objectivity is not really an issue here, because all the author is doing is telling us what is going on, and whether or not he said so, we should be praying for the confirmation hearing.