The Three Days (#6)

In the last days of the government shutdown this past October, The Courier-Journal featured three separate front-page stories on the issue. On October 15th, the banner headline read "Senate close to a deal?" and focused on Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid. Up until this point, the main stories on the topic of the government shutdown had been focused on the politics of the issue; looking closely at the political parties and the deal that had to be made. The debt ceiling seemed like a foreign topic, and, going by the Courier, it didn't seem like there was such a huge impact on citizens. It seemed to only restate information that hadn't been updated; the government had not made a deal. 

However, the Courier made up for some of its previous lack of reporting the whole story of the government shutdown with its lead story the following day, October 16th. The title read: "Refugees' plans now in disarray." The article went on to discuss how Louisville residents were being affected by the crisis of the government. It explains how the Louisville residents talked about were "among roughly 4,500 refugees who had been cleared to come to the United States in October-- including 73 heading for Kentucky-- but now face delays that resettlement officials say may take months for some to resolve." This was the perfect example of talking about how the government shutdown was affecting citizens in the U.S, especially those in the Courier's local areas. 

On October 17th, when Congress had finally made a deal, The Courier-Journal's top story headline read "Deal ends fight" and above it in a smaller print "Congress passes funding bill." A major accomplishment for Congress and, perhaps, for The Courier-Journal. Beneath the photograph were two stories about the topic, and finally, the issue had come to a close with fitting photographs and articles to point to it. 

All in all, the Courier did an alright job on reporting the government shutdown in its last three days. However, the failure to focus on citizens was definitely evident and surely hurt them. While readers are interested in the politics and understandings of government, they also know the importance of hearing stories that can impact them or those in the community.