Media outlets base their material on the target audience's knowledge and interests in an attempt to provide information with maximum efficiency. This principle is made evident through the comparison of the National Geographic article entitled, “Childhood Origins”, and “ ‘Lucy' Redux: A Review of Research on Australopithecus afarensis”, published by the Yearbook of Physical Anthropology. Each article examines the Australopithecus afarensis, a hominin species which existed approximately three to four million years ago (Kimbel & Delezene, 2009, p. 2).
The immense disparity between magazine articles and academic journals is made apparent through the evaluation of these articles' content, structures, data collection techniques, and methods of conveying information.
To begin, the Yearbook of Physical Anthropology is comprised of more advanced and complex content when contrasted with National Geographic. Christopher Sloan's, “Childhood Origins”, focuses primarily on the discovery of a Australopithecus afarensis specimen in Dikika, Ethiopia, appropriately referred to as the Dikika baby (2006, p. 148).
[...] For instance, Zeresaney briefly explains the process of cleaning fossils: cleaned it grain by grain. You don't want to destroy it by rushing” (Sloan p. 150). The diverse methods of expressing significant information within an article are yet another example of the vast difference between magazine and academic journal articles. When compared, Kimbel and Delzene's, “‘Lucy' Redux: A Review of Research on Australopithecus afarensis”, and Sloan's, “Childhood Origins”, exhibit the contrasts between different styles of media. Each article consists of dissimilar content, structures, data collection methods, and techniques of communicating information. [...]
[...] These two different methods of gathering data are one example of the differentiation between National Geographic and academic articles. Lastly, academic journals and magazines each convey information by using dissimilar techniques. In the Yearbook of Physical Anthropology, Kimbel and Delezene effectively use visuals such as charts to document the skeletal findings of Australopithecus afarensis in Ethiopia (Kimbel & Delezene p. 3). Maps are also used within this article to display the region in which hominin remains have been recently discovered (Kimbel & Delezene p. [...]
[...] Comparing different forms of media Media outlets base their material on the target audience's knowledge and interests in an attempt to provide information with maximum efficiency. This principle is made evident through the comparison of the National Geographic article entitled, “Childhood Origins”, and ‘Lucy' Redux: A Review of Research on Australopithecus afarensis”, published by the Yearbook of Physical Anthropology. Each article examines the Australopithecus afarensis, a hominin species which existed approximately three to four million years ago (Kimbel & Delezene p. [...]
[...] This complex terminology is displayed in the description of the Australopithecus afarensis' upper face: contrast to the protruding subnasal segment of the face, the nasomaxillary component is much more upright in A. Afarensis” (Kimbel & Delzene p. 14). This vast variation in scholarly content differentiates academic journals from magazine articles. Secondly, the structure of an article significantly differs between a document published by the Yearbook of Physical Anthropology, and an article within National Geographic. ‘Lucy' Redux: A Review of Research on Australopithecus afarensis”, begins with an abstract, which provides a brief summary of the article, and then delves into the history of the Australopithecus afarensis (Kimbel & Delzene p. 2). [...]
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