Once again the Houston Chronicle is lacking in their coverage of the GOP Florida debate. The most compelling interactive features in a news segment was from a borrowed AP report. These features were little more than video clips from the debate that one could jump from various parts of the debate. On each of these videos, commentating was provided by an AP reporter. 

The State of the Union address on Wednesday evening was met with a bi-partisan typical of this congress and nation as a whole. Obama’s main focus pleaded for a unilateral effort within the government to continue to address the growing gap between the rich and poor, and to ensure a “fair shot” for all Americans to succeed. The President implored members of congress to join him in this effort while insisting that he will fight opposition strongly in the coming years on this issue. In this vein, Obama stated that “"We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by, or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules" in an apparent appeal to upcoming voters in the 2012 election.

The part I thoroughly enjoyed in the address was the subtle Milwaukee shout-out mid-way through the speech. President Obama stated that many companies are increasingly re-shoring their manufacturing plants because it is cheaper to do so, including a Masterlock plant now located in Milwaukee. This is something I hadn’t known, but with Obama’s incentive-laden policies to re-shore manufacturing, it seems like a good idea and an effective policy.

The few times Obama did receive bi-partisan applause were not surprisingly in recognizing the efforts of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords who survived an assassination attempt last year, and when the President mentioned the killing of Osama Bin Laden. This is something I believe Obama will hang his hat on for awhile, along with his repeated successes in his foreign affairs policies, and will eventually win him a second term.

On a further note, I wasn’t sure about this either way, but I think John Boehner, Republican Speaker of the House may have been glued and handcuffed to his chair. The guy didn’t stand once or hardly clapped. I’m not sure if Obama slighted him personally some way in the past, but get that guy some McDonalds so he can “put a smile on”. 

The Houston Chronicle covered the South Carolina primary and debate from a variety of angles. In the early coverage of the primary, most of the news was dedicated to Gov. Rick Perry's decision to drop out of the race prior to the debate and primary. Prior to Gov. Perry dropping out of the race, The Houston Chronicle seemed critical of the governor's unwillingness to attack fellow GOP candidates in speeches prior to the debate. However, upon the governor's exit from the race, The Chronicle seemed to lessen in their critique of him, noting that he had an influence on Gingrich's winning performance, and commenting that he had made the right political move in backing Gingrich.

The rest of the coverage of the primary pits Romney and Gingrich against each other as front-runners, while holding Ron Paul in high regard as a Washington outsider and legitimate candidate. While none of the coverage seems to hold Ron Paul as a legitimate contender in the 2012 election, they noted that he almost doubled his voter turnout in South Carolina from the previous primary in 2008.

The Houston Chronicle reported the South Carolina primary debate a win for Newt Gingrich. In several blogs and analysis posted on the site, the Chronicle reported that Gingrich came out well ahead of Romney and Santorum in the debates, not surprisingly equating this performance to a strong showing in the primary.  The paper presented Gingrich’s strong leap forward in the debate, touched-off by an indignant response to a question he deemed irresponsible by CNN moderator John King. The Houston Chronicle did not lend bias either way on the issue, yet it was clear they felt Gingrich came out as a strong contender after the debate.

Rick Santorum was the last candidate who seemed to get a lot of press from the Chronicle. Pitted as a dark-horse candidate, the Chronicle reported Santorum was trying to take shots at both Romney and Gingrich to up his place in the race, with varying success. It is clear that The Houston Chronicle has narrowed their coverage to two major candidates; Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich looking towards Florida, and will continue to give coverage to local Texas Representative Ron Paul throughout the rest of the primary.

The newspaper I have been assigned to cover is The Houston Chronicle. As its name would imply, The Houston Chronicle is Texas' largest daily newspaper. The newspaper covers all segments of news from sports, business, entertainment, life and travel. While the paper routinely covers national and international news, they also reserve a large section of their paper for local coverage in Houston. One such local, big-news story is the trial of R. Allen Stanford, CEO of the Stanford Financial Group. R. Allen Stanford, founder and CEO of Houston-based international financial services company, has been placed on trial for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud among other charges. The Houston Chronicle is covering the trial under a section entitled "Stanford Watch" including photos, time-lines, and live tweeting of the trial. Other major sections of the paper are geared towards local readers including entertainment, life and entertainment sections. Each section focuses specifically on the city of Houston and surrounding areas. Similarly, the sports section carries allegiances to Houston teams such as the Texans, Astros and Rockets.

The Houston Chronicle covers national and international news. Much of the international coverage, due to the city's proximity, focuses on Mexico and Latin America. Currently, the largest focus in national news coverage is the current presidential primary campaigns. In their coverage of the primary election, The Houston Chronicle focuses mostly on Rep. Ron Paul and former candidate Gov. Rick Perry. However, the paper doesn't have an apparent conservative bias as I expected, coming from predominately Republican state. Due to the 2012 election, local political coverage in Houston and Texas has taken a backseat. Illegal immigration is a big issue, largely reported on in the Texas politics section. A lot of coverage has been dedicated as well to Democratic Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, who will not be seeking reelection. The Houston Chronicle reports in one article the GOP race for the seat, noting that Republican field is relatively weak in the polls. The Houston politics section focuses on purely local issues, ranging from the attraction of new commerce to the city, to union and budget issues within the city. One such budget issue focuses on the pension-funds of local firefighters within the city. 

Newt Gingrich boasts a long and extensive political career in which experiences, he believes, makes him the best Republican candidate in the upcoming 2012 presidential election. Prior to his candidacy, Gingrich was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives representing the 6th District of Georgia (1979-1999) in which time he served as the House Minority Whip (1989-1995) and the Speaker of the House (1995-1999). During this time, Gingrich boasts that under his leadership Congress passed the first balanced budget, cut taxes, and reformed welfare for the betterment of the recipients. Gingrich also served on the Defense Policy Board under former President George W. Bush, which advised the Secretary of Defense on various National Defense issues. While he has faced some personal issues in the past that may alienate him from voters, such as working as a lobbyist within Washington and his two ex-wives and purported infidelity, Gingrich still feels his extensive political knowledge is what is important in serving the American people.

After coming off a poor showing in the Iowa caucus, Gingrich has made up ground in recent debates in New Hampshire and South Carolina. Although Romney still won in New Hampshire, Gingrich’s rapid popularity was evident with the South Carolina primary, beating Romney by over 75,000 votes. Gingrich is looking towards the Florida primary to solidify his popularity in the South, and to continue the growth of his momentum in the primary race.