"Chicks in the Line of Fire"

The headline is very effective as the subject has been cleverly incorporated into the healdine. In addition, the headline ' Chicks in the Line of Fire' draws the readers attention in and makes one wonder what it is about and therefore achieving its goal in making the reader read on.

In not including an extensive byline, means that one does not need to read a lot to understand what the article will be about and won't be caught at the byline and end up not wanting to read on as it was too long. The byline, 'Natalie Maines is one of those people born middle finger first.' tells the reader that the main topic will be about a person called Natalie Maines and her rudeness. This short byline grabs the readers interest as, if they knew the band ' Dixie Chicks' they would know who this person is, the main lead in the band, and would draw these people who have an interest to this person into the article further. In addition, they would have a greater understanding of what the article is about as they read on.

The intoductory paragraph really emphasis on her attitude as a person whilst explaining how the band came to be and what the article is related to/ how this article came to be/ why the author wrote this article which would be the incident where she spoke of her thoughts in London, 2003. This paragraph gives the reader a solid understanding to what is to come within the article.

The journalist clearly states his/her opinion in a manner which doesn't put her in a position where she could be in trouble. At first there are signs of sympathy, empathy, as the journalist describes, ".. group received death threats and was banned by thousands of country radio stations, may of which still have informal bans in place."in knowing that they received death threats and were not able to broadcast their songs on various radion stations when they only stated their opinion makes one feel sorry for them. Later we realise that the journalist kind of looks up to this group or more like, respects them as she conitnuously quotes Maines,' " I apologised for disrespecting the office of the President...But I don't feel that way anymore. I don't feel he is owed any respect whatsoever."... " I don't know what to do about that. I can't change who I am."..."I guess if we really cared, we wouldn't have released that single first... that was just making people mad. But I don't think it was a mistake." ' I think the journalist respects this group or Maines for how she stood up for what she beleives and continues to stand firm and that the journalist does not believe that it is right for anyone to be threatening her or simply be so against her when she simply stated what she beleived in. This is clearly shown when the journalist wrote, ' three Texas women have the biggest balls in American music.'.

The journalist seems to be telling the readers that the Dixie Chicks are standing strong and will continue to and that it was a brave thing to state her opinion on current issues and it should not cause them so much pain for just doing so.

In using direct quotes within the feature article, the reader is able to get a sense of who the person being spoken of is and their personality, ethics, way of thinking, values. For example, " I don't know what to do about that. I can't change who I am." and " I apologized for disrespecting the office of the President.. But I don't feel that way anymore. I don't feel he is owed any respect whatsoever" from these we can see that Maines is pretty stubborn, but she is not wrong. We cannot change who we are simply because a large group of people disagree with our ideas and opinion, we can't just change and be who others expect us to be. This shows that she isn't just some wishy washy person who will follow the crowd just because it's easier but instead she is able to stand up to what she believes and keep standing her ground. This really makes one think that she is a a great and respectable person.

The journalist sympathising with the Dixie Chicks. She uses direct quotes to provide examples of the severe treatment of the Dixie Chicks. The purpose of the article is effective in achieveing its defensive stance of the band.