In the readings for this week, I found the lede in the NYT article about the sex worker the strongest. By starting off the article with a woman falling, the reader is immediately drawn in, reading on to figure out how she got there and if she will survive. Because gravity is so fast acting, the author is able to slow down her fall by talking about the circumstances of the situation while the reader is picturing her in mid-air, waiting for her to reach the ground. In my head, I was truly picturing a woman, suspended mid fall, as I eagerly finished the lede to understand her fate.
Another capturing lede I enjoyed was the article about Apello. This opening, along with the story as a whole, is made powerful by the geographical queues. When the man walks outside of his house, allowing the reader to picture how close he was to the front lines sets the dangerous tone throughout the story. After the lede, I appreciate how the article was told walking through the area and stopping at important landmarks for the main character. Within this clear structure, there were breaks with other stories being told, then the focus would shift again back to the main storyline of the author walking with the narrator. I found that this was a clear way to tell many different stories, many of which were in different times that were not chronologically organized, in a concise way.
The structure for the article about AI in Gaza is a little more straightforward, especially since the article is not quite as long as the other stories. Reading the article, it follows one stream of thought with chronological interruptions used in order to add or expand on ideas. This style seems to be the most common for medium sized stories, especially ones that do not have one central character who requires a longer telling of their lifetime.
John McPhee’s chapter about frame of reference was a little less impactful for me as a reader. My main takeaway from this chapter was that it is important for journalists to be cognizant of their target audience, and to be sparing with references that many may not understand. Most of the chapter seemed like McPhee was reminiscing on years past when references of his generation would add to a story as most of the audience would make the connection. While I do agree that, in general, pop-culture type references should be avoided for readability, this chapter didn’t quite seem so pertinent to today’s lesson. I do this this message may inform my reporting in the sense that any reference to past events should also include a small description or a link to keep clarity.
