Following reading the articles for this week, the ledes on the NYT articles about the state of Aleppo after its falling, and about Song Yang’s death were the strongest. In the sex worker piece, by starting off with falling, I felt the piece was cinematic given its use of photos and videos, predominantly taken at night when the streetlights were on. This contributed to setting the scene of a fall up in my mind and I wanted to read how it would unravel. I really enjoyed the structure of this piece by hooking me in with the fall, from the author directly going back and telling me as the reader how she arrived in Queens from China, her death, her family seeking the truth themselves, and then finally this overlooking message on immigrants who want to make it big in America, but ultimately don’t so what is there next step. Song Yang’s occupation and eventual death unfortunately are just one answer to that question.
Similarly with the article on Aleppo, the article opens with Abu Sami leaving his house and having human interaction for the first time in four and a half years. Given he had been all alone for years while his city was being destroyed, I wanted to know why this man stayed put and were there people out there still looking for him after all of those years. Whereas the first one feels like a film, this feels more like a documentary, particularly because the author walks around old sites and gets interviews with some recounting Aleppo before the destruction. This article however I think does a bit much as it doesn’t really keep the same focus on Abu Sami like the other article did with Song Yang. I think the reporter was so focused on getting back to the region themselves because they missed reporting there, that he put his own personal motivatives/priorities at times ahead of the actual people that had to survive.
The structure for the Times article about AI in Gaza is a little more straightforward, especially since the article is shorter and there is not a central character. Reading the article, it follows one common problem of the use of artificial intelligence in militaries across the world. I think the article also explains it very well because I’m not sure many people think of the military when it comes to artificial intelligence. I also enjoyed that they were able to get both people and perspectives from the IDF in Israel as well as some senators and representatives who have called for greater regulation of AI in the US.
