Uncommon perspectives

The same day the Fashion & Style section runs an article about breakdancing and anti-American sentiment in Russia, the New York Times World news today shows American influence in a more positive light in an article on the upcoming Ukrainian parliamentary elections. The article gives a good background on Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich and his controversial past, recapping the political rivalries between Yanukovich and President Viktor Yuschenko. In its description of involvement by American political consultants, the article brings to light something that has taken place behind the scenes, noting what, exactly, Americans have done to reshape Yanukovich’s image (from speechwriting to filming commercials) and explaining why they have chosen to keep their involvement discreet. It might have been interesting to focus more on the long-term goals of Americans getting involved behind the scenes in Ukrainian politics, but the article does suggest the incentive helping to reshape the government of a young country.

The second article in a Washington Post series on improvised explosive devices (IEDs) offers a fresh perspective on the dangers American troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan face from insurgents. The article’s lede frames the use of IEDs as a movement by taking a close look at the first explosion conducted in this manner, back in 2003. The third paragraph of the article sums up its purpose well, but there are a few quotes sprinkled throughout that do not have clear sources. Overall, the article does well explaining how IEDs are used and the casualties they have inflicted, as well as the varied measures military officials are now taking to prevent the use of IEDs, rather than just cleaning up their destructive effects. The series as a whole so far seems to offer a comprehensive look at the problem, including video and a glossary.

The Boston Globe offers a colorful profile of Boston Common today, evenhandedly examining it as a place where people from all walks of life come together. The article does well to place the Common in the context of its history as a public space in New England, but it focuses on an increase of crime over the last four years without explaining whether the Common is safer than it was in the 1980s or less safe than in the mid-’90s. While there are several comments from the homeless, vendors, park security, visitors and recreational athletes, the article mentions nothing of the soapbox-style orators who often stake out a corner near Park Street. There are also few comments about the safety of the Common from those who frequent it, which seems to be a large concern raised by the article. The accompanying photo gallery, though, makes up for many of the gaps in the text of the article, although the brief mentions of personalities such as two Brits who spent the summer breakdancing across the U.S. pique my curiosity and offer up a whole host of possible accompanying stories.

Burma, Bush and Baseball--plus news from Pakistan

Since firsthand news is not flowing from Burma after the government cut off the country’s Internet access, a New York Times article today combines its news on the protests with analyses of American strategies to end the confrontation. The article includes a short list of policy options being considered internally by the Bush government, procured under condition of anonymity but nonetheless illuminating. There is also a focus on background details, such as U.S. refusal to accept the junta’s renaming of the country as Myanmar and Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice’s use of the “traditional” name Rangoon for the capital, renamed Yangon. The article is very balanced in its perception of President Bush’s diplomatic role: human rights advocates do not blame Bush for lack of trying, although one American diplomat suggests this is a “legacy moment” for the President. The New York Times and Bush are in the same position right now: there’s not much that they can say or do about Burma, but you can’t say they aren’t trying.

The Times of London turns its attention to central Asia, where there is news to report from Pakistan. The article reports that the Supreme Court of Pakistan ruled that President Pervez Musharraf will be allowed to stand for re-election, even as he currently serves as military chief. The article reflects the dissatisfaction many Pakistanis have with the ruling and makes the news relevant to Westerners by explaining that the U.S. and the U.K. fear political unrest will distract Musharraf from his campaign against Taliban and Al-Qaeda operatives near the Afghan border.

Much closer to home, the Washington Post has an in-depth interview with Jenna Bush on her upcoming book. The article begins by pandering to all the celebrity-esque coverage Bush claims not to read about herself by leading with gossip about the possibility of her being pregnant (she says she’s not) before introducing the issue on which she chosen to comment to the press: her new book. The rest of the story’s coverage is more focused on the issue at hand—that of Jenna Bush’s new status as an author and the platform from which she can act after having volunteered for UNICEF—but certain gossipy elements seem out of place and unnecessary in the Post. This is not a situation where readers need to know Bush is wearing a Lela Rose dress: save that commentary for reporting on state dinners.

While D.C. focuses on its darlings, Boston media focus on the most important thing to Massachusetts natives this morning: the Red Sox first American League East title in 12 years. The Boston Globe article on the victory focuses as much on the celebration as the game itself: details such as team owner John Henry’s “shampoo of Korbel California Champagne Extra Dry from Papelbon” and the playing of “The Impossible Dream” on the organ at midnight capture the mood of mass revelry.

Burma update

The Times of London has more information on the Japanese cameraman killed in Rangoon. An article filed from Tokyo (so it suggests--there is no dateline) shows footage that suggests Kenji Nagai was shot deliberately, contrary to what the Burmese government said. It is uncertain who took the footage, but the article mentions that the Japanese government has sent dispatches to Burma to uncover the true sequence of events, so perhaps more conclusive information will be revealed in the coming days.

Lacking information, but not inches

Several lengthy stories were published today that suffer no lack of column inches, but do not deliver all the information that ought to be required of them. At times, reporters acknowledge the lack of access to information, but in one article, the story just seems to fall flat of being newsworthy.

In what is so far a he-said-she-said account, the New York Times sheds further light on a controversial shooting in Baghdad by security company Blackwater USA. The article acknowledges up front that several American officials provided the information presented in the newspaper and notes their connection to the incident while also noting that Blackwater itself would not provide confirmation. The structure of the article tries to recreate the order of events based on this new information, but it offers no direct quotes from eyewitnesses, which would have been illuminating, although admittedly difficult to obtain.

Gathering information is also proving increasingly difficult in coverage of the riots in Burma. A Washington Post article today admits, “Restrictions on Internet use imposed by the military's State Peace and Development Council sharply reduced the flow of information. As a result, Thailand-based exile groups and outside observers had only a sketchy picture of what was going on in Rangoon…” Nonetheless, the account combines information garnered from Burmese news services to try to piece together the latest news. The article also falls back on comments from world leaders, including Japanese prime minister Yasuo Fukuda on the death of a Japanese cameraman, and President Bush chiming in with sentiments of solidarity.

Also lacking in information is a Boston Globe follow-up article today on the purported Whitey Bulger sighting in Italy this past spring. The article acknowledges there has been no confirmation that the man in the video was Bulger, nor have there been additional sightings of the fugitive mob boss from Boston. Instead, the article aims for a fresh angle by asking Bulger’s former longtime girlfriend Teresa Stanley her opinion of the video. Her verdict: it’s not him. Why the article meanders on for paragraphs after this disclosure is beyond my comprehension; it aims to provide a picture of life after the mob boss for the woman he left behind, but the images that emerge are little more than quotidian and fall flat of evoking much of a response from readers.

Keeping things in perspective with today's news

It is often the work of international correspondents to remind Americans how fortunate we are to live in a thriving Western economy. Today’s article in the New York Times about trash collectors in New Delhi is one such reminder. The article focuses on one woman’s story, humanizing a whole class of people in its specific description of her daily life. The reporter tells how much money Manorama Begum makes and how much she should be paid if everyone whose trash she collected paid her, as well as the many ways in which she tries to use things she finds in the trash as collateral to make up for that lost money and feed her children. The current relevance of the situation is made clear—the government is about to provide trash collectors with gloves, boots and aprons—but the overwhelming effect of the story is to suggest an ongoing injustice in Indian society.

The living conditions presented in New Delhi put American concerns in a different light, but the focus in Washington is still on next year’s presidential elections. The Washington Post’s coverage of last night’s Democratic debate in Hanover, N.H., represents the wide range of topics discussed and opinions offered by the candidates. In its summation of the conclusions, it includes quotes from the candidates that capture the tone of the debate, including an exchange between Senator Hillary Clinton and Tim Russert of NBC over her policy towards using torture to get information, which differs from that of her husband, and comments from all the candidates on their attitudes towards removing American troops from Iraq and their predisposition towards Iran’s threat to U.S. security.

On a far less serious note, the Boston Globe reports on an MIT prank in Harvard Yard, dressing up the statue of John Harvard as a character from video game Halo 3. The article takes a very light-hearted view of the pranks, as do the administrators quoted in it, but it misses out on part of the fun. Where are the quotes from the hacks themselves referred to on hacks.mit.edu? Where are the responses from Harvard students? The incident certainly does not merit a lengthy investigation, but since the Globe is going to devote some space to the prank, it might as well do the story justice.

While one expects MIT students to play offbeat pranks, it comes as more of a surprise to hear a former MIT engineer achieved fame as a country musician. What is even more surprising is that Massachusetts has a Country Music Awards Association. Apparently, though, it does, and according to the Canton Citizen, a 30-year resident of that town has been inducted. George Perkins, who once helped build the first computer at MIT, was recognized under his stage name “Montana Cy” for his contributions to country music. As the Citizen is wont to do, the article tells Montana Cy’s life story, reaching far back to his childhood ambitions, but it does not achieve its usual goal of explaining the contributions the resident in the profile has made to the community, mentioning only briefly the musician’s local performances.

Today's news stories are a varied bunch, but they just go to show the vast differences in coverage by local and national newspapers.

Putting a premium on First Amendment rights

In the New York Times this morning, a street performer and protester’s arrest raises ethical questions about first amendment rights. “Reverend Billy,” a.k.a. William Talen, was brought to court under charges of harassing police officers for trailing them with a megaphone in Union Square, repeating the words of the First Amendment. The account of his story frames it as a philosophical issue: “Does reciting the First Amendment serve a legitimate purpose?” The article does well to note the defendant’s reference of the Court of Appeals’ decision that harassment must serve “no legitimate purpose,” and to say that Talen’s behavior was such implies that the recitation of the First Amendment “must have no thoughts or ideas besides threats, intimidation or ‘coercive utterances…’” The stage is set for a brilliant victory on the side of street corner soap box speakers everywhere when Talen returns to court next month.

Free speech is under a more violent attack in Burma, where monks continue to lead anti-government protests and security forces try to suppress them. The Washington Post has a comprehensive account of the situation that recalls the background for those who have not been following the story. It includes reporting on the major protest locations yesterday, along with statements made by President Bush at the U.N. threatening to place visa and economic restrictions on Burmese leaders. The article’s dateline reads Thailand, though, and while one early piece of information is attributed to a Burmese exile group in that city, it is unclear whether information on the rest of the reported events was observed firsthand by the reporter or obtained from other sources.

Geoff Edgers’ article in the Boston Globe on Mass MoCA’s decision not to show Christoph Buchel’s unfinished installation offers one of the most balanced accounts of the dispute I’ve seen thus far. Edgers acknowledges the criticism Mass MoCA has received throughout for its treatment of the artist, but he also discloses just how much money the delayed exhibition, which had already gone over-budget before the court disputes began, cost the museum. The article includes comments from those who support the museum’s decision, as well as Buchel’s response, a tongue-in-cheek offer to permanently install a work for free: rearranging the museum sign’s letters to read “Mass CoMA.” The article is primed for a follow-up, after mentioning that Buchel still has an appeal in seeking monetary damages after the court ruled in Mass MoCA’s favor and that the materials left behind from the installation present a huge recycling challenge.

In the midst of all these questions of freedom of speech and expression, capitalism trumps all as Sotheby’s prepares to sell a copy of the Magna Carta previously displayed in the National Archives in Washington. The article in The Times of London focuses on the historical significance of the document, not mentioning until much later that it is a huge coup for Sotheby’s. At least what the vice-chairman of Sotheby’s calls a “talisman of liberty” is being sold for a good cause: owner Ross Perot wants to the proceeds to fundraise “medical research, improving public education and assisting wounded soldiers and their families.”

Showcasing stunts and neglecting statistics

A New York Times article today recreates Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s talk at Columbia with all the sense of theatricality of the live event. There is no attempt by the reporter to present the discussion neutrally, but her choice to begin the article with an understatement that reads with some sense of sarcasm seems to have captured the spirit of most of those who attended the talk. The inclusion of President Bush’s comment that he does not think he would have invited Ahmadinejad to speak underscores the talk as a stunt or an overly gratuitous showing by Columbia President Bollinger to showcase his institution’s intense respect for freedom of speech.

An article in The Times of London focuses on British troops’ role in freeing two kidnapped Italians but neglects certain other aspects of the report. The article is very detailed in its description of the dramatic rescue and is sure to note that Italian forces asked specifically for help from the respected Special Boat Service. However, it leaves the story of the Italians’ initial capture until the final paragraph and then only offers a vague explanation for their potential handover to the Taliban as political collateral that is not even attributed to a particular source. For someone who had not been following the story, this would seem like an important detail to recap or, if no concrete answer had been determined, to be explained for its lack of certainty.

The Washington Post’s article on the FBI’s report that violent crime has increased this year leaves room for more explanation. The article gives all the relevant statistics, breaking down the rise in violent crime and the crime rate (and distinguishing between the two). However, it does not disclose where the biggest increases occurred, nor does it offer any explanation for the sudden increase in crime since 2005, which it notes is the first time there has been a significant increase since 1993.

A Boston Globe article also discloses data findings without explaining the discrepancies they raise. The article notes that two different housing reports—one released by the Warren Group, which gathers real estate data, and one by the Massachusetts Association of Realtors—found opposite trends. The Warren Group showed a decrease in the median cost of a one-family home and in overall sales, while the Association of Realtors found an increase. To say only that “the realtors’ group…uses a different methodology to capture data” is somewhat baffling when the results are in opposition to one another. Some attribution for this ought to be given, whether by a quote from an outside source commenting on the differences or by a brief description of the two methodologies used.

A look at world leaders and at Massachusetts infrastructure

Today’s New York Times article on the selection of the Yasuo Fukuda as Japan’s new prime minister clearly explained the appointment without getting into too many details that casualA l readers could not appreciate. The article did well to draw a general picture of Fukuda in the lede before moving on to explain the context in which he is entering office. The explanation that Fukuda was more or less chosen through insider talks shed light on the Japanese political system and gave context for understanding its ineffectiveness over the past year.

As a new leader is appointed in Japan, the Washington Post analyzes the way in which U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon relates to world leaders. The analysis provides many perspectives from multiple sources, including those who were asked directly about Ban’s approach and those who were commenting on specific instances. Both the lede and the kicker present a favorable view of Ban’s patient diplomacy, countering the several quotes in between from Laura Bush and Mia Farrow who are less convinced that patience is the appropriate attitude. This leads me to wonder how much the reporter’s impressions were shaped before even conducting the interviews. I would have liked to see a less certain conclusion drawn.

The Boston Globe today reports on yesterday’s anthrax drill conducted by postal carriers in West Roxbury and the South End. The article explains the goals of the drill to combat potential bioterrorist attacks and gives a personal sense of the postal carriers’ sense of duty in delivering lifesaving medicine by interviewing one mailman in the South End. One point of confusion, though, is the mention of Philadelphia in the penultimate paragraph. It had not previously been made clear that other cities were conducting similar tests, and more context should have been giving about when Philadelphia’s drill occurred and how Boston measured up to it in terms of time taken to conduct the deliveries.

Another Globe article shares helpful information about the new “cellphone parking lot” at Logan Airport. The article offers practical information about the size of the lot, precisely how it is meant to be used and how well it works. The quote from the driver who tested the route several times to determine the five minute distance between the lot and farthest airport terminal provides a helpful service to readers.

Religion in Russia, issues of surveillance and nuclear concerns

A report in the New York Times on the influence of religion in Russia’s school system seems biased by a secular perspective. The quote from a student near the beginning of the article colors the reader’s impression of the issue from the beginning, almost suggesting that students are brainwashed, in a way, by juxtaposing the image of the teacher “as if speaking from a pulpit” with the child’s comment soon after. Reading this, I wondered what the child’s own religious background was, information that is important to understanding whether her answer came from the classroom or from what she learned at home. Information about the religious demographics of Russia should have appeared much earlier in the article, because that, too, influences readers’ understanding of the issue. The kicker, as well, suggests that students are somehow being plied into accepting religion by noting that a teacher “dismissed the class, but not before giving a piece of chocolate to each child.” There are a variety of viewpoints presented in the article, but the way in which the reporter has chosen to frame them introduces a subtle commentary beneath an apparently neutral façade.

The Washington Post follow-up article with more information on the unsecured transportation of nuclear warheads at the end of August presents its subject with greater objectivity. The reporter’s disclosure of why the accounts given had to remain anonymous is helpful to the public in understanding that the information came from inside sources. The story not only sets the facts out in a very detailed manner, but also gives context by explaining how this instance deviated from the usual routine for handling nuclear warheads, explaining the risks of their unknown transportation several times for emphasis.

The Boston Globe also strives for transparency by reporting on a topic that does not receive much attention in communities: the use of surveillance cameras in public places by the Boston Police Department. The article gives specific examples of recent occasions when the cameras have aided police in apprehending suspects and also raises concerns from community members and groups that the presence of the cameras ought to be revealed to neighborhoods and should not decrease the amount of live police presence.

An article in The Sunday Times (of London) reports on the reconvening of the military planning group Project Checkmate to evaluate the possibility of war with Iran because of the country’s potential to pose a nuclear threat. The article balances descriptions of Project Checkmate’s role with those of the role of Centcom, and it makes sure to print comments from a senior defense official who points out the opposition of the joint chiefs of staff to the idea of going to war with Iran.

Complications of American jet-setters

An article in the New York Times today on campaign financing from abroad raises interesting questions about the 2008 elections. With contributions from abroad already around 15 times higher than they were at this point in the 2004 election cycle, one wonders just how much money the candidates will manage to raise by the time the race really heats up. The details included in the article, such as the fact that overseas contributions still only amount to one per cent of a candidate’s donations, still raise eyebrows about Giuliani’s and other candidates’ trips overseas to charm wealthy Americans abroad. Whom are the candidates really courting in these elections?

Traveling candidates and other jet-setting Americans may be under more scrutiny than they think. A Washington Post article discloses that the Department of Homeland Security is collecting details on air travelers more personal than anyone would have imagined in order to target would-be terrorists. The article presents the basic facts as well as enough details to enrage the reader and grab his attention—such as the notation in one person’s file of a book about marijuana he carried with him. The case against the practice is strengthened over the course of the article, as those interviewed point to the civil liberties upon which this practice may be infringing. This is an investigative article to which one wants to see many follow-up reports.

In such an age of heightened airport security, the story of the MIT student who wore an electronic piece of “art,” a circuit board-like device, to pick up her boyfriend from Logan Airport baffles in its complete lack of common sense. The Boston Globe story on the incident presents it in a relatively unbiased fashion, stating the facts clearly in the lede and describing what took place following the arrest. Quotes from those who know the student—including a swim coach from her home state and a friend at MIT—both suggest that she was somewhat eccentric and that she was no different from her classmates. A reference to the Aquateen Hunger Force ads mistaken for bombs last year in Boston hints at overreaction by the authorities without actually quoting anyone who called the event a gross overreaction.

An article in the Patriot Ledger looks at a much smaller threat: that to businesses of the taxes they have to pay anytime a customer pays with a credit or debit card. The article does a thorough job presenting the problems effects on local businesses, although it might have been a more complete picture to describe how small businesses that are not part of franchises are also affected. The article claims that “mom-and-pop” businesses are being affected, but none of those mentioned are independent, small shops.

Unrest and uncertainty in Canada, Louisiana and Delaware

Today the New York Times reports on what seems to be an urgent immigration problem for Canadian officials in Windsor, Ontario, as hundreds of illegal Mexican immigrants to the United States flee to Canada to seek asylum. The article considers many sides of the issue: that of the immigrants themselves, that of the perplexed Canadian officials and that of the community center in Florida that seems to be providing Mexicans with false information. There is a suggestion that the Jerusalem Haitian Community Center in Naples, Florida, may be scamming the asylum-seekers by promising something they have no reason to guarantee, but the vague comments of the center’s director and the overly hopeful quotes from the Mexicans who used it seem to cancel one another out without offering reasons behind the conflicting information.

While Mexican migrants seek support in Canada, six teenagers from Jena, Louisiana, found thousands in sympathy with their plight as marchers converged on the southern town and in cities across the country to protest the allegedly racially-motivated criminal charges brought against the black teenagers. The Washington Post article does well to frame the incident as something that has become larger than the community in which it originated: quotes from residents of Jena at the end of the article suggest some people are blowing the episode out of proportion, while a Southern minister feels nostalgic about the rally. While conveying the scale of the protests through clear details about the crowds in Jena, the article also suggests that this incident is part of a larger cause of civil rights that some Americans are eager to take up again.

The Delaware News Journal has the most comprehensive coverage so far of breaking news from Delaware State University, where two students were shot at 1 a.m. today. The article discloses the injuries sustained by two students and what is known of their present condition, as well as describing the ways in which the campus is currently locked down and how the area around the campus has been affected. A series of articles details news as it breaks, although the quick filing of these stories gives more importance to individual anecdotes than a more comprehensive story published tomorrow will likely do. References to the Virginia Tech shootings earlier this year abound, and it is clear that the coverage is influenced by that incident, as stories focus in on how students on campus are finding out about the shooting.

Tell us what we need to know

Part of the newsworthiness of today’s New York Times article on the Phil Spector trial is that there has been little to report for months, which the reporter self-consciously points out in saying that the trial “had been lacking in headline-making moments in the more than four months it has gone on.” That said, all the background information that follows the lede should have come after the newsworthy information about the judge’s decision to alter the jury instructions. After reading in the headline that the trial has reached an “impasse,” one is more interested in hearing what that obstacle is than in being reminded that Phil Spector was “the creative force behind such classics as ‘Da Doo Ron Ron’ and ‘Be My Baby.’”

Much more clearly structured is a Washington Post article on the assassination of an anti-Syrian lawmaker in Lebanon. It begins with the death toll—at least seven—and the context—that a bombing took place six days before a new president is to be elected. It outlines the history of the assassination of anti-Syrian public figures in Lebanon over the last few years and gives a general explanation of the Lebanese government and the factions involved. It presents all the context the reader needs to understand the situation without having previous knowledge on Lebanon’s situation.

While bomb blasts in the Middle East unfortunately come as little surprise these days, a story in the Boston Globe on the dangers of pizza delivery was somewhat unexpected. The article describes a recent “rash of thefts” from delivery people who go to such crime-ridden neighborhoods of Boston as Roxbury and Mattapan. The article does well describing minor incidents at first and leading up to more serious ones and gives the crime statistics to back up its case. It may not be news to some—the pizza deliverymen all have systems they put into use long ago to protect themselves—but it is a reminder to many of the Globe’s suburban readers that one wrong turn in a dangerous neighborhood could be more serious than they think.

Occasionally, the Canton Citizen proves its relevance to its suburban readers: today it does well to highlight two stories that would not appear in a larger newspaper. The first relates to an ongoing dispute between Canton and Westwood over a shopping complex slated to be built in Westwood near the Canton border. The article shows Canton’s progress forward in gaining the governor’s support against building an off-ramp from I-95 at Dedham Street in Canton, noting the number of additional cars that would bring into the town and describing likely alternatives to the off-ramp. It might have benefited from a diagram or map detailing the proposed alternative, but the description is clear enough to those who live in the affected neighborhoods. The second locally-newsworthy article describes the family connection to Canton of Paul Cahill, the West Roxbury firefighter killed two weeks ago while fighting a fire that broke out in a restaurant. The article is a thoughtful tribute that tells a family’s story in a time of grief, but it does come on the heels of another tribute to a former Canton resident who was killed, Norton’s Beth Spence Cann. The effect for a regular reader is somewhat morbid.

Criminal Minds

A New York Times article today increases transparency over the controversial issue of the National Security Agency’s secret wiretapping program. The report by Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, that he has not used warrantless wiretapping since he assumed his position in February may seem at first like a lack of news, but in this case, it is the news the public ought to hear. The article does a thorough job explaining the background for the controversial wiretapping program, and the inclusion of recent legislation passed before the August recess to allow certain kinds of wiretapping brings readers up to date on the privacy issues that still remain.

The Times of London has been covering the Madeleine McCann case devotedly since it broke, and their coverage today of the McCann’s move to solicit legal counsel builds on past news stories. The article has a very clear lede, but a comment from a representative for the McCann’s that the lawyer in question has not officially been retained seems to dispute the headline. For those who have not been following the story quite as religiously as The Times has, it might have been helpful to include further details on the naming of the McCanns as suspects, since this itself was uncertain only about a week ago. The Times does, however, include extensive information in a question and answer section on the story.

The Boston Globe raises more questions than answers in an article about a cheating scandal at Hanover (N.H.) High School. How were the cheaters identified? What evidence, beyond sliced window screens discovered before the alleged break-in, led school officials to involve the police? What is the history of cheating at Hanover High School, and have there been other incidents? The article is colored by its depiction of the children against whom charges will be brought as “privileged,” but it neglects to suggest what kind of students they were, which is just as relevant to this story.

A pair of articles in The Patriot Ledger takes a more detailed approach to a criminal verdict in a ruling against a mother from Carver who killed her son in 2005. The articles give background on the conviction—a description of the murder as it was presented in court—and suggest the future ahead for the convicted woman, including her family’s fear that treatment will not be enough to protect them from her.

Presidential concerns; Massachusetts is going to the dogs

A young soldier’s death sheds light upon the injustice of the many troops dying for the U.S. in Iraq who are not even Americans in a New York Times article today. The Times effectively uses Corporal Juan Mariel Alcantara as a symbol for the 21,000 troops in his position by putting his life into general terms: at 22, he “was old enough to have talked about going to college…, to have a fiancée…to have sought American citizenship.” The bittersweet image of his family’s grief at his citizenship ceremony and his mother’s inability to look at the projected photo of President Bush underscores the irony of their desire for Alcantara to become a citizen of a country whose leader they blame for his death.

Alongside its chronicles of dissatisfaction with the outgoing President Bush, the media keeps a close watch on the 2008 presidential candidates. The latest news today is Senator Hillary Clinton’s health care proposal. The Washington Post’s coverage of her announcement in Iowa brings up her past failure as First Lady in creating universal healthcare and highlights her emphasis on a system that will create “choice” but no additional bureaucracy. The Post article provides plenty of analysis of the announcement by turning to academics, political strategists and political rivals for comments.

In Boston, the number of stabbings is on the rise, according to a Boston Globe article today. The article compares statistics between shootings and stabbings in the city from this year to last and includes informative comments from law enforcement officials that link the increase directly to gang leaders’ instructions to avoid imprisonment for possession of a firearm. The observation at the end of the article that one could legally carry a sword or a machete strengthens the point made that it may be time to update laws that ban carrying certain types of knives.

South of the city, The Patriot Ledger reports on a Raynham man’s hope to bypass Governor Patrick’s refusal to allow slot machines at dog tracks by making a bid to open a casino resort at his dog track, Raynham Park. The article offers little in the way of news, aside from the Raynham track owner’s intentions, and mainly reiterates the decisions already made by the governor and their intended consequences. It might be a useful recap for those who have not been following the story, but otherwise gives little new information.

Everyone's complaining about something

From schools to the sea, from local neighbors to foreign diplomats, everyone is complaining about something in today’s news.

A New York Times article today draws the nation’s attention to the Tuscaloosa, Ala., school district, where complaints of racial segregation have emerged from families in the city. The article begins in general terms, noting Tuscaloosa’s earlier history of segregation at the University of Alabama and mentioning the redistricting that has caused many black children to return to all-black schools inferior to those they were attending. The No Child Left Behind Act forms the basis for parents’ claims that their children are being moved unjustly, but the article lacks any comment on this from the Education Department. After discussing the redistricting in purely numerical terms at the start of the article, the reporter ends by making the matter more personal with the inclusion of one student’s story.

In the Washington Post, a different issue of resettlement is described even more transparently. After receiving a copy from Human Rights Watch of Iraqi Ambassador Ryan Crocker’s cable to the State Department, the Post discloses information to suggest that bureaucracy is slowing down the process of resettling Iraqi refugees in the U.S. One of the best pieces of evidence of this included in the article comes in the form of a letter from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that places the blame for delays on the State Department’s partner, Overseas Processing Entities.

A far more trivial problem causes local annoyance, as the Boston Globe reports on the injustice of noisy leaf blowers in the suburbs. On the Globe’s homepage today, top news stories around the country—such as President Bush’s anticipated Attorney General nomination—and the state—such as the possibility of raising highway tolls—are covered by news services. Apparently, Globe reporters have more important issues to cover. The description of parents who take their toddlers and run when leaf blowers rev up on Cambridge Common paints a laughable picture. The audio recording of the blowers spliced into a reading of the article is a nice touch, although seemingly unnecessary: if so many townspeople are running in fright from the blowers, do readers really need to “Click the play button below to hear how loud leafblowers [sic] are”?

Meanwhile, the MetroWest Daily News picks up a Patriot Ledger story today about poor business for lobster catchers in Massachusetts. No one seems to be sure what exactly is causing the decline in the quantity of lobsters caught in the waters of the Commonwealth, but several in the industry stake their guess on the influence of the “HubLine” gas pipeline that runs from Weymouth to Salem and the burden of rising gas prices. One has a little more sympathy for the daughter of a lobsterman who says in the kicker that her family cannot afford to eat lobster for dinner this year than for the complaining neighbors of leaf blower owners, but the article still leaves unanswered questions about why Massachusetts lobstermen are faring so much worse than their New England neighbors.

Money, war and...coffee on a Sunday afternoon

Isn’t Starbucks supposed to be the coffee-chain of choice for the “bohemian bourgeoisie,” as David Brooks called them? The New York Times writes from a lofty perch looking down on the coffee chain that has taken over the world in an article about a former ad executive who stooped to take a job that one would think would be “beneath him” at Starbucks, learned to love it and wrote a book about the experience that has been optioned for film by Tom Hanks. The article does a good job conveying Michael Gates Gill’s “life-changing” experience—perhaps too good a job. The reporter clings to the glamorous details of Gill’s former life, hobnobbing with Kennedys and his father’s colleagues at The New Yorker. The reporter’s own skepticism towards Gill’s happiness, which she acknowledges in the article, colors the reader’s opinion, as well. For all the reasons the reporter offers that Gill should feel above this job, he is the one who points out that Starbucks is, after all, “socially acceptable.”

While Gill gets used to a pay cut, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick hopes to drastically increase public revenue and create new jobs in his approval to license three resort casinos in the state. The Boston Globe article is structured clearly as an “inverted pyramid,” disclosing the key details first before moving into anonymous comments from state officials and the larger economic development program of which the casinos will be a part.

A Washington Post article on Barack Obama’s position on the Iraq War provides an informative analysis of the evolution of his opinions. The article seems to give more weight to his 2002 speech against the war and the fact that he opposed it before it began than to his inaction as a senator. The article quickly points out that Obama’s detractors say he did little to oppose the war as a member of Congress, despite his lofty rhetoric as a senatorial candidate. I appreciated the inclusion of Elizabeth Edwards’ comment that amidst a liberal audience in Chicago, Obama could get away with opposing the war during his run for the Senate.

The war becomes less remote in a Patriot Ledger article that honors its local troops with a story about a support group in Hudson for families who have loved ones serving in the military overseas. There are several thoughtful images captured in the article, from the two-year-old who mistakes a young new recruit in camouflage for her father, still overseas, to the mother who wears a picture of her 19-year-old son around her neck on a dog tag. I would have like to see a few more facts accompanying the human interest aspects of the story, though: how many troops from this region are currently deployed in Iraq? How many of their families meet in some sort of support group? Still, it is a heartwarming picture of local communities banding together.

Death: From the Sonoran Desert to the South End and several gray areas in between

A New York Times article suggests an increase in the deaths of migrants trying to cross the border from Mexico through the Sonoran Desert. The personal story of Felicitas Martinez Barradas is told sympathetically and with dramatic detail, beginning with the lede quote that prefigures her death from the heat. Facts from the Government Accountability Office that suggest the number of deaths are even higher than the government reports raise questions about Border Patrol’s methods of reporting them, but Border Patrol’s statement that it is working to improve those methods suggests the reporter must have asked about those inconsistencies and received a vague answer. It would have been interesting to hear stories from more families—particularly any who lost someone while trekking through the desert and returned to make a second attempt at crossing—but it is surprising enough that the Diaz family was willing to disclose theirs.

Unlike potential border crossers, new migrants to Boston’s South End will come for a decidedly more upscale life. The Boston Globe’s article on the closing of the Waltham Tavern to make room for a new upscale condominium building presents an ambivalent attitude towards the change. Quotes abound from residents who never frequented the tavern—which was, after all, “seedy”—but still see its demise as a loss for the neighborhood. The last quote is probably the best part of the article: even the condo developer admits his project will contribute to destroying the South End’s dwindling neighborhood character.

Western society as a whole is losing something else that was once a definitive part of its character: religion. The difficulty in counting the non-religious in any given population is a clear obstacle to today’s Washington Post article, but its citation of current controversies in which religion plays a role still does a fair job illustrating the changing opinions of Western society towards religion. The list of secular or atheistic organizations that have sprung up recently is probably the best way of qualifying the shift as a cultural movement.

To further complicate what might seem like a surprising twist, religion is down in today’s papers, but opinions of drug use are…up? Or at least amibivalent. A MetroWest Daily News article discloses that drug use by organ donors does not automatically disqualify their organs from being used as transplants. An interview with the director of the New England Organ Bank discusses the various circumstances taken into consideration in these cases. His answers are informative, but the article might have benefited from additional perspectives, such as those of patients awaiting transplants.

Unemployment in India, academic controversy in California, and murder and the mob in the Bay State

A New York Times article today discusses India and employment from an unusual perspective: rather than reporting on the number of jobs outsourced by Americans to India, the article considers the number of Indians who migrate to other countries to find work. The fourth in a series of articles about global migration, it examines the paradoxical situation of the state of Kerala’s high literacy rates and simultaneously high unemployment. The article quotes foreign scholars who view Kerala as a success, due to its importation of foreign money, and families whose lives seem to be more difficult than they ought to be, choosing between living together as a family and benefiting from one family member’s wages earned abroad. The accompanying slide show offers a poignant look at the daily lives of Kerala’s people. I am not convinced, though, of the purported success of the “Kerala method.” The lede claims Kerala “is a famously good place to be poor,” and only much later in the article are we presented with the fact that its suicide rate is quadruple that of India’s national average. The article would have been more convincing, perhaps, had it focused more explicitly on reasons for unemployment in Kerala, where it seems opportunities ought to abound for educated people as teachers, at the very least.

In the U.S., a missed opportunity to employ a great educator resulted from the University of California at Irvine’s decision to rescind an offer to Erwin Chemerinsky to become dean of its new law school. Everything you need to know about this Washington Post article is in the lede: a liberal professor lost his job offer after criticizing the Bush administration, and academics of all political beliefs are infuriated. The following two paragraphs list Chemerinsky’s accomplishments, and by the time the article reaches its interview with UC-Irvine Chancellor Michael V. Drake, the pithy quote he provides does little to show his decision was a smart one. It might have been illuminating to include a more specific—or more articulate—statement from the Chancellor, but in light of the majority opinion in favor of Chemerinsky, the chosen quote reinforces the decision as one that UC-Irvine may come to regret.

On this coast, fugitives from the law receive more attention than those who practice it, and the Boston Globe proves it knows its audiences by making the possible sighting of Whitey Bulger in Italy its lead story today. The lede sounds almost too good to be true: “Fugitive gangster James ‘Whitey’ Bulger and his girlfriend, Catherine Greig, may have been spotted in Sicily in April by a vacationing federal Drug Enforcement Administration agent who shot a brief video of the couple before they slipped away, according to law enforcement officials.” The article considers the possibility that the man caught on film could be nothing more than a look-alike, although it notes he wears “Bulger’s trademark sunglasses and baseball cap.” (Why a fugitive from the law would continue to wear defining accessories is a conundrum best left to the reader’s musings.) The Globe discloses some of the steps taken by the FBI following the sighting and interviews law enforcement officials, but it does not make clear why the video has only just been released to the public now, five months after it was taken.

While Whitey Bulger holidays in Sicily (or wherever he may be), the world continues to be an unjust place, as those in his home state mourn the loss of a mother, sister, friend, and active community member. The Canton Citizen pays tribute this week to Beth Spence Cann, a native of Canton who was murdered in her Norton home two weeks ago by Robert McDermott before he took his own life. The Citizen reprinted Beverly Beckham’s September 9 column in the Boston Globe, along with individual comments from the family and friends Cann left behind. The article paints a saintly picture of a woman who contributed to the community as “the single mother reporters overlooked,” one whose loss is felt by many. Despite the inclusion of certain passages that verge on sounding maudlin—“Patty shows me her manicured hands and on one nail is a tiny Adirondack chair, an umbrella and a sun, painted by Beth the Thursday before she was murdered. These are all from before, when Beth was alive”—the article serves as a touching memorial to a woman whose family are still active participants in the Canton community.

Today's Papers: Small town life, urban renewal, and violence abroad and at home

A look at today's news might make you appreciate your own neighborhood a little more this morning--unless that neighborhood is ridden with gang violence, under attack by neighboring lands, or in middle-class suburbs that are losing their small-town atmosphere.

The most attractive place to live, though, based on today's papers, might be in the middle of what was once a traffic and construction nightmare. The Boston Globe reports on the transformation of the mess that was once the Central Artery into the first of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway parks, newly opened in Chinatown. Here is the first of today's articles worth reading. The lede is both informative and illustrative, drawing the reader into the article much the same way as one is drawn into the accompanying photograph, with its meandering pathway. The article's methodical structure describes the origin of the park and the design methods used to integrate it into the neighborhood before disclosing the catch that, like everything else relating to the Big Dig, this project was a long time in the making and is still incomplete. The kicker in this article, though, puts the emphasis right where it ought to be: on the enjoyment Boston's residents will share in the park for years to come. Finally, something to be happy about from the Big Dig.

Boston is not all sunshine and flowers, though, as a passing reference in a New York Times article on gang violence notes. The Times article discusses the newly draconian approach to gang violence in Charlotte, N.C., which has been influenced by that of the L.A.P.D. in the 1990s. The comparisons between Charlotte, Los Angeles, and Dallas seem aptly drawn, and the lede takes the reader to Salisbury, N.C., where gang violence claimed a teenager recently in circumstances of neighborhood rivalry that sounded surprisingly similar to those in L.A. a decade ago. The inclusion of commentary from Charlotte's mayor, Patrick McCrory, made the connection to racial bias among the city's police force in fighting gang crime, which comes as little surprise.

Far more disturbing than these reports of gang violence--and perhaps the best-written article in today's papers--is a report in the Washington Post on recent attacks on Kurdish villagers near the Iranian border of Iraq. The lede in this story is gripping and written with the grace of literature, but the article itself is a feat of journalism: how many papers today actually send their reporters to Iraq to share the intimate stories of villagers displaced by violence? The article quotes a Kurdish chicken farmer's observations on the shelling before turning to an official far removed from the reality of the situation, thus placing the emphasis on those who are directly affected by war. This is more than a newswire report: it is an illustration of what life is like for a nurse who sat at the breakfast table while her house was shaken by shelling and now tends to the "scorpion bites, fevers and stomach sickness" of her neighbors in the makeshift camp to which they have been displaced. As closely as the story is written, it also looks to larger concerns behind the violence by quoting the Iranian pamphlets that warn residents that Iran is responding to U.S. actions and will continue the shelling campaign in the days to come.

After such a moving portrayal of the horrors of being displaced by war, the Patriot Ledger's article on suburban mothers turning to the Internet to make friends just does not seem quite as important a concern to society at large. The article aptly points out that suburban neighborhoods seem to be losing their charm in an age when neighbors no longer "[chat] over fences while their children [play] together." It is refreshing that yet another article on the rise of online social networking forgoes the usual subject on college kids (and their elders) joining Facebook and instead looks to another demographic. The article covers the ground that a local newspaper should, focusing on the sense of community within several area towns in locations that cover most of the Ledger’s readership. The movement from the nostalgic lede to the kicker in which mothers discuss sharing parenting tips over email is effective, although I am not sure I am ready to believe the claim of one of the women interviewed that the Internet is the only way for a mother who works from her home to meet new people.

Still, I would prefer the boredom of suburbia--or better yet, the behind-schedule urban parks--to displacement by Iranian shells. Today's papers do nothing if not provide you with some much-needed perspective on American life.