Immigration issues

The New York Times has a straightforward story about the Center for Immigration Studies' recent analysis of immigration. The article reports on the findings and their implications, beginning by pointing out that immigration over the last seven years was the highest ever in the country's history over a seven-year period. It continues to include the most significant facts from the study: where these immigrants have settled, where the majority of them come from, their legal status and their use of public services. It includes comments from the Center that conducted the study and also several contradicting the study from an academic at another institution.

Immigration also figures prominently in The Washington Post's coverage of last night's Republican debate. The article begins by noting the tone of the debate--"the most spirited" of the campaign so far--and illustrates its claim by following the first paragraph with some of the conversation about immigration. The article focuses on Giuliani and Romney's disagreements about immigration issues before turning to other topics of discussion and highlights from the debate.

All the facts in order

The New York Times gets right to the point in an article on the Fed's most recent comments. The article leads with the vice chairman of the Federal Reserve's remarks that it would be "flexible and pragmatic," which suggests an opportunity to cut interest rates again. The article notes the unusual candidness of the remarks and then goes on to explain what they signify and how they have already affected markets in the U.S. and abroad. The article ends by updating readers on the real estate market, a driving force behind the current state of the economy.

The Times of London also presents the most important information first in its article on President Musharraf's relinquishment of his role as Army chief of staff in Pakistan. One thing about the article confuses me, though. The byline includes a correspondent in Islamabad and another, presumably in London, yet the article quotes the Islamabad correspondent giving his opinion on the significance of the event. Why is this necessary?

I'm a little confused by the order of events in a Patriot Ledger article on a murder conviction today. The article starts out with the most relevant news--that the state supreme court upheld a 2003 conviction--but goes downhill from there. Twice there's a typo calling the Plymouth County Superior Court the "Plymouth Superior Court county," but that is nonetheless comprehensible. What becomes confusing is the circumstance under which the convicted murderer was able to be tried twice. In trying to stick to a strict inverted pyramid structure, the article does not present the facts in chronological order, but in its discussion of dates, it would be much, much clearer if it had been organized chronologically. The article is so brief that no one would stop reading it two or three sentences appeared earlier than was strictly necessary.

Progress begins with baby steps; in diplomacy, even the tiniest step forward may be followed by three steps back. The New York Times acknowledges the difficulties of diplomacy in its article on President Bush's announcement from Annapolis today that Israeli and Palestinian leaders have agreed to set a framework for talks to bring about peace by the end of 2008. The article stresses that this is only a plan for discussion. In a balanced piece of reportage, the paper acknowledges the many challenges that remain unaddressed by the agreement. It tempers its announcement of the peace talks with a litany of issues that remain on the table, from the Israeli attitudes towards Palestinian refugee status that are likely to arise during discussions to the violence that continues to unsettle Gaza and the West Bank. The article does an excellent job of going back and forth between the safety of international efforts at diplomacy in Annapolis and the complex realities of the situation in the Middle East. The contextualization of two middle paragraphs was particularly astute: the article describes Bush's location giving his address "in the frescoed Memorial Hall beneath a replica battle flag declaring 'Don’t Give Up the Ship,'" immediately after noting that even as the conference takes place, someone has been killed during demonstrations on the West Bank.

The Washington Post is all over the place in its article comparing Hillary Clinton's and Barack Obama's supporters on the campaign trail. It starts off with very interesting comparisons of Bill Clinton and Oprah Winfrey as supporters of rival candidates, about to head to Iowa to do some campaigning there. The descriptions of Winfrey work particularly well to show the two as equally powerful in influence, marshalling details of her star status to characterize her as "ranked by Forbes magazine as one of the most powerful voices in public life, the host of the top-ranked television talk show for more than two decades with a track record of moving millions of books on her suggestion alone." As the end of the article tries to bring readers up to date on the Obama and Clinton campaigns, though, it goes off on a tangent, ending (frustratingly) with a quote from Obama that harks back to his bitterness over Clinton using her First Lady experience as a key reason to support her.

In The Providence Journal today, a feature story should resonate with college students and recent graduates everywhere. The article tells of a 28-year-old's quest to raise money online through "cyber-begging" to pay off student loans that have kept him from moving out of his mother's house years after he graduated. The article addresses all the stereotypes of such a living situation, immediately pointing out that Joe Perez "is no slouch." It describes the rise of "cyber-begging" and includes comments from academics on why it does or does not work. In describing Perez's website, the article mentions he includes testimonies of other students with loan debts--it might have been interesting to hear comments from them or to include their testimonies, as well, but the article does give a very full picture just in profiling Perez.

I wonder how The New York Times worked out the details of printing two articles by one author adapted from the same upcoming book in today's paper. The articles are both adapted from a book coming out on Condoleeza Rice; one discusses her close relationship with President Bush and the other, her development as a diplomat in her role as Secretary of State. Both strike me as more appropriate to the Sunday paper -- neither is brief or to the point, and both offer up a lot of analysis for a busy reader to digest quickly at the beginning of the week. For example, the article on Rice's diplomacy takes the leisurely approach of a book in getting to its point, beginning with a long introduction of Rice in 2001 before hitting upon the main idea of "her evolution from passive participant to activist diplomat."

The Patriot Ledger provides a warning to readers and details of a newsworthy weekend for firefighters with its article on the many fires to hit South Shore towns on Saturday and Sunday. The article succeeds in its brevity, and the "Fire safety, by the numbers" sidebar is a quick and informative feature that adds to the content in the body of the article. The lede is structured well for the most part, but I can't imagine why the fourth paragraph merited a weather report. Local readers (most of the regional paper's audience, I imagine) certainly know how cold it was and those out of town could imagine it must have been cold enough to merit all the fireplaces that were running.

The plot thickens in the investigation of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy. The Times of London has a comprehensive article discussing the possible role of Rudy Hermann Guede, one of the suspects recently arrested in Germany. What's interesting is the role of technology in the investigation. Guede's testimony seems to rely in part on instant messaging conversations, and The Times' own photo of the suspect is credited to Facebook. The article plays up the drama of the investigation with quotes about the character of Amanda Knox, Kercher's flatmate, and frankly racist comments about Guede from witnesses and those implicated in his testimony. Tragic though the murder was, somehow this sounds more like a bad horror movie about 20-somethings in the Internet age than like real life--I can't help but read all the news coverage and wait in suspense to see what emerges next.

Everyone loves a good mystery. The New York Times lays one to rest today in an article on the purported discovery of the remains of Czar Nicholas II's two children, thought to be killed in 1918 but rumored for years to have escaped execution. The article explains the process that recovered nine sets of remains in 1991 and then the discovery of these last two sets this past summer. There is no indication of why The Times has just picked up on the story now, though. The article also lacks some historical context. It would have been more informative if it had included, for example, the dates when Anna Anderson claimed to be Anastasia and some of the theories that prompted the rumor that two children escaped execution and when these theories originated.

A Washington Post article today reports on the oft-forgotten war-torn country of Afghanistan. The article devotes a substantial amount of space to discussing the report released by the Bush administration showing failure to meet its goals for 2007. It includes many comments from senior officials--made anonymously, of course--that indicate that they are not surprised.
They're not the only ones.

In The Boston Globe today a fine line exists between the stigma of an accused drug dealer and the injustice of one wrongfully imprisoned. An article on the release of an accused drug dealer describes the prosecutorial errors that caused the judge to drop the charges. However, the viewpoint is quite balanced and does not note that the accused had been held for four years until the very end of the article; this seems to make the story newsworthy.

International Relations 101: Superficial diplomacy and retail incentives lure foreigners to the U.S.

Diplomacy is not about results; it’s about process. The New York Times captures this spirit in its article on President Bush’s Middle East talks scheduled to happen in Annapolis next week with many world leaders, including a comprehensive coalition from the Middle East. The article begins by explaining Syria’s contingencies for attending and goes on to name the factor that convinced Saudi Arabia to attend. The inclusion of comments from world leaders attending focuses on the protocol—who merits a handshake and who will not receive such civilities—and only later in the article is there a mention that the importance of this meeting will not be for actual progress made but for the appearance of a willingness to make progress in the future.

Another article in the World section piqued my curiosity. I was surprised that the article on the postponement of the Lebanese presidential vote did not say more about the Annapolis talks. It mentioned that legislators in Lebanon expect it will be easier to choose the next president after the talks next week, but did not say why.

Perhaps it's due to lingering resentment after spending the first half of this year in Europe, but this Boston Globe headline really gets to me: "With dollar low, US is one big outlet." The article touches upon the economic reasons underlying the weakening of the dollar with a timely, Christmas-shopping-season spin. It emphasizes which shopping centers the tourists are coming to visit--mainly the outlets in Wrentham and Freeport, Me.--but it also gives the sample itineraries of a few Irish women who justify their flight and hotel expenses for the ridiculously good bargains they intend to find. Just twist the knife a little more, thank you. I suppose I'll still do my part to keep American retailers saturated with Americans' money this holiday season.

Society: From Old New York to Camelot

Out in Lenox, Mass. at The Mount, former home of Edith Wharton, chroniclers of the author's life and literature are thrilled at a recent find from Dedham, Mass., that sheds light on one of Wharton's best known novels. An Edith Wharton fan finally gave The Mount a letter she'd received in which Wharton seems to suggest that Lily Bart, the protagonist in The House of Mirth, intentionally kills herself when she dies of a sleeping pill overdose at the end of the novel. The article in The New York Times today explains the importance of the action to Lily's character and an overall understanding of the plot by explaining Lily's downfall from the elite societal milieu in which she grew up. The article includes the opinions of Wharton's biographers and comments from the president of The Mount.

At the other end of the state, Fenway fans learned that Neil Diamond's hit song "Sweet Caroline," played at every Red Sox home game for the last nine years, was inspired by Camelot darling Caroline Kennedy. This, too, is a recent decision to release long-known information, and The Boston Globe explains Diamond's reasoning for doing so now on the occasion of Caroline Kennedy's 50th birthday. The article also reveals the history behind playing the song at the ballpark, which is also charming. Oh, and Doris Kearns Goodwin chimes in, too, to give the whole thing added historical significance--as if a great American songwriter, beloved baseball team, and former first daughter were not enough on their own.

'Tis the season for denial...

Everyone has denial. For students, that denial can be cyclical as more work builds up during the semester. This would seem to be the perfect time, then, for me to read The New York Times' article on recent studies suggesting a certain amount of denial is actually healthy. (The perfect time, that is, if I want to persist in my blind denial.) The article sets forth historical conceptions of denial from Freud to today briefly at the beginning before examining a number of recent studies. Some of the studies are described clearly, but others are not, making it difficult to understand the circumstances of the experiment. The studies are alternated with anecdotes, and the article closes nicely by circling back to the shopaholic in denial mentioned in the lede.

Looking out my window at the snow a moment ago, I thought how nice it was to be getting into winter and the holiday season. Then I turned to The Boston Globe homepage to see an article on overbooked holiday flights that cannot possibly deal with wrinkles in the system caused by weather. Let's just say this Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for not having to get on a plane. The article is standard fare for the holidays. Complaining about air travel in the news is seasonal: it begins with the summer -- or possibly around the time of public school spring vacations, if the year seems especially foreboding -- and pops up again like clockwork in November in December. The Globe article does one thing differently, though: besides whining about long lines and lost luggage, it reports on American Airlines' plan to streamline the travel process by buying up extra seats for passengers who might miss connecting flights and bringing in additional staff.

An article in The Washington Post also seems to suggest a sense of denial pervading Lebanese lawmakers. Parliament members have been shuttered away in a hotel to keep them from risk of assassination before they choose a successor to the current president, whose term ends November 24. The Parliament members know that the Syrians aim to assassinate them for anti-Syrian activities, particularly those conducted by a group known by the name "March 14." The article might have included information, then, regarding the choice to seclude the politicians in the hotel, away from their families--it seems this is the last desperate option, but the article does not offer any concrete comments to support this common sense deduction.

This is it. I knew the day would finally come: the Internet brings about the death of reading! Americans spend too much time online and not enough time curled up with a book! The end is near. At least, this is what the National Endowment for the Arts survey, reported on in The New York Times today, seems to suggest. The studies seem to miss out on reading done online, as the article mentions. It would have been interesting for the article to put the current statistics in context with any that were available from the 1950s and '60s when television first became a distraction from pleasure reading.

The Boston Globe takes a look at traffic patterns today with an article on the under-use of the new--and very expensive--U-turn ramp on the Mass Pike. The article gives the numbers of vehicles who have used it, abused it, or decided it wasn't worth their time. It describes the range of situations faced by confused truck drivers and taxi cab drivers and also explains the confusion surrounding its use that has prompted changes in signage. One question I still have, although it is not necessary to understanding the article, is how The Globe learned this information. Did they just investigate after someone at the paper noticed what seemed to be a lack of activity, or was the situation brought to their attention in some way by public officials?

A Washington Post story today seems to be reporting on its inability to report, and it's left me just as confused as its author appears to be. The article anticipates an upcoming international conference at the Naval Academy on the subject of the creation of a Palestinian state. It opens by noting that little has been planned, and despite the diplomatic complexities surrounding the issuance of invitations, not all participants have been invited yet. I am unclear, though, why the State Department appears to be so unprepared. Or are they prepared, but just not sharing the information yet? I have no idea, and it seems to me that the paper would have done better to hold the story until there was actually something to tell.

In an age when celebrity news garners most readers' attention and newspapers are forced to shut their international bureaux with alarming frequency, I often worry that American media cannot keep its audience adequately informed on foreign affairs. The lead story on the front page of The New York Times today helps restore my confidence in the watchdog role of the media abroad. The article discloses for the first time information on secret U.S. efforts to help Pakistan safeguard its nuclear weapons. The article offers a history of the actions, going back as far as the Clinton administration to point to U.S. officials' concerns about Pakistan's nuclear arms. The article handled the issue of transparency very well -- just as I was beginning to wonder at the lack of attributions in the first few paragraphs, the article devotes three paragraphs to explaining the paper's decision to release this story now after having been asked by the Bush administration not to do so in the past due to security concerns.

Further down the front page, though, another NYT article scares me--just a little. The article describes a South Korean rehab/boot camp for Internet addicts. The anecdotes and statistics provided are shocking. One 15-year-old sees no problem with spending 17 hours a day online; the article returns to him later in the day after he gave this statement to find that the rigorous physical activities at the camp have him changing his tune somewhat. The article does a great job giving context for the opening of such a boot camp in South Korea by describing the universality of Internet access there in a culture even more web-obsessed than Americans are.

A Boston Globe article today is equally tragic but handled well. An article on the death of a student in Allston Friday night opens with the tone of murder mystery--unknown cause of death, suspected to have fallen from the roof, found by police who were on the scene to break up a major fight. The unclear circumstances surrounding the death, which are likely the cause of the story's newsworthiness, gives way to thoughtful reflections on the young victim. The article includes comments from just about every possible facet of the man's life: family, friends, professors, employer, other party guests. It seems much more fitting that the article focus on the loss of young life rather than sensationalizing the causes of death. The Boston Herald, naturally, was less discreet in its coverage and writes of the incident with all the hype of a rowdy brawl turned fatal.

The New York Times takes an interesting approach to examining ethnic diversity in the U.S. by looking at the U.S. Census Bureau's ranking of popular last names. The Times and Census Bureau officials theorize that this is the first time in history that Hispanic names have reached the top 10. Comments and analyses intriguingly range from an increased willingness to embrace ethnic heritage by today's youth to the frequency with which certain names occur for particular ethnicities. One fact struck me that the article passed over: there are four million names held only by one person. I imagine there could be many intriguing stories behind this, too, and perhaps some would have been relevant to the scope of this article.

The Washington Post provides the recent history underlying Bush's response to Musharraf's current behavior in Pakistan. The article traces the roots of Bush's current inaction back to the world leaders' first meeting in 2001. The analysis relies on factual information and comments from those close to the President, but it still manages to go beyond the news to give readers some context within which to understand current events.

I'm not so sure how I feel about The Boston Globe's article on Geri Denterlein and her book The Power Chicks' Guide to Boston. First of all, it's in the Home/Lifestyle section. It strikes me as more than a little ironic that an article about empowering women in the business world is relegated to the "Home." I'm willing to concede that this might just have been a matter of newsroom politics, but it still seems somewhat inappropriate. The article also takes a few things for granted. It doesn't discuss the term "power chick"--did Denterlein coin this phrase, or do people actually use it? (And if people do actually use it, how old are they? It sounds a bit dated to me.) It also fails to explain why Denterlein felt it necessary to write a book specific to Boston. Aside from which charity boards to join in the city, it sounds as though the rest of the advice about networking could apply to any locale.

Everything's political...

It can be difficult to wade through the torrents of media coverage of the presidential campaigns to find out what is really significant, but the New York Times article on last night's Democratic debates does just that, presenting the highlights for those of us who missed the event live. The article draws attention up front to the focus on Hillary Clinton during the debate, but it leads with the most relevant and newest developments, mentioning the backlash from the last debate only at the end of the article. There are also excellent characterizations of the atmosphere, revealed through the various quips and barbs shared over the course of the debate.

The Washington Post plays watchdog in an article showing the political influences behind changes made to a Smithsonian exhibit on climate change. The article's argument stems from handwritten notes and emails revealing controversy among scientists who contributed to the exhibit. A wide variety of perspectives, though, downplays the negativity against the political decisions that led the curator to include room for doubt on climate change.

I'd like to see a little more tension in the Boston Globe article on reprieves given to clubs that still have not installed sprinkler systems to fight fire. After three years to comply with the fire law passed in 2004 in response to the Warwick Station nigthclub fire, the majority of bars and clubs still have not done so last Friday, a week before the deadline. I am unconvinced as to why these establishments have waited so long, and there are no anecdotes to suggest a reason for the delay in the article.

Today in the land of Oz...

Monkeys, witches, and a Massachusetts cardinal's denunciation of Democrats--the world seen through the headlines seems a little topsy-turvy today. Let's take a closer look.

More monkeys in the news today, but these could be helpful to humans, not harmful. A Washington Post article endeavors to explain scientists' recent success at cloning monkey embryos for stem cells. The article faces many challenges from the beginning, including how to explain science to the average reader, how to qualify results that have not yet been replicated and how to deal with the ethical and political ramifications. It succeeds at the latter two with a quote from a Catholic ethicist at the end of the article and by mentioning the future possibilities to be studied based on this research. Because of one omission, though, it does not explain the complicated science in layman's terms. The details of the experiment do not appear until the article more than half over, leaving unresolved the mention of skin cells in the lede. It would have been much clearer to include a brief description of the experiment in the third paragraph.

A horrifying story out of Africa today is treated comprehensively in The New York Times. An article on children accused of witches and cast out of their homes broaches the sad subject of child abuse without making it seem melodramatic. The article points out without belaboring the point that the people of Angola and the Congo believe in the existence of witches and cannot be convinced otherwise. In describing the abuses children face by their families after being accused of witchcraft, it eases into the more severe situations. The leading anecdote is of a child who survived an attempted killing by his family and does not give the roles of particular family members; this makes it easier for the reader to get accustomed to the idea before the article observes later that mothers and fathers are often behind the abuse.

The Boston Globe initiates what could be an interesting discussion during the course of the election cycle as it reports on Boston archbishop Cardinal Sean O'Malley's denunciation of the Democratic party's antipathy to pro-lifers. The article allows plenty of space for the archbishop to discuss his opinion and notes how such issues have played out in past elections. Its focus is on the document released by the U.S. Conference of Bishops. The article gave an interesting statistic though: there are 104 Catholics in Congress; of those, two have taken firm antiabortion stances. Why don't the rest? Or perhaps one should ask, why do those two? I think the article would present a stronger argument by examining how many other Catholics besides the bishops feel it is important not to support any candidates who wish for abortion to remain legal. What about the many Catholic Democrats across the state of Massachusetts? The article should include responses from the everyman, as well. The article brings up the bishops' declaration that supporting pro-choice candidates could lead to loss of salvation: this is a serious claim. How do Democratic Catholics feel about this? The issue is more complicated than it seems here.

Life's a zoo: Monkeys in India, Mass. economy, and the GOP presidential candidates

After reading the IHT article on trains in India yesterday, another article on urbanization in India caught my eye in The New York Times today--and if yesterday's article was intriguing, today's is, well, a little bizarre. The article examines the danger posed by monkeys in New Delhi. It draws attention to the fact that urbanization is destroying the monkeys' natural habitats and forcing them into more populated areas. What is really fascinating, though, is the way people interact with them. A Hindu group feeds them every week as tribute to a Hindu monkey god, despite fines levied against them if they are caught. Others, though, hire private monkey catchers to rid them of the animals. Apparently, they can be quite dangerous, which the article illustrated well with the example of the deputy mayor falling to his death while trying to fight off monkeys on his balcony. Examples such as this make the article timely and give the newspaper a reason to bring to light such an interesting story.

A Boston Globe article on the sluggish economy uses specific examples to illustrate economists' prediction that economic growth in Massachusetts will slow down for the next few years. While not encouraging by any means, the article is both comprehensive and comprehensible. It uses 2004, when growth was nearly twice what it is expected to be in the near future, as a time against which to measure the current economy, and in particular, it notes what factors contributed to growth then. The article brings together many relevant issues--the real estate market, oil prices, the approaching holiday shopping season--to give a macro-scale overview of the economy.

The election news cycle continues to baffle me, probably because campaigning has been running such an unusual course. Already, as The Washington Post notes today, the GOP candidates are ganging up on Hillary Clinton as their likely opposition. The article also draws attention to the fact that Republican candidates are running spots against Clinton during a period when they would normally be using those ads to fight the competition in their own party. Quotes in the article are mainly drawn from campaign managers and those directly involved in the election; it would have been interesting to see some kind of meta-analysis of what this means to the campaign cycle in the form of comments from a political scientist or someone more removed from the fray.

When does scandal become old news?

In some circumstances, there are few excuses for a reader not to know the background context for a story. Today's New York Times article "Nun Pleads No Contest in Sex Abuse" is not one of them. The article, about a Roman Catholic nun's plea in Milwaukee yesterday, does not seem to merit attention in a national newspaper, but since it is in the NYT, perhaps the paper might find it helpful to elaborate on the situation for those of us who have not been following a Wisconsin story that dates back to accusations made 15 years ago for crimes committed half a century ago? Most of the missing context involves dates: the article does not explain why the plea is just being made now, when one of the two accusers stepped forward in 1992; it references "dozens" of accusations of abuse by nuns without saying over what period in history it is referring to; and it refers to "the Catholic sexual abuse scandal" without giving the context of the rash of accusations that began to come out against Roman Catholic clergy circa 2001. Furthermore, the article fails to back up its relevance in 2007, aside from this one plea. Why does Mary Pat Fox of Voice of the Faithful think that more victims of sexual abuse by nuns will suddenly step forward now? What impact has this Milwaukee case had nationwide that can back that claim up? While the sexual abuse scandals of several years ago did attract nationwide and even international media coverage, attempts to follow up such stories today seem to take past coverage for granted and end up feeding off stereotypes formed during that period.

A Boston Globe article today also talks about the Roman Catholic community in the U.S., but it is tailored more appropriately to its audience than the NYT article. The article reports on Pope Benedict XVI's upcoming trip to the U.S. in April, when he will visit New York and Washington but not Boston. The dateline reads Baltimore, which was somewhat confusing until it was revealed several paragraphs in that the papal visit was announced there at the semiannual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. After revealing the Pope's plans for his visit, the article then turns to theories that Boston archbishop Cardinal Sean O'Malley's efforts to obtain a papal visit in Boston were thwarted because of Boston's reputation following--wait for it--the sexual abuse scandal. (Is this surprising coming from a paper that won a Pulitzer for its coverage of the scandal, managing to alienate some Catholic subscribers in the process?) It's a perfectly legitimate point to make, since the article notes that it appeared in conversations among American bishops. The Globe, however, relegates these associations to the end of the article, where they are most relevant in light of the news being reported.

On a completely unrelated note, a feature article in the International Herald Tribune caught my eye today with its colorful language and vivid description of "Riding the train of dreams across India." The pace of the article is quick and jarring, like the train experience it seeks to convey. It tosses out a multitude of surprising images faster than the Western reader can figure out how to make sense of them, but in doing so, it rings authentic with the experience it describes of people from the country making their way to the big city of Mumbai, mythologized as the "City of Gold." The article is written to captivate its audience, but it also serves as a small-scale observation of larger changes in India, which is becoming more urban than it has ever been before.

Sharing secrets

Spy stories fascinate because of their secrecy, but a New York Times article today brings to light one of the great tales of espionage during World War II with details that eliminate the mystery to give a rare glimpse into a mysterious world. The article profiles an American-born Russian spy, Dr. George Koval who provided the Soviets with information on manufacturing the atom bomb after infiltrating the U.S. Army. The article clarifies many details that the average reader who did not share any of the spy's background would not pick up on: the distinction between spying on plans to design the a-bomb and how it's manufactured; Dr. Koval's childhood in a predominantly Jewish town in Iowa; his education at City College, considered at the time to be "a Harvard for the poor." By shedding light on all the details of the story, the article makes the mystery that much more interesting after so many years of the truth being concealed.

The Washington Post offers up even more fascinating secrets--but these are contemporary accounts of corruption in Alaska. The sometimes salacious details of palm-greasing practices in the state seem to implicate government officials at all levels and draw attention to the way in which corruption has become a given way of doing business there. The audacity of the government officials is shocking, and details such as the article's mention of the "Corrupt Bastards Club" baseball hats worn by many and "Corrupt Bastards Brew" at a coffee shop are small but direct ways of showing how the practice is accepted. With a headline like "I'll Sell My Soul to the Devil," the article promises a lot, and I'd say it succeeds in giving a fairly close look into a world of corruption unfamiliar to most far away on the East Coast.

The Boston Globe also conducts an investigation--of sorts--in Monday's paper. An article follows the journeys of four Globe reporters trying to get to work from the South Shore by testing each of four available options: driving, riding the red line, taking the new Greenbush commuter rail, or boarding the ferry from Hingham. The article is written quickly, alternating back and forth between each of the four points of view, and reads like a chronicle of a reality TV show along the lines of The Amazing Race. It is informative but also very amusing--something all commuters can relate with at some level, and I'm sure many did this morning.

How do you eulogize a larger-than-life author who acknowledged his own greatness often throughout his life? It seems the answer is to write a lengthy, at times biting account of both his strengths and weaknesses. The New York Times does not hold back in its article on the death of Norman Mailer. The huge ego that the headline alludes to becomes Mailer's most prominently featured characteristic by the fifth paragraph. The article is colorful in its description but also loose--the reporter takes the liberty of describing Mailer without much recourse to quotes from those who knew him. Still, as the article progresses, it eventually looks more deeply at Mailer's work and details the full arc of his career.

Fish are portrayed with much more flattery than the deceased writer, in a Washington Post article headlined, "Japan's Sacred Bluefin, Loved Too Much." An article on the decreasing supply of tuna in Japan gives the fish red carpet treatment, including descriptions from a fishmonger that compare good tuna to Catherine Zeta-Jones. (I'm not sure that Zeta-Jones would be equally flattered to know that she is being held as a standard for "beauty and balanced plumpness" in tuna fish, but I'm sure the remark was intended well.)

A Boston Globe article also offers incongruous pairings in reporting on an art class offered to prison inmates. The article offers a glimpse inside the Suffolk County House of Correction as it describes one way inmates spend their time. It does not delve too deeply into describing individuals in the program, and I think a paragraph profile here or there would have made it a more complex story. Still, it skims the surface of an interesting story that shows art's influence in an unexpected place.

A profile that works

A good profile should leave the reader with the feeling that a stranger has just been brought to life on the page before them. It should introduce the reader to someone without attempting to capture that subject's entire life story. Compelling people naturally make for compelling profiles, but there are also ways of approaching the genre that can bring even the dullest subject to life.

The New York Times uses metaphors and personal history to describe Denmark's new minister of social affairs, Karen Jespersen. The article calls Jespersen a "lightning rod" for controversy because of her views on immigration and uses its early paragraphs to place her within the context of contemporary problems in Denmark over that issue. Some of this context might be unnecessary, such as the paragraph on Dutch asylum-seeker Ayaan Hirsi Ali. However, the profile gets back on track when it turns to Jespersen's childhood to show the diverse influences on her current profession by exploring her student years and commenting on the role her mother played in shaping her character. Jespersen is "hard to label," the Times admits, and it does not try to box her identity tidily in one brief article.

First looks and follow-ups

After all the coverage following Michael Mukasey's nomination to become the new attorney general, the New York Times article on his confirmation to that position today wraps up the story by reminding readers of the salient points of the process. The article includes a greater context for the political ramifications of his confirmation in the distant future by noting early on that the senators running for president did not vote to confirm him and in the near future by including comments from Senator Arlen Specter that the Justice Department needs Mukasey to straighten things out immediately. The article backtracks to days one and two of the confirmation hearings to encapsulate the main controversy surrounding Mukasey, his unwillingness to classify waterboarding as illegal torture. Overall, it's a great summary for someone who has not been following the news as it unfolded.

On the other hand, The Boston Globe reports a story still in the process of being sorted out in its article on allegations that a Catholic priest most recently based in a Stoneham parish has been stalking talk-show host Conan O'Brien. The article does not say whether the archdiocese of Boston would comment on the allegations but does include facts confirmed by the archdiocese about the priest's most recent assignments. It is clear that pieces of the puzzle are still missing, such as gaps in the priest's career history and his exact relation to O'Brien. Luckily, the story has yet to be sensationalized, and the Globe account is a balanced an unbiased one that sticks to the known facts and notes everything else as an allegation.

An article in the International Herald Tribune today also follows up an ongoing saga with a story on a meeting of Burmese government leaders. The article mentions all the potential obstacles to restoring any kind of democracy in that country. However, it does not note the obstacles to reporting on developments there. Several other news sources, including Reuters and a state-run Burmese newspaper, are attributed in the article. To be fully transparent, it seems the article ought to acknowledge what communication obstacles are still in place.

Fears of recession not affecting local consumer-driven projects

The U.S. economy could be on its way to a recession. At least, this is what The New York Times suggests in an article that is about much more than homeowners losing equity, as its headline purports. The article begins with an anecdote to illustrate the ways in which many Americans are losing equity by borrowing without hesitation in a real estate market in which their house values are decreasing, not increasing. From there, the article outlines this basic problem, but it quickly extrapolates into many other dangers. It is a chain of cause and effect that could take us into a recession. By the end of the article, the focus is on consumer spending and the upcoming holiday season. The connections are made a little too quickly, I think, and the article could have focused more closely on the impact of losing equity for the homeowners' themselves before broadening the scope to the economy at large.

A look at The Boston Globe reveals more recession worries, but the Globe article pins the cause to rising oil prices. This article is more straightforward in getting at its point; it acknowledges fears of a recession right from the start in the sub-headline. The rest of the article uses a variety of evidence presented by economists and energy officials to back up its claims. This is much more convincing than the argument presented on why loss of home equity could spur a recession. The steps are clearly outlined from the start, and the article sticks to one topic. Of course, it still doesn't make me any happier to know that gas prices are still rising and our economy still plummeting.

More bad news in the local Canton Citizen. I've been following the ping-pong-like efforts of Westwood to move forward with its planned retail and housing development Westwood Station as Canton residents try at every stage to halt it for fears of the havoc it will wreak in the form of traffic nightmares. Apparently, the developers do not have the Times' fear of decreased consumer spending. The article begins with an unbiased report of the recent success Westwood had in obtaining approval from the Secretary of Environmental Affairs. This left me confused: the Citizen is supposed to be on Canton's side, and it has been so far. Shortly thereafter, though, the article returned its focus to the concerns of its readers by noting that this is another instance in which Governor Deval Patrick has let Canton down and by informing readers how to take action. The article serves its purpose well by reporting the latest developments and keeping citizens informed of issues that concern them and ways in which they can deal with those issues.

Reporting aesthetics in the community, business and health

I've been complaining about Christmas decorations appearing the malls already and about holiday commercials on t.v., but one thing I will not complain about is The Boston Globe's article on the infamous house on the parkway in Jamaica Plain whose owners are already in trouble this year for their Christmas decoration spectacle. I love this house. Year-round, it's an imposing, castle-like structure that few people who drive through that area can miss. At Christmas, the over-the-top decorations (which do more than test the line between tacky and tasteful--they flatten that line like Santa's sleigh would a snowflake) are an annual delight for me, just because of the enthusiasm they show. The article explains, though, how the owner is in trouble this year for constructing a new addition that they say ought to have a building permit. The article does a great job showing multiple sides of the story: the snobby neighbors who find the decorations distasteful but try to cloak their attitudes with concerns for safety (A 650-pound structure is not going to get swept off the roof by wind and land on a child. Honestly.); the adoring fans who send letters; and the owners' own enthusiasm for their annual tradition. It's a great community story. I loved it. I just hope they do a follow-up once the holiday season is truly underway.

If only all news stories were so engaging. The New York Times article on Christie's opening auction last night has all the facts and figures but little of the panache that makes an auction exciting. The article jams a lot of information in about particular sales, including their predicted selling prices and actual outcomes, without including much dialogue or drama. It certainly succeeds as a news story, incorporating all the important information, and it does explain the process thoroughly--I particularly appreciated a parenthetical note that explained the inclusion of commissions in the final prices but not the estimates. But I just can't help but think that to include this article in the Arts section (when it very well could have been a business article) without capturing the atmosphere of the event does an injustice to the story.

In a turn away from aesthetics, a Washington Post article examines a new study that suggests being overweight is not as detrimental to one's health as previously imagined. The article examines the complexities of the study, which suggests being overweight is still harmful in some respects but can actually decrease the likelihood of other health risks. The article includes opinions from all sides in the scientific community.

Cities, cycling and crime

A Boston Globe article today illustrates a disturbing trend but does it well in its report on the increase in violent crime in smaller cities. The article presents the statistical data showing smaller cities and towns like Arlington and Haverhill have seen an increase in violent crime this year, while Boston, New Bedford and others have exhibited a decrease. To back up the statistics, the article turns to police and the state's secretary of public safety. One of the most descriptive elements of the article, though, is the inclusion of anecdotes that support the theory that criminals are literally moving their crime to places with less law enforcement, as evidenced in the story of a Somerville gang that kidnapped a man there and then brought him to neighboring Arlington to kill him.

On the other side of the country, Portland is shown as a model city in the New York Times article on its bicycle-friendly culture. The article profiles the city's relationship to cycling and the growth of many bicycle-related businesses in recent years. The story of the woman quoted in the lede, who moved to Portland to find a job in "non-motorized transportation," strikes an idealistic note that is countered by the slight skepticism in discussing the business opportunities that the city's cycling culture provides. The article does not ignore the realities of American car culture, though: it points out that even Portland is not 100 percent safe for riders, as two cyclists were killed after being hit by trucks in October.

An article in The Times of London offers little in the way of actual news from the MI5 chief, who spoke about the increasing threat of terrorism as al-Qaeda recruits teenagers in the U.K. Jonathan Evans, MI5 Director-General, spoke to the press about changes that seem to have been well-documented in the media already. Perhaps given the lack of "news" in his speech, the article could have been supplemented with outside reporting to comment on what it framed as his main claim--the increase in recruiting of British teens by al-Qaeda.

Achieving clarity in writing

The New York Times manages to show all sides of a complex situation in Pakistan, where General Musharraf has declared a state of emergency in order to suspend the constitution and tighten his grip on his position in anticipation of upcoming (now delayed) elections. The article gives a thorough explanation of the consequences of Musharraf's actions for the U.S. and for Pakistani opposition leaders. It is also very transparent in discussing how the media in Pakistan have conveyed the news as the act came to light yesterday.

It takes a while to make the connection between diversity in Manchester, N.H., and the presidential elections in a Boston Globe article today. The distinction made in the lede is unclear; it is an image that might be better placed later in the article. The characterization of Manchester as an island of diversity in a not very diverse state, though, comes early on. Only halfway through the article does the relevance of the No Child Left Behind Act to this community and the presidential candidates come up. Most of the article is a well-crafted profile of the city, but it lacks cohesion at the beginning to introduce its overall point about the election.

A Patriot Ledger article, on the other hand, quickly gets to the point in its discussion of the usefulness of closed auto dealerships in being revamped by retail developers. The article gives all the important information up front: the dearth of land for retailers to build on or space to rent, the increased closings of car dealerships and the prime location of many of these dealerships. The overall point is, naturally, that capitalism is alive and well and retail developers will not pass up a chance to put up a strip mall wherever they can.

"Going green" has become a hot catchphrase since An Inconvenient Truth. An article in today's New York Times shows the words being bandied about to incite actual change now, though, rather than just conjure up visions of unattainable ideals. The article begins with an energetic lede about an Arkansas mayor's successes, which he shares at a convention of 100 mayors. It continues to outline the specific characteristics needed to successfully become sustainable and includes models and goals for change. The article is very frank, from its descriptions of the Arkansas mayor's excitability to the acknowledgment that the group was predominantly left-leaning.

The Boston Globe does a great job capturing the astonishment of the Needham community after a murder there yesterday. The Globe expresses everyone's shock when it calls Friday "the wildest day ever" in the town, and its interviews with neighbors--of the murdered and the suspected murderer--give context to the incident. The mentioning of Needham's last homicide, nearly 20 years ago, also serves to anchor the crime as completely unexpected in that town.

An article on a murder continents away, though, leaves me questioning the facts. The Times of London reports on the death of a British student studying in Perugia more clearly than the BBC's website, indicating earlier in the article the significance of the victim's cell phone being found in a nearby garden, but it gives other details that conflict with the BBC report. These are only incidental and relate to the girl's standing in her studies, but other aspects of The Times article leave me wondering where it got its information. A full two paragraph quote from the victim was taken from Facebook, which seems completely irresponsible to me. Perhaps, then, the reporter also tried to put together facts about the girl's background from her Facebook profile. Other information lacks attribution--such as the fact that the girl "is thought" to have attended a certain secondary school--and details on the circumstances of the murder are lacking, compared to the BBC report. How much reporting did The Times actually manage to do? It seems like most was done from a desk in London with little contact with anyone in Perugia.

Every once in awhile this fall it surprises me that the presidential elections are still a year away, especially when I encounter media coverage of the candidates that reinforces the roles that each has fallen into already. Today The New York Times has an article on Senator Barack Obama's ideas on how he would deal with Iran if elected president. The article's headline falls under the topic headline "If Elected...," suggesting to me that in a race that has heated up earlier than usual, the media have a chance to probe the candidates' views more thoroughly and over a longer period of time. Time will tell if that continues to be true, but for now, I was mostly impressed by the Times' coverage. The article includes detailed responses from the senator, presented in a logical order and with contextual references to his biggest opponent, Senator Hillary Clinton. One thing I would have liked to see done differently, though, is the incorporation of Obama's prior experience in dealing with the conflicts in Iraq and Iran. Clinton's voting history is mentioned a few paragraphs into the article, but Obama's past experience does not come until the end of the article. It would have been more helpful to be reminded of Obama's own history earlier on.

On another note, a Washington Post article really hit home with me today as a keen perception of the struggles faced by 20-somethings trying to make their way into the work force. The article focused on one 29-year-old woman who wants to continue pursuing a public interest career, but her story could be expanded to many of her generation. There are many facts about the trend of pushing off "real" careers with stints at jobs interspersed between graduate degrees, as well as confirmation from someone at the Brookings Institute. The quotes chosen for the article are what really make the piece resonate, though. The woman featured talks about all the fears common to her peers of not wanting to abandon their dreams but feeling unfulfilled with the positions--and salaries--available to them.

A Patriot Ledger article offers a touching story about a 20-something with very different problems: living with prosthetic legs after being injured in a Baghdad blast as a soldier in Iraq. The article interviews the soldier's mother to talk about the book she has just written detailing her family's struggles since his return home. It would have made for a richer story to include quotes from the book or comments from the woman's son or other family members. The article seems a little one-sided with its brief replies from the author. Although the lede says the book was an attempt to help others cope, there is nothing to back this claim up in the rest of the article. Overall, it provides interesting background, but fails to deliver all the details.

Depicting outsiders

The New York Times bursts the bubble on the persistently good press Dubai has received since it began expanding and becoming more "westernized" by suggesting that in some ways, the emirate is quite resistant to Westerners. The article, about the rape case of a French boy who had been living in Dubai with his family, describes the horrifying incident in detail, both shocking the reader and securing his sympathy from the beginning of the story. Parts of the story remain unclear, though. The narrative paragraphs in the lede are a little hard to understand in terms of the people portrayed in them; I was uncertain at first about the country of residence of the alleged victim and his relation to the other people in the car. There is also no mention of the role of the victim's friend in the crime. Additionally, despite the caption under the photo, the article did not convince me that the injustice of Dubai's legal system only affected foreigners. It sounded to me as though Dubai's laws regarding homosexuality and rape would be unjust for anyone. Only later in the article does there appear a suggestion that the injustice lies in forcing Islamic law on non-Muslims. I think this is a point of contention, as ex-patriates who move to the emirate ought to know what kind of government they will be under. I would have liked to hear more evidence about the different treatment foreigners receive compared with native citizens.

A Boston Globe article, on the other hand, does a great job detailing attitudes towards outsiders in its story on Everett's distaste at being surrounded by two cities that call themselves "sanctuaries" for all immigrants, legal and illegal. The article's most useful in paragraphs in explaining the situation are those that compare Everett and Chelsea. Both have similar blue-collar backgrounds, but Chelsea has become more ethnically diverse than its neighboring town. These comparisons also show how Everett's and Chelsea's attitudes are put into practice, using as an example the telephone recordings at their respective city halls--bilingual in Chelsea but English-only in Everett.

The Washington Post considers displaced Kurds forced to become outsiders as Turkish shelling campaigns compel them to leave their homeland. The article draws a distinction between the group of Christians who have fallen victim to violence targeted at the PKK and the terrorists that Turkey is trying to drive out. This is a different approach to a story from the NYT one today in which native residents are ignored as if they were outsiders or did not belong in their own homeland. The article clearly gives a lot of background information and calls attention to an under-acknowledged group of refugees.