Madison was right to fear factions.

It seems like a very big loophole that would allow one to serve as president after having exceeded the maximum number of terms allowed under the country's constitution. But that's exactly the situation The New York Times describes today in its article on Putin's endorsement of Russian presidential candidate Medvedev. The news today is that Medvedev would name Putin his prime minister if elected. The article goes on to describe the ways in which this would be skirting around a constitutional issue by reporting that some suggest Medvedev might even step down early, if elected, which would restore Putin to the presidency. The article does a fair job pointing out Medvedev's weaknesses as a candidate; namely, that he is not very connected except through Putin.

The Boston Globe also focuses on political allegiances in its article on campaign fund-raising for Gov. Deval Patrick and Lt. Gov. Tim Murray in the months since they have taken office. The article expands in detail from naming the total amount (a whopping $1.4 million) of contributions raised so far to describing the nature of the relationships that have been formed in the process. The focus is on Republican State House lobbyist Robert M. Platt and the trail that brought him to support the current Democratic administration.

The Washington Post article on the bombings in Algiers this morning begins with the sad notation that this is the second attack in that city this year and the deadliest since Algeria's civil war in the 1990s. It goes on to note the particular nature of the casualties, the intended targets and the fact that no one has claimed responsibility for the attacks yet. The article quotes Interior Minister Zerhouni's possible explanation behind the bombings, the particular circumstances of which are as yet unknown but which seem to have begun with a suicide bomber in a car near the U.N. office complex.

A Sunday mix

The New York Times has an interesting article today on the Lascaux cave paintings -- although from the title, "Fungus Once Again Threatens French Cave Paintings," one would not immediately expect to be intrigued. However, the article does an excellent job of presenting the most significant information up front. The first paragraph begins by explaining why the threat of fungus is notable to those who know about Lascaux (it's the second in a decade) and why the cave paintings are notable, for the benefit of those who have never heard of Lascaux. The second paragraph rounds up all the possible causes of the growth of the fungus, and the rest of the article goes on to explore these options after it provides more historical background on the caves.

The Boston Globe uncovers a "suicide crisis" in Massachusetts prisons today in a series of articles that investigate how and why so many inmates are killing themselves while in prison. The main article is broken down into sections for easier reading. It begins with a thoughtful and steadily paced lede that nonetheless maintains a sense of suspense from the beginning, pointing first to the shoelaces a man used to hang himself before revealing all the reasons he should not have been left unattended with something that could be made into a noose. Prison physicians and officials, inmates and their loved ones all sound off on the problems behind the rising suicide rates with comments on prison culture in general and their own particular situations.

The Washington Post has an interesting article today on a transgender tv host in India. It begins by using an element of surprise to turn its description of an attractive, popular, feminine host on the revelation that the person is actually a transgender male. The article then describes the atmosphere in which Rose will be assuming her job, but it holds the most interesting details till the very end. The article notes that it was British-imposed Victorian manners that made alternate sexualities so taboo in India, an illuminating fact that I would have liked to learned earlier in the piece. But I was even more surprised (pleasantly so) to see that the newspaper article ended with a real conclusion: "As the city's best-known fashion photographer clicked away, a popular 1980s song by Foreigner played in the background -- 'I've been waiting for a girl like you.'" It's a great detail, one that might have been used in the lede, but instead it is saved to wrap up the article gracefully, feature-style.

A different kind of torture than has been in the news lately merits attention today. A New York Times article reports on a settlement in Chicago for four men who were interrogated by police in methods amounting to torture during the course of trials that ultimately sent them to death row. The article puts the actions in a historical context, explaining their significance, but also includes comments from city officials on what the settlement will mean for relations between police and the community in the future.

The Boston Globe reports on a Rhode Island case in which a lesbian couple married in Massachusetts is unable to get a divorce in their home state of Rhode Island. The article does not make it immediately clear that their marriage is recognized as valid in Rhode Island, although a comment about recognizing heterosexual marriages performed out of state and allowing those couples to divorce suggests that gay marriages are recognized, if not permitted in state.

The Times of London brings new information to light in the case of a man who apparently faked his own death to collect the insurance money. He and his wife planned to open a resort in Panama, and The Times is the first to uncover its location and get the reaction of the locals. The article describes the location and its proximity to wildlife and also conveys the startled reactions of those in the small town who thought the British couple would help bring them jobs and prosperity.

Ubiquitous technology

The New York Times discusses the possibility of what could be a great convenience or the bane of an airplane passenger's existence in its article on web access and e-mail on flights. It begins by suggesting that 2008 will be the year when all these new in-flight technology options take off (pardon the pun). The article goes on to discuss just what services will be offered and what is already offered, as well as what airline executives thing of the opportunities for making money off of such endeavors.

A Boston Globe article details a high school girl's actions in trying to secure the arrest of an alleged molester on the T. The article focuses on the girl's motivations in snapping a cell phone picture of a man who she alleges groped her and other students who ride the green line home from Boston Latin School. The Globe is transparent in saying it will not disclose the girl's name because of its policy of not naming victims of sexual assault.

A thorough Washington Post article reports on the videotapes of interrogations destroyed by the CIA. The article begins by explaining who was on the tapes; why the tapes would have been controversial (they showed waterboarding interrogation techniques being used against the captive al-Qaeda officers); and who ordered their destruction. It goes on to examine the implications of their not being shown to the 9/11 Commission, among others.

Omaha Mall Shooting

The New York Times' coverage of a fatal shooting at an Omaha Mall yesterday is both chilling and level-headed. The article conveys the facts of the shooting without indulging in sensationalism, but the quotes and small details of the scene included in the article recreate the situation enough to give readers a sense of the shock and horror of the crime. Particularly noteworthy were the descriptions of the live piano music that continued to play even after the first shots were fired in the department store and the accounts of people huddled together in dressing rooms with strangers, "unsure how to escape something they could not see." The article also does a good job describing the mall's surroundings in Omaha, a city which it notes has begun to see an increase in violent crime in the last year but is generally considered to be very safe.

After following the coverage of the Virginia Tech shootings in the British press last spring, I was curious to see how they would handle this. The Times of London provides coverage similar to the NYT, except at the end of the article, they include two paragraphs recapping VA Tech and U.S. gun control laws. There is a sidebar giving a timeline of recent shootings in the U.S. (as they did in the spring in response to Cho Seung Hui), headed "Catalogue of killing." I also recall being in the U.K. in 2000 when a disgruntled employee killed several people in the Wakefield, Ma., office that had just fired him. It was front page news for days. The differing gun control laws between the U.K. and the U.S. seem to make all coverage of shootings in this country seem sensationalized, but perhaps what that really suggests is the disturbing extent to which Americans have become desensitized to such violence.

Some say the world will end in fire, others say in ice

I disagree with Frost. I think the world will come to an end out of its own stupidity. See exhibits a, b and c below.

The news article in The New York Times on the recent National Intelligence Estimate report on Iran is not without an opinion. The article begins with a lede that clearly questions how the government could mess up yet again after already leading the country into war with Iraq based on false information. After the first two paragraphs, though, the article puts aside its indignation and recalls the facts--beginning with those of the past relating to Iraq and continuing to describe the methods used in this most recent report on Iran. Towards the middle of the article, the reporter turns to legislators to bring up the remaining doubts about the intelligence administrations' truthfulness or efficacy.

The Boston Globe sticks to a straightforward inverted-pyramid format in its article on the tanker truck explosion early this morning that set 40 cars and three residential buildings on fire and caused the evacuation of many residents in Everett. After answering the key questions--how much damage was done? was anybody hurt?--the article goes on to offer a few details to flesh out the picture. Some of the evacuated residents were in their pajamas. The fire was so hot it melted metal lampposts. By injecting these few details, the article crafts a scene that conveys a more visceral feeling of what happened than one could understand from the bare facts, but in doing so, it does not stray from the facts. It appears that the crash was caused by its driver's speeding, right after having fueled up. Smart move.

My annoyance at weather articles turns to amusement with one in The Washington Post today: an inch or two of snow has left the D.C. area struggling to regain its "snowlegs." The article reports that traffic is bad and the Metro is slow as a result of slippery conditions--yet despite the nearly whining tone of the lede, it does not say how much snow has already fallen. Perhaps it's still too slippery out for meteorologists to take a measurement.

Celebrating students and those returning home

Girls can do science. So says The New York Times today in an article on the winners of the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology. The article leads by noting that this is the first time girls have won the top prizes in the competition. However, it does not include any confirmation that this is such a surprise. On the contrary, an MIT professor denies being surprised. (Smartly, the article quotes the very same professor who ignited controversy when she walked out on Larry Summers during a talk in which he claimed girls were inherently unequipped to learn science and math.) The rest of the article reminds me of the features that run on the first day of competition at the Scripps National Spelling Bee each year -- interviews with brilliant but somewhat nerdy kids who are thrilled to be surrounded by like-minded peers as they are feted in the big city, all of which is completely endearing and entertaining to read.

A Boston Globe article shows the Mass. Highway Department as the bad guy as it reports on their requirement that all signs and flags welcoming home military personnel be removed from highwway overpasses because they pose a safety hazard. The article focuses on comments from those with family members in the military who are disappointed with the decision, and continually repeats the Mass. Highway Department's claim of the safety hazard. It seems almost repetitive, but it gets the point across that people are upset with the mandate.

Apparently, I was wrong yesterday when I said we had seen the last of British teacher Gillian Gibbons, jailed in the Sudan for insulting Islam with her students' teddy bear named Muhammad. Today The Times of London closely chronicles her journey home with a travelogue more detailed than anyone really needs to know. I'm glad Gibbons feasted on "Arabic mezze" and slept for four hours on her flight home, but why does the article begin with all of this information? It is written almost completely chronologically, and it is not until the very last line that it suggests the negative effect Gibbons' arrest might have had on diplomatic relations between the UK and the Sudan!

The World in Transit

The teddy bear named Muhammad has probably had the last of his 15 minutes of fame, now that the British teacher jailed in Sudan for disrespecting Islam has been freed and sent home. The New York Times article on the subject gets straight to the point with this wrap-up article, getting the main facts in the lede. The article goes on to explain the reaction of the British prime minister to the decision and recap the story, before ultimately suggesting that the reasoning behind her release was a political one, given Sudan's current position with the West.

I hate news stories on the weather -- they just annoy me. Unless we are experiencing unprecedented conditions, I don't see the need to take up 20 minutes out of a 30 minute newscast with talk of the two inches of snow that are expected to fall in New England--as if that didn't happen every year. I am less belligerent, though, when I see news stories on weather in the paper. There, I have the choice of skipping them and usually do. Today, though, The Boston Globe provided me what I need to know before heading out with a brief article explaining the effects of the second snowfall of the season on traffic. It gets to the point by beginning with a summary of conditions, highlighting one fatal accident, and ends with the forecast for the rest of the afternoon from a meteorologist at the National Weather Service and expected traffic conditions.

And as everyone is in transit, The Washington Post offers the grim news that air travel is awful and only going to get worse. The article begins with a soft lede that everyone can identify with, describing a passenger's nightmarish experience trying to get to Washington after missing a connecting flight in Texas. It then turns to airline officials for the reasoning behind the crowded planes that eliminate the leeway for passengers experiencing delayed connections and often engender an uncomfortable flight. It ends by surveying passengers in flight and showing how they compensate with the less than ideal travel conditions.

Straightforward stories, sometimes with a bit of Sunday style

How should we next take on the U.S. economic crisis in the news? The New York Times has turned its attention to the effects of the U.S. economy abroad in an article about a Norwegian town which is about to lose some very large investments made in the American market. The article is richly textured; perhaps it's more of a feature approach than a news one. The lede sets the stage by putting the town in the context of its location in its description of the day-long darkness that envelops the world north of the Arctic Circle this time of year. Later in the article, the writer discusses the contentious history of the port, thus pointing to the strategic location and energy resources of the town. Amidst all these nice details are the facts of the matter, beginning with a reminder of the cause of the current state of the U.S. economy and continuing with a description of how and why this Norwegian town came to invest in American markets and how they were subsequently duped into a situation they did not anticipate.

The Boston Globe takes a very clear-cut approach to an article on Massachusetts residents with AIDS. The article begins by reporting recommendations made by state public health officials yesterday before continuing on to describing the findings in the report. It surveys various people in public health to explain why the findings were as they were. At the end of the article, the reporter includes one of the commenters' observation that Governor Patrick has made dealing with AIDS a priority, so the article ends by offering a hand-off to future action that might take place as a result of the report. Straightforward and easy to understand.

An article in last week's Canton Citizen updates a news story but tailors it to a limited audience. The article describes the plan to redevelop the site of the closed Plymouth Rubber Company in Canton, the historic location of Paul Revere's copper mill. The article is informative, but only to those who are familiar with the community issue. It does not discuss the location of the site or the amount of time over which discussions of its redevelopment have been taking place. Granted, most of the paper's readers are probably current residents, but what about those who might read the paper online occasionally who have moved out of town?

Politics and power from high school to the campaign trail

The Boston Globe offers multiple perspectives and approaches to its coverage of the hostage situation at Hillary Clinton's campaign offices in New Hampshire yesterday. The main article gives the basic information of what happened before going into a lengthy treatment of the hostage-taker's troubled background. At first, the detailed descriptions of Leeland Eisenberg's past as one of the victims of sexual abuse who received settlement money from the Archdiocese of Boston a few years ago seem to be scandal-mongering, indulging in the fact that the article can discuss two crimes at once. Towards the end of the background, though, there is a quote that affirms the important role knowing the man's background played for police who were arbitrating the hostage situation. I would have moved this quote up a few paragraphs, but it does justify the article's approach. While the main news article focused on Eisenberg, The Globe also ran an analysis by an AP writer on the way Clinton handled the situation. This somewhat cynical view nonetheless balances Clinton's grace in responding to the hostage crisis with the underlying circumstance that she is, of course, trying to appear to respond well under pressure--and in front of the camera--despite the fact that she might have acted the same way if she were not as conscious of her image. The ironic thing is that for all the article's descriptions of Clinton's "regal" appearance, the photos included of her are all incredibly awkward, taken mid-speech with her mouth agape. Nice try, AP.

The benefit of writing an article in anticipation of news is that it gives you a lot of space to provide background information. A Washington Post article today previews the election being held in Russia tomorrow to take time to explain the significance of the election. It immediately makes the distinction between the ostensible purpose of the election--to vote in members of the Duma--and its actual importance--providing a referendum for Putin on the extent of his power. The article uses comments from opposition to describe the ways in which Putin could view a favorable election as a mandate to expand his power.

Real life is just as good as fiction in The New York Times article on Manhattan schoolgirls obsessed with the teen books-turned-tv-show "Gossip Girl." I can just imagine the reporter sent to cover that one, a man with a notebook surrounded by high-pitched teenyboppers--and this image is just the icing on the cake. The article crafts a very vivid picture by including copious amounts of dialogue from the girls waiting to glimpse their favorite celebrities, filming on location on the Upper East Side. The perspective lets the reader in on the excitement of a possible celeb-sighting for the girls by excluding comments from others on the scene, such as those involved in the production of the show. The pace of the writing helps create the expectant tone of the article without giving in completely to the tedium of waiting around. The best part is, the article is cleverly unbiased -- the girls' conversations and behavior speak for themselves, and the reporter remains and fair and balanced observer.