Critique of “Woman dies after being dragged by vehicle in Dorchester”

Under the Metro section of the Boston Globe, the article entitled “Woman dies after being dragged by vehicle in Dorchester” begins with a solid lead: “A Dorchester woman has died after she was caught in the door of an SUV and dragged hundreds of feet early Sunday morning following an altercation on Massachusetts Avenue, police say”. Here, the reader knows exactly what they are getting into at the beginning of the story as journalist Maddie Kilgannon addresses the central point of the article.

The journalist goes on to address exactly who was found dead in Dorchester in the body of the story. Though she addresses the “whom” in the lead, she intentionally keeps it vague by saying “a Dorchester woman” rather than a specific name, which is a good journalistic tactic. The reporter continues with details of the woman, Cusandra Webb’s death. She is straightforward in her storytelling and gets right to the point in the most objective way possible. The journalist sequences the events that led up to and took place after Webb’s death: “Webb was than hit by a taxi, police said. She was taken to Boston Medical Center,”.

The story itself is very vague and short, as the journalist was clearly not able to get much information on the situation other than the sequence of events that led up to and took place after Webb’s death. The only source the reporter was able to talk to in the case of this story was the police. She never directly uses quotes and only paraphrases what the police said to her. In general, the story would be stronger if the journalist used more direct quotes from the police as well as some other sources. However, keeping in mind the touchy topic of the story and the short amount of time the journalist had to write the story, it is understandable that the reporter was not able to obtain a diversity of sources with solid quotes.

Marty Walsh on unifying the City

The city of Boston must stay united in the fight for equality, Mayor Marty Walsh said to the nearly 200,000 people gathered in Boston Common last week at the Boston Women’s March For America.

The mayor showed his support for the diverse groups of people protesting against President Trump and his policies. Walsh addressed the importance of staying unified during these tough times.

“No matter what happens nationally, in Boston we will fight for our rights,” Walsh said.

People said they felt hopeful for the future and honored to be represented by such a progressive, understanding mayor.

“I am very proud that he is standing up for us as a city,” said local Boston marcher Danielle Bucknam.

Massachusetts, as a state, has been the first to adopt many progressive policies, Walsh said. He reflected on some of these firsts, such as the state’s adoption of the 2004 universal health care act and the court ruling of the 2010 marriage equality act. His message, the city of Boston, will continue to lead America in the fight for equality, resonated with marcher and audience member Lisa D’Ambrosio.

“I agree with the Mayor. We can’t sit around anymore and wait for other people to step in because it hasn’t worked. We have to fight,” D’Ambrosio said.

Roxanne Lee, a marcher said she was surprised by the mayor’s zest.

“He was very enthusiastic and revved up,” Lee said.

Walsh encouraged people to not just show up to the Women’s March in Boston Common and then go home and feel satisfied. Instead, he hoped for people to use the energy present that day to further the fight for equality.

“It’s not what we do today that’s important, it’s what we do tomorrow,” he said.

Critique of “In Roxbury, Warren talks about being silenced during Sessions debate”

In the article “In Roxbury, Warren talks about being silenced during Sessions debate”, journalist Nicole Fleming of the Boston Globe begins with a strong lead: “No one wanted to talk about the civil rights record of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’, Senator Elizabeth Warren told parishioners Sunday morning at the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in Roxbury”. This lead is very straightforward in addressing the central point of the story and also touches upon the “who, what, when, where, why” of the story, which is vital for any lead in journalism.

The article goes on to include solid quotes from Elizabeth Warren herself, as she speaks to members of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in Roxbury about how she encouraged people in general to stand up for what they believe in and never stay silent: “I believe that the Lord calls on us to speak, and I believe he calls on us to speak together,”. The article in general, discusses Warren speaking out against U.S. attorney general who as mentioned in the article is “clearly biased”. The reporter of the story does a good job in obtaining a variety of different sources to back her claim that many members of the Methodist Episcopal Church as well as in the community support Warren in her plead for people to speak up and have their voice be heard. In the article, the journalist quotes Warren herself, high school students, members of the community, members of churches, including Brewer, a trustee with the Columbus Avenue church by which Warren attended, and several others.

The reporter also implemented her observational skills into the story. For instance, in the body of the article, she stated: “Teenagers sitting in the pews, seven of whom were individually recognized later in the service for their accomplishments, said they heard Warren’s message: Don’t be silent,”. Here, she is combining her observational skills, as she recognizes the adolescents sitting in the pews of the church, with her interview skills, as she asked the teenagers if Warren’s message resonated with them.

The piece does not fit strictly into the categories of journalistic writing such as inverted pyramid style writing, hour glass style writing, etc. However, the article does end with a strong quote from a student who feels hopeful for the future after hearing Warren speak to her in the church: “Working together as a community, we can all promote a change in the end,”. By ending with a solid quote from a young observer, the journalist is able to wrap up the story neatly in a way that makes sense to the reader.

Critique of “More than 1,000 Patriots fans welcome home Super Bowl victors”

The article “More than 1,000 Patriots fans welcome home Super Bowl victors” by journalist Travis Anderson begins with a strong lead. The lead states: “More than 1,000 fans flocked to Gillette Stadium Monday to welcome home the New England Patriots and celebrate the team’s fifth Super Bowl championship in a historic comeback victory over the Atlanta Falcons”. This sentence meets all the criteria that constitutes for a “solid lead”. The journalist addresses all of the important aspects of the story in the lead, such as the “who, what, when, where”.

The body of the piece is filled with various quotes from Patriots fans as well as a quote from Patriots linebacker Barkevious Mingo. Although the journalist obtained quotes from several different sources, in my opinion, some of his quotes were not very substantial and seemed a bit repetitive. For instance, one of the quotes from a fan stated: “Best in the world” while another stated “Greatest ever”. Both quotes are expressing the same idea about how amazing the Patriots team is; therefore, it was probably not necessary for the journalist to use both quotes. Also, the journalist could have potentially done a better job in obtaining quotes from the football players, as there was only one quote from one of the team members and it was fairly short: “Thanks for believing in us”.

While his reporting skills could have been a bit better, the overall framework and structure of the journalist’s article was good. Also, the repetitiveness of his quotes could be blamed on the fact that the individuals he interviewed had similar thoughts since they were all there for the same reason. You wouldn’t find a non-Patriots fan at a welcome home party for the Super Bowl winners.

Critique of “Hampshire students say they confronted man waving Nazi flag”

The article by Steve Annear entitled “Hampshire students say they confronted man waving Nazi flag” in the “Metro” section of this weeks Boston Globe is a well-written story with a solid lead and detailed, diverse quotes throughout. The journalist gets to the main point of the piece by addressing the “who, what, when, where, why, how” in the lead: “Students from Hampshire College confronted a masked man Saturday who was standing on a street corner in Northampton, waving a large red-and-black flag bearing Nazi insignia” (The Boston Globe). In this concise lead, the journalist does not explicitly mention the exact names of the students who confronted the man holding the Nazi flag, which would be given a thumbs up in the journalism world.

It is in the second and third paragraphs where the journalist goes into more detail about the actual events of the story. Here, the reporter mentions the names of the students who approached the man holding the Nazi flag. In the succeeding paragraphs, journalist Steve Annear includes detailed quotes from Beauchene, one of the students that confronted the man holding the Nazi flag, the man holding the flag, and Cartledge, one of the police officers observing the scene. This is an example of good journalism and reporting skills: the reporter covering all of his/her bases and interviewing the different kinds of people involved in the given situation. An example of the journalist quoting Beauchene is seen here: “But the thing I don’t understand is how it’s controversial to confront someone who is actively touting a hateful ideology” (The Boston Globe).

The piece ends with a strong quote from Beauchene: “It’s sort of a duty for people who stand for freedom and equality, things this country was founded on…Yes, I think you have an obligation to insert yourself into that situation, and stand up for this country” (The Boston Globe). This quote addresses the “why” that goes along with the central point of the story. In this case, the reader discovers why the Hampshire student felt so strongly about confronting the man holding the Nazi flag.

Critique of “Immigrants, women of color, also plan to march on Washington”

The story featured in the Boston Globe under the “Metro” section entitled “Immigrants, women of color, also plan to march on Washington” lacks some of the traditional journalistic elements of good writing. For starters, the lead of the article is a bit lengthy and exceeds the advised thirty-five-word limit: “For two years and 27 days, Valeria Do Vale was just like everyone else in her college dorm: She had a driver’s license, a social security number, and, most importantly, a promise from the US government that nobody would deport her to Brazil”. The lead in this article acts as strictly a hook, instantly drawing the reader in with an example of a young Brazilian female immigrant that feels uncertain about her rights to remain in the United States after Trump won the presidency. Despite how captivating this example may be, it does not address the central point of the article: that immigrants and women of color will be marching on Washington this Saturday to fight the president elect’s policies.

It isn’t until the third paragraph that journalist Maria Sachhetti reports upon the main point of the article: “So this week, she will board a bus of mostly women of color who are heading to the nation’s capital to ensure their issues are not overlooked at Saturday’s Women’s March on Washington”. The piece would have been more informative if facts such as these were introduced at the beginning of the piece rather than a couple paragraphs in.

Still, although the journalist did not follow some of the traditional journalistic elements that go into writing an article, I applaud the journalist’s reporting skills and use of quotes. The reporter cites a variety of sources in her piece, which builds upon the credibility of the story. Throughout the article she quotes or paraphrases a Boston immigration lawyer, a member of the congressional delegation, a former candidate for state representative, a political consultant, and a young female immigrant. Clearly, the journalist did her research and was able to contact and get direct quotes from a variety of different people. One example of a quote where political consultant Douglas Chavez discusses the impact the women’s march on Washington will have on Trump is seen here: “I think that it’s going to get him…I really do”.

The article ends by again referring to Do Vale, the Brazilian immigrant mentioned at the beginning and throughout the piece: “Tears welled in Do Vale’s eyes”. Here, we can see the journalist wants to maintain the personal feel of the article. After reading the article, it seems as if the journalist was more interested in appealing to the reader’s emotions than reporting on the facts of the topic at hand, which can be considered unconventional at times in the journalism world.