Brianna Lyle

This first article is titled Wired and Shrewd, Young Egyptians Guide Revolt, published February 9, 2011 in the New York Times by David Kirkpatrick. This article is basically about all of the young Egyptians who started fighting the Egyptian government at a very young age and in new ways, like facebook and other technology. The people quoted in this story come from “ Coptic Christian and an avowed leftist and feminist of mixed Irish-Egyptian roots” to “Mr. Elaimy, who was imprisoned four times and suffered multiple broken limbs from torture for his political work, now works as an assistant to Mohamed ElBaradei, who won a Nobel Peace Prize for his work with the International Atomic Energy Agency.” These people are quoted in the story because they are young people making a difference in the protests in Egypt. These young people are also doing quite well career wise. Quoting them, and explaining their positions, shows that they are dependable. Also, as Mr. Elaimy was explained, some of them have been through a lot, physically and emotionally, in order to secure freedom in Egypt. I think they writer failed to expand on the “feminist of mixed Irish-Egyptian roots’” quote. He put the quote in and then started a new paragraph that was related to what she had said but was not expanded on. Basically, her quote, in order to stay in the piece, I think should have been explained more. The article was well sourced. There are literally countless quotes and sources throughout the piece. I think that this piece does appeal to a variety of people simply because it is about the Egypt scandal, however, I see it more relating to a younger audience because of how it could be seen as inspiring to them. The article was really focused on the youth and the revolution.

The second article is titled Teen Suicide Bomber Kills Army Recruits in Pakistan published on February 10, 2011 on The Washington Post webpage. This article is exactly what the title says it will be, about a suicide bomber. There are actually no direct quotes in this story but I chose it because the sources are really good and I think its an effective example of how sometimes quotes are not available and the journalist can still make an effective piece. The sources in this are ridiculous; in the first four graphs there are three different sources. One from police and intelligence officers, one from a specific intelligence officer and one from a police officer from the city who knew that the boy was only 17. The writer has spoken to a wide variety of people by explaining the youth of the serial bomber (I think this is what grabs people in) and also by relating this story to pass incident that was similar where, “An attack on the same training facility killed 35 people in 2006.” I feel as though the suicide bomber was not represented well in this piece, however. The journalist could have given sources or quotes from people in authority explaining why or how many of these young kids are doing suicide bombs. I understand that the article is meant to strictly inform, but if a more ethos feeling was revealed, it might make the story even more universal. Again, I think that it is hard to cover a story like this and not get into all of the gritty details. All sides of the issue are represented but more explanation onto why this is happening would have made the story feel more whole.

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