I've been keeping up with the coverage on Osama's death and this article struck me the most. Although it is a feature article, I felt that it read much like an obituary in the begining. The article paints Osama as a Muslim elite radical, whom "elevated to the realm of evil in the American imagination once reserved for dictators like Hitler and Stalin." I thought that this was a huge assumption for the author to make. Though he killed thousands of people, I don't think comparing Osama to Hitler does his description justice. I think this article loses its validity because of statements like this. This is a very bold statement that cannot be backed up, and comparing him to the mastermind of the Holocaust seems harsh.
There were things I did enjoy about the article, however. The author chose to describe the announcement of Osama's death in great detail. First, he chose to write about the intial statement that Osama had been armed when he was shot. In the next paragraph, he disproves this, explaining that this account had been "revised." He then linked this statement to an article that announced the revision. This was very effective because it gave validity to his words, and also made the article interactive. Instead of having to search for more articles, the author lead me to ones that he thought were relevant. Once again the author corrects himself, telling of another revision, giving a detailed description of the attack. This was very effective because I felt as if he filled me in on the most important points.
The author went as far as writing entire sections about Osama's early life, publishing something like a biography for the Times. I thought that this was an interesting approach but I also enjoyed it. I knew very little about Osama's life until I read this and I think it is important to provide information that a lot of people wouldn't bother to look into.
No comments:
Post a Comment