Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Cholera Outbreak in Haiti

The different approaches to this story are somewhat wide-ranging and interesting.

The BBC story struck me as the most effective. It is informative, pithy and straight forward, with a video of first hand coverage to supplement the written article. I didn't wade through any convoluted descriptions or explanations. The format was appropriate for this kind of story.

The AHN version is shorter, but more long-winded, in some ways, and doesn't offer as much in the way of information. A map of Port-au-Prince is offered, but there is no video.

I had difficulty getting through the entire Haiti Libre take on the story. It is wordy and I lost interest halfway through the lede. Although it offers much of the same factual evidence, I wasn't as interested in finishing the story and I couldn't retain what I had read when I finally did.

As a writer who tends to use flowery language and verbiage, I'm appreciating the simpler and more straightforward nature of well-written news articles. I still have a lot to learn in this area.

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