That Cute Whale You Clicked On? It’s Doomed
Wildlife photographer Paul Nicklen is changing the way people receive information about issues such as climate change. He draws people in on his Instagram account with cute pictures of animals such as otters, seals, etc. Once he has their attention, he takes to the caption to discuss how these animals are impacted by things such as pollution and global change (the kinds of issues that many people tend to ignore).
The headline’s shock factor is definitely what drew me to this article. The headline paired with the lead of the author’s experience with the photographer’s artwork sets the scene for the article. It effectively lets readers know that they’re in for an eye opening experience.
I believe that the article is well composed overall. The author first gives information about her experience with the article, drawing you in. Then, she goes on to explain why the author feels the need to share such content and gives specific examples of his work. As you move down, the content becomes less important and is an example of the inverted pyramid style of writing.
The paragraphs in this article are longer than most paragraphs you’ll find in other articles, but I don’t feel as if that detracts from it in any way.
This is definitely a human interest story. Who doesn’t want to read about cute animals, even if it’s not considered an uplifting story? This article could also be considered newsworthy because of impact. Issues such as pollution and climate change impact people worldwide.
I’ve seen this story covered by a couple of different sites, so it’s catching people’s interest.
Hess’ article is different from what you will be doing, but your comments are valid. She is using her own story (as an anecdote) to tell a bigger story. And she doesn’t hold back on opinions or emotion. With news stories, I often have to tell students to take a breath and take a step back when they get personally involved in a story.