The battle over Coal River Mountain
By Deborah Feyerick
CNN's "American Morning"
This environmental/energy debate piece is a soft news story that starts off with a narrative lede. It tells the story of Lorelei Scarboro, who lives in Appalachia, close to Coal River Mountain. The story focus' on the process of coal mining, specifically mountaintop removal. The focus on people and how they're being affected by the mining is what makes the story soft. There is an abundance of quotes, starting in the third paragraph with Scarboro.
The nut graph is in the fourth paragraph, which includes who and what area is being affected, and states why mountaintop removal is used and what its impact is on the environment. The negative impact on the environment answers the "why should I care" question.
The piece follows an "ABAB" format, going back and forth between local resident's sentiments, to fact based information, to rebuttals from the mining industry, including Massey Energy. The structure is effective in presenting many different points of view, and lending an unbiased stance to the piece.
The piece ends with a quote kicker that takes us back to Lorelei Scarboro, an apt choice since a good proportion of the story is driven by quotes and people's feelings. The kicker looks to the future and the vigor with which the residents of Coal River Mountain will fight. It gives the piece emotion and power.
2 comments:
I think you chose a good article. The environment is something a lot of people should care about. You did a good job in describing the inverted pyramid using the article and giving examples.
The nut graph comes really late in this piece...somehow it still seems to work well though.
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