Melinda's Observations

Two articles are focusing on two different countries to explain the increasing trend of cosmetic surgeries.

Venezuela (AP)
As this article is explaining the economic growth of Venezuela, much attention is given to the increasing trend of 'nips and tucks' in the country. This trend is under the umbrella of increasing consumerism in the country. A source informs us that she had the decision to buy a car or implants, and she chose the implants. The Venezuelan Plastic Surgery Society said 26 million women recieved breast augmentation and the reporter made sure to mention that this was a national trend, unlike the article below. The number of women who had the procedure done increased 80 percent from last year. That is newsworthy and should have been placed higher. The article was not as statistic-laden as the next, which places less work on the reader. This article uses comparison to communicate numbers, saying that a smaller portion of the US population had breast augmentations in 2005.

US (San Fran Chronicle) This article explains the 'mommy makeover' trend in plastic surgery. The article gives the reader many statistics but doesn't clarify whether they are nationwide or international. The story begins with a woman who is chosen to follow this trend. This makes me think of the Wall Street Journal style of newswriting. The immediate presence of an individual kept me in-tune rather than being flooded by a plethora of numbers from the statistics. The human element made the story real and gave the numbers more of an impact. A newsworthy statistic that should have been placed higher was that there has been a 48 percent increase in cosmetic procedures from 2000. Of the 11 million cosmetic procedures performed in 2006 (again, we don't know where - US? worldwide?), 1 million of them were for men. The focus on this bit of information was reflected given the focus of the story, women. After recently studying math and journalism, I feel this article failed to communicate numbers in a conversational way. (Except the quote which states that the cost of the woman's cosmetic procedure will be that of an economy car. That communicates in a conversational way.)