Analysis: Structure

I chose this article as the focus of my analysis on the structure of a news article.

The reporter presents the information in a format which delivers the most recent updates at the beginning, followed by an overview of the main incident, and then proceeds to include information that is indirectly related to the underlying theme of the article (in this instance, information or news relating to hate crimes).

The main piece of news that the reporter is trying to initially convey to the reader is that one of the three suspects in the beating of a gay man has been arrested. After providing details about the suspect, the reporter jumps into a recap of the story. During this recap, the reporter includes the details of the attack (when, where, who was attacked). The facts are not presented in a chronological order, and they tend to skip around between details of the evidence the video provides and quotes from the victim as well as government officials. The article ends with a reference to a study on hate crimes, and a statistic about an increase in hate crimes from 2009 to 2010 is mentioned.

I think that the information in this article is presented in an effective manner. The most recent news (the arrest of the suspect) is at the beginning, which is what a reader who has been following this issue would want to know first. The reporter's decision to include the details of the initial incident that occurred about a week ago provides the readers who have not heard anything about the story with the background information that is crucial for the news of the suspect's arrest to have any meaning. The facts about hate crime studies toward the end of the article conveys the idea that even though this story focuses on the attack of one man, hate crimes are still an issue that need to be addressed.

I cannot envision an alternate way to structure this story. It delivers the information that is the most timely at the beginning, and from there the reporter traces information back in time to provide the reader with a broader scope of the main issue at hand. The article was clear and concise, allowing for a smooth reading experience. There is little to no confusion regarding the details of the story. I think that the structure of this article is sufficient, as it presents the information and message of the story in an efficient manner.