By: Steffani Vestal
In CNN's article, "Russian meteor blast injures at least 1,000 people," the authors organize the story in an effective manner.
The authors began with what happened, where it happened, when it happened, and who it affected in the lead. The reporters summarized the most important elements at the beginning, and continued to elaborate on each element throughout the article, also introducing other elements to complement the story. Including all of this information in the lead is important to set the stage correctly for audiences, and this group of reporters did this effectively.
After the lead, the story includes information that the audience would want to know next regarding those affected, where the meteor hit, what else the meteor affected and continued to include details that are less immediately important. In between facts, there are both relevant and embedded links, videos, lots of pictures, and maps posted. After the facts about the specific incident are reported, the reporters wrote about past experience with meteors our planet has seen and also explored the future experiences our planet may have with meteors and asteroids.
Getting the important information out and then providing history and future events regarding the meteor is, structurally, an effective way to provide the information because readers who just want to know what happened don't have to continue reading. Readers who are interested in meteors and their past and future impacts are able to keep reading and stay engaged with the news source until they get the information they wanted.
While the way these reporters structured the story was effective, they could have included more prevalent information regarding the people affected and their injuries right away to explain that many of the injuries have not been considered very serious. Other than that, the way these reporters structured this story is engaging and structurally easy to follow.
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