The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ran this article on page four Wednesday about a koala rescued from Australian wild fires. The story details firefighter David Tree’s encounter with the animal and included a touching photograph of the koala on its hind legs sipping from a water bottle.
I think this is a great story that deserved to be third or even front page news. The picture alone grabs the reader’s attention and makes them want to read the story. Although the story is from
The story itself is written very well. The lead uses descriptive words like “gingerly” and “scorched” to draw a mental picture in the reader’s mind of the koala struggling along. The following graph contains a great quote, comparing the koala to a baby. From there the story mostly follows an inverted pyramid form, ending with specifics on where the koala was found.
One thing I particularly liked about the story is the way it draws the reader in with the koala bit but then informs the reader of the danger Australian animals face from the fires. The reader may not be interested in wildlife suffering from fires at first, but the koala perspective hooks them.
An area I think the story could have touched on is the impact the fires have had on humans. The story is obviously geared towards animals but similar stories included property damage and human lives lost. As mentioned, the stricken koala attracts readers who would normally skip over an article on the wild fires. The fires have killed more than 180 people, a sobering number worth mentioning.
I was glad to see a follow-up story on the Journal-Constitution’s website. The original story mentions the koala being picked up by animal welfare officers but doesn’t provide any more detail. The follow-up tells the reader of her continuing recovery as well as a koala romance brewing in a rescue shelter.
I agree that the koala anecdote is a good entry into the wildfire story. Obviously it's awful that people died and homes were destroyed, but it was the koala picture earlier this week that drew me into finding out what was going on in Australia. It's interesting that the article didn't mention that they suspect the fires started from arson.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up a good point -- without the koala photo no one cares about the wildfires. Sad but true. Most interesting about the original AP story is how short it is, yet it still gives a lot of information: the story of the rescue, context of the fires and general information about koalas. And it's all done using creative writing that paints a vivid image for the reader. Stories don't have to be 800 words to be good.
ReplyDeleteGood find Brian.
I agree. Bad move by the editor. This could have had a very tragic outcome, but instead it had a very heroic outcome. Makes you wonder if tragedies are the only hot news reporters got going for them if they want front page success. I know I don't want to spend my career covering tragedies and I definitely want to be a front page reporter. Guess it is all in the hands of us as future editors to see that this doesn't happen.
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