Darwin vs. Down House

When I clicked on the link to read this article, I anticipated a feature story filled with exciting tales of Darwin's life as we near the bicentennial of his birth on Thursday. However, the title misleads; the article is actually about his house. Or rather, I believe it was intended to be about his house. However, the article is a bit strange in that the reporter attempts to incorporate a lot of information, perhaps too much for this kind of feature story. 

In the first graph, the reporter calls Down House the "house that helped rock the world," a description I don't really care for. How did his house help rock the world? It was the scientist who lived in it who did so, who in the second graph, the author only reveals upon second reference. This detail, although minute, bothered me as well. In journalism, it is very important to give the full name of your subject upon first reference to avoid confusion, whether it is someone famous or not. I understand trying to give a scientist’s home some credit; the article does make clear that it was a place where Darwin was comfortable and enjoyed spending time. However, it wasn’t the house that introduced evolutionary theory to the world.

Later, the article mentions churches that "own a piece of the extravaganza celebrating Darwin's bicentennial," but the author moves on immediately and gives no detail to amplify the irony here. That in itself could be a story: "Churches Celebrating Evolutionist Scientist." As a journalist, I can't imagine why a reporter wouldn't want to focus more on this interesting detail. 

In summary, I think that this article would be better had the reporter's editor asked him to edit it down to be more concise. He needs to focus more on either Down House or on Darwin, or do a better job bringing the two together. As it is now, I don't feel a strong connection between the two, which is what I believe the reporter's original intent was. I would be interested in a feature on the house, as long as it was sprinkled with anecdotes about Darwin and was published at a relevant time, like it is this week, the week of the bicentennial of Darwin's birth and the completion of the remodel on his home. For example, in this story also published recently, the reporter did a great job of focusing on Down House; he even got quotes from Darwin’s great-great-granddaughter on her opinion of the results of the house.