FEATURES analysis 2: "Jonathan Lebed's Extracurricular Activities."

I found this feature by Michael Lewis in a non-fiction anthology edited by "This American Life" host Ira Glass. The article delves into a case that the Securities and Exchange Commission settled against a fifteen-year-old high-school student who promoted his own stocks on the internet. Conflict makes a good story, and Lewis reveals a confusing dispute over what stock-market regulations were made for and why it was illegal for Jonathan Lebed to give stock-trading advice on the internet.

Lewis never resolves the dispute between Lebed and the SEC, which is what makes the article so compelling. Instead of presenting a final picture, Lewis describes the process of searching for the information. The reader comes across the surprising bits as Lewis did, with a full context that illuminates all the of the contradictory aspects of the case against Lebed.

My favorite part of the article is Lewis' elaborate description of his interview with Arthur Levitt, Chairman of the SEC. Lewis does something unusual: he includes his questions for Levitt. With access to the whole dialogue, the reader better understands the source of Lewis' confusion. It is easy for the reader to be in Lewis' shoes, watching Levitt squirm at seemingly soft-ball questions. At one point, Levitt tries to figure out whose side Lewis is on, and Lewis graces us with his inner-monologue:

"What do you think?" he asked.

Well, I had my opinions. In the first place I had been surprised to learn that it was legal for, say, an author to write phony glowing reviews of his book on Amazon but illegal for him to plug a stock on Yahoo! just because he happened to own it. I though it was--to put it kindly--misleading to tell reporters that Jonathan Lebed had used "twenty fictitious names" when he had used four AOL e-mail addresses and posted exactly the same message under each of them so that no one who read them could possibly mistake him for more than one person. I further though that without quite realizing what had happened to them, the people at the SEC were now lighting out after the very people--the average American with a bit of money to play with--whom they were meant to protect.

Finally, I thought that by talking to me or any other journalist about Jonathan Lebed when he didn't really understand himself what Jonathan Lebed had done, the chairman of the SEC displayed a disturbing faith in the media to buy whatever he was selling.

But when he asked me what I though, all I said was, "I think it's more complicated than you think."

Dynamite! I love the transparency of this piece. The journalist finally says: Yes, I am biased, but this is where that bias came from. Do with it what you will.

FEATURES analysis 1: "Home on the range."

Terry Selucky wrote an article about American cowgirls for the Feb/Mar '09 issue of Bust Magazine, a publication about feminism in pop culture. Though the topic was of interest to me, the article was disappointing.

Selucky did historical research on famous cowgirls along side modern, journalistic research on female ranchers today. Her structure is confusing because it is too simple. She spends the entire first half of the article talking about historical figures, and the rest of the article discussing modern day cowgirls and nothing else. The only connection between these two groups is an awkward transitory paragraph:

For years to follow, more and more women competed in rodeo events, often wining prize money that allowed them to independently support themselves. They helped make rodeo a popular sport in the U.S., with events from Monterey County to Madison Square Garden, providing a link from ranching past to present. Today, the Women's Professional Rodeo Association has more than 2,000 members, sanctions over 800 women-only races, and awards prize money nearing $4 million annually.

This transition mentions modern rodeo for the first time, three pages into the article. The rest of the piece briefly touches upon three modern "cowgirls," though we aren't really given any notion of who they are or what they actually do on a daily basis. There is a dearth of quotes, and no evidence that the author spent a significant amount of time with her interview subjects. The candid opinion to information ratio is very high, which demonstrates the author's inability to show rather than tell. "It's as if the term "cowgirl" has been hijacked," says Selucky, "so that we can't even recognize a real cowgirl when we see one."

Terry: why is this important? Are the women ranchers you interviewed really sore about people calling them "ranchers" instead of "cowgirls"? If they are, perhaps you should quote them. The entire last page of the article melts into a giant blob of opinions veiled by "perhaps" and "consider the fact..."

The article would be far more engaging if it focused on modern day ranch women and touched on historical examples throughout. Selucky opens with a historical and shocking anecdote about the lynching of a cowgirl in 1889. The anecdote is completely incongruous with the rest of the article, and could easily have been replaced with a modern anecdote. The feminist message of the piece wouldn't be lost if Selucky limited her righteous interjections; in fact, the message would be more powerful if the article actually did justice to the complex lives and ideas of women ranchers in modern America.

LEDES 4: My Republican Journey

"Hello, my name is Dan Savage and I am the Republican Party in my neighborhood. I am the Republican Precinct Committee Officer for Precinct 1846 in the 43rd District. If you have any questions about the Republican Party, our platform, or any of our candidates, feel free to give me a call here at work.

You're probably wondering two things. First, if I'm serious. I am. Second, how a commie-pinko drag fag sex-advice columnist with a fourteen-year-old boyfriend (kidding) managed to find a home in the hate-mongering, gay-bashing Republican Party?"
(I found this Dan Savage article in the New Kings of Nonfiction, ed. Ira Glass)

This lede draws the reader in with a startling statement, followed by a direct address. Unfortunately, the statement is only startling if you are familiar with Savage Love. Savage's day job involves giving detailed, practical advice on how to enjoy sexual health and erotic fetishes. He is a famous not-republican. This article was originally published in Savage's stomping ground, the Stranger, so it is fair that he uses such a familiar voice. The tone is consistent with his reputation as an unapologetic straight-shooter. I haven't read the whole article yet, but I plan to; I am sufficiently intrigued.

LEDES 3: Hog Wild

"They wallow, grunt and eat almost anything they can stuff in their chops. They make a mess, tearing up the grass, spreading diseases and potentially costing the state millions. Feral pigs are more destructive than a horde of drunken college kids on a spring break bender, and they’re even harder to get rid of.

These aren’t the cute pink cuddly pigs of Babe and Charlotte’s Web. Sus scrofa are dark and bristly with cloven hooves and sharp curving tusks that can grow up to nine inches long. Scientists call them feral; hunters call them wild. Call them swine, hogs, pigs or boars, call them what you want, but Oregon calls them an invasive species and has come up with a Feral Swine Action Plan to get rid of the porky pests.

Feral pigs have been in Oregon for about 200 years, but biologists say they could soon go from unwelcome piggy guests to a full-blown porcine problem. They’re on Oregon’s “top 10 invasive species list” for their rototiller-like rooting, their ability to spread diseases to humans and other animals and their generally destructive nature. State agencies say now is the time to root out the problem, but how?"

This lede (and nut graph) is from last week's cover story in Eugene Weekly. The writer uses a mix of tools to effectively draw the reader into a long and potentially boring story about wild swine. The beginning of the first paragraph is a blind scene-setter; the reader gets a sense of what these wild things can do the the land and the state before they know what they actually are. The lede is also startling, which is an appropriate way to make sure the reader knows that we aren't talking about your standard, run-of-the-mill Babes. Nobody wants to read an article about pigs, unless those pigs are "more destructive than a horde of drunken college kids on a spring-break bender." The second paragraph also contains a direct address: "call them what you want..."

The article is a bit over-written and front-loaded with cute humor, but I don't really blame the author. It is clear that she enjoyed the topic and wanted the readers to get something out of it as well. I hope to write for an alt-weekly at some point, and this is exactly the kind of piece I find appealing: an unexpectedly fascinating expose on an overlooked controversy.

LEDES 2: US tycoon charged over $8bn fraud

"Texan billionaire and cricket promoter Sir Allen Stanford has been charged over a $8bn (£5.6bn) investment fraud, US financial regulators say."

This piece about the same event, from bbc news online, also uses a basic news lede-- but with a totally different emphasis. While the NY Times piece focuses on the role of the Security Exchange Commission, which has been recently criticized for its slow response to the Madoff ponsi scheme, the BBC piece focuses on the personal activities of "Sir Allen Stanford." Stanford is a simply a Texas investor in the U.S. but a "Sir" and "cricket promoter" to the Brits. This lede is bare and lacks a lot of the specifics included in the Times article, like the name of Stanford's company or the fact that other people were charged as well. Still, this is an appropriate way to present the information to the British audience, who probably cares less about the SEC and more about Stanford's financial involvement with the "England and Wales Cricket Board."

LEDES 1: U.S. Accuses Texas Financial Firm of $8 Billion Fraud

"HOUSTON — Stopping what it called a “massive ongoing fraud,” the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday accused Robert Allen Stanford, the chief of the Stanford Financial Group, of fraud in the sale of about $8 billion of high-yielding certificates of deposit held in the firm’s bank in Antigua. Also named in the suit were two other executives and some affiliates of the financial group."

Here is a hard news item from the NY Times today. The lede contains the who (Securities and Exchange Commission), the what (accused the chief of the Stanford Financial Group of fraud in the sale...), the when (Tuesday), and the where (Houston). This lede is straight-forward and effective; the reader receives enough information to fully understand the players, the playing field, and time frame involved, but not enough to stop reading. The lede reveals that enormous amount of money-- $8 billion-- is involved, but begs the question of why exactly the sale was fraudulent. This is a cut and dry example of a basic news lede-- there's not much else to say about it. Though, after reading through the rest of the article, it might be a more intriguing piece if the author anecdotally described the arrest of Robert Allen Stanford in the lede.

A belated account of my hard news reporting assignment

Two weeks ago, we were instructed to cover one of three possible weekend events: an inter-generational spelling-bee, a charity dance-athon, or a bmx bike race. Bikes, dirt, hicks, and tough little kids-- I knew right away that I was going to the bmx bike race.

I racked my brain for someone who might want to come with me and watch kids spin dirt on a Saturday afternoon, and I remembered that my friend Peter, originally from Salem, totally loves the bmx and mountain bike culture. He loves it enough that he was willing to forgo his normal twelve-hour hangover recovery time to bike out to the Lane County Fairgrounds at noon.

We were still hazy from our Friday nights, so it took us a while to find the livestock barn, where  Emerald Valley BMX sets up the twisted, bumpy indoor racetrack every weekend. The Fairgrounds were abuzz with a variety of events, including youth league basketball and roller hockey. The events center was hosting an goliath gaming and boating show. There seemed to be no defined connection between all the items on display, though they shared the commonality of drawing a certain kind of consumer. I was overwhelmed by the number of people and trucks in the parking lot, but Peter was mesmerized. "Maybe we should come here after the race!" he told me, and I gagged a little.

We bought some caramel corn and moved on. We opened a wrong door and accidentally disrupted someone's free throw. At a certain point I wondered if we'd ever find the barn, or if I was doomed to write a Gonzo story describing the journey rather than the actual event (incidentally, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas opens with Hunter S. Thompson traveling to cover a dirt-bike race. My experience was sans motors or drugs, but I found the parallel amusing nonetheless.)

When we finally found the barn, it was past 12:30. Though we were half and hour late, the tikes were still warming up around the track. We scoped out the competition and placed our bets. Peter took special note of wipe-outs, and perhaps didn't contain his laughter enough when he saw a novice rider eat it.

There were actually dozens of races, which made the event difficult to cover. The kids were divided by age, experience, and type of bicycle, and for each division there were two qualifiers before the final. I spent a long time observing and making sense of the chaos. Races started before former races finished, so I focused on a couple of divisions and riders that I found particularly interesting. There was a little girl, for example, who was kicking ass and taking names in her co-ed, 8-year-old division, and I serendipitously sat behind her parents.

There is something oddly daunting about interviewing children, perhaps because parents are often suspicious of people asking for personal information from their offspring. Not wanting to offend, I asked the girl's parents if I could interview her. They were very nice, I think because they were flattered by my admiration for their daughter's accomplishments. I imagine they are the kind of parents who live vicariously through their children, always yelling from the sidelines and arranging after-school activities to ensure maximum success in the minimum amount of time. They turned to their daughter and said, "Kayla, this lady wants to interview you!" She was excited to brag about beating boys and repairing flats on her awesome bicycle. I was a little jealous. Before her dad took her away to go to another race in Cottage Grove, she gave me her autograph.

My afternoon at the track was fun and fruitful. I picked up two personal interviews, a couple colorful quotes from the race announcer, and a lot of literature about Emerald Valley BMX. The story was a piece of cake, and a good excuse to spend my Saturday afternoon watching kids rough it on cool bikes.