With the economy in a slump, the “Buying Binge Slams to Halt” caught my eye while scanning A1 of the New York Times. The article’s catchy title, with words like ‘binge’ and ‘slam’ would grab up the attention of any consumer these days.
The lead- which was a scene setter lead- worked well, grabbing interest by claiming the worst of our economic woes may in fact not be behind us. The idea that ‘another may be coming’ was enough to keep my attention!
The story fans out typically in the next few paragraphs, first summarizing the more relaxed economic scene in recent weeks- then switching fairly smoothly to the obvious crisis of consumer confidence on Wall Street. (It’s a scary time with giants like GM and Circuit City going under.)
The rest of the article expands on the nut graft, offering consumer’s concerns, and referencing Barrack Obama’s unclear strategy for cleaning the economic mess. The story connected these points:
Ø Fall of consumer spending sales by 32% in vehicles/ loss of consumer confidence
Ø Large companies like GM and Circuit City declaring bankruptcy
Ø Obama’s ‘aggressive’ new approach to the slump on Wall Street
The story was a bit circuitous, but the points affected each other logically. Readers that wanted to know about the article’s main point: the loss of consumer confidence would have such questions.
What is Obama going to do to clean up Wall Street? How is the slump affecting big time companies? The article manages to address all of these points, and connect back to the new consumer crisis.
What struck me most about the article was the extent of consumer concern. I had no idea that spending had fallen so steeply: the largest amount since 1942.
My one unanswered question was what was the stimulus package that Obama’s administration planned to initiate. It was a little vague for the average reader.
The lead- which was a scene setter lead- worked well, grabbing interest by claiming the worst of our economic woes may in fact not be behind us. The idea that ‘another may be coming’ was enough to keep my attention!
The story fans out typically in the next few paragraphs, first summarizing the more relaxed economic scene in recent weeks- then switching fairly smoothly to the obvious crisis of consumer confidence on Wall Street. (It’s a scary time with giants like GM and Circuit City going under.)
The rest of the article expands on the nut graft, offering consumer’s concerns, and referencing Barrack Obama’s unclear strategy for cleaning the economic mess. The story connected these points:
Ø Fall of consumer spending sales by 32% in vehicles/ loss of consumer confidence
Ø Large companies like GM and Circuit City declaring bankruptcy
Ø Obama’s ‘aggressive’ new approach to the slump on Wall Street
The story was a bit circuitous, but the points affected each other logically. Readers that wanted to know about the article’s main point: the loss of consumer confidence would have such questions.
What is Obama going to do to clean up Wall Street? How is the slump affecting big time companies? The article manages to address all of these points, and connect back to the new consumer crisis.
What struck me most about the article was the extent of consumer concern. I had no idea that spending had fallen so steeply: the largest amount since 1942.
My one unanswered question was what was the stimulus package that Obama’s administration planned to initiate. It was a little vague for the average reader.
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