While I was looking for articles to critique for this assignment, I came across an article in the Red and Black from January 22nd titled Physician leads effort to rid world of malaria. Upon seeing this headline, I immediately thought, "Well, that's great, but how does this at all relate to the university or Athens?" The first two paragraphs of the article consist of a short biography of Dr. Stephen L. Hoffman. Not until the third paragraph does the reader discover that Dr. Hoffman spoke at the University Chapel on January 20th.
Since the Red and Black is a newspaper "serving the University of Georgia community," it only seems proper that the headline should tie the physician's efforts to rid the world of malaria into his recent appearance at the university. As the headline appears in the paper, it could easily appear in the New York Times, Washington Post, or any other national newspaper. From the surface, it seems like a national news story inserted into the news section to fill up space at the last minute. Only when one delves further into the story (three paragraphs in!) does one realize that the story does indeed relate to the university.
Additionally, the first sentence of the article, "Dr. Stephen L. Hoffman is knocking on the door of a preeminent group of scientists," concerns me. The first question that comes to my mind upon reading this statement is, "what group?" The reporter, Alex Busko never answers this question directly. After reading the article, one could assert that Hoffman and perhaps other scientists are on the verge of curing malaria. However, Busko does not mention any other scientists that have been working on a cure for malaria, with or without Hoffman's help. Consequently, the "knocking on the door" metaphor is somewhat confusing considering the article lacks any other mention to the "group of scientists" Busko originally mentions.
Something that many newspapers have begun to do on their websites that I like is linking to related content. Unfortunately, the Red and Black has not followed suit. In this story, Busko could have linked to the website for Sanaria, Dr. Hoffman's company.
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Good call, editor. The reporter should include the Athens' link higher in the article. Like you, I think the "knocking on the door" reference could be scrapped. It leaves the reader feeling as if they are perusing a football article.
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