Bad Article on an Even Worse Situation

From EA Worldview

This past week in Afghanistan, a massive avalanche left over 50 dead and many more injured. In a somewhat poorly written New York Times article yesterday, the impact of the catastrophe is explained in a fairly biased and angry-sounding manner. The author, Graham Bowley, fills his story with run-on sentences and awkward phrasing, and while his article does have good quotes from spokesmen and disaster management authority, he doesn't do the best job of remaining unbiased throughout the article.


"After 10 years and spending millions of dollars, why can’t we establish food and medicine stocks in every province so that there are always supplies for natural disasters? This is the question the government should answer. Where are they spending the money?” This quote from Fawzia Koofi, a member of Parliament from Badakhshan Province, while very relevant to the current state of the snow-covered area, is not followed by any statement from the United Nations stating the reason for their lack of involvement. Having a quote from a UN representative would have been helpful in retaining Bowley's impartiality, but without one he appears somewhat biased. 


It looks as if the condition of this little town is only going to get worse, with Mohammad Daim Kakar predicting that soon the snow will melt and a flood will cause yet another disaster. While the bodies are retrieved from the snow-filled town, the future of this area looks rather bleak. It may not be particularly well written, but Bowley does do a good job of reporting on a horrible disaster, and that counts for something.


View this article at:http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/08/world/asia/afghanistan-avalanche-death-toll-rises.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=avalanch%20exposes%20afghans&st=cse