Journalism 101, the Inverted Pyramid

In journalism school in college, we spent a lot of time talking about the inverted pyramid style of writing.  Basically, the premise was that the most important information came first, and then funneled down the less important information.

There were two articles today out of Boston.  The basic storyline is that police busted a chop shop where stolen vehicles were taken in and stripped for parts.  Apparently this has been going on several months.  Six people were arrested in the bust.  Meanwhile, the chop shop was guarded by two pit bulls, one of which attacked a police officer during the bust and when another police officer tried to save him from the dog, he ended up shooting the police officer.

Now, here are the headlines and lead paragraph(s) of two different stories about this incident:

From the Boston Globe:

Officer shot while battling pit bull

Bullet was fired by fellow policeman

April 9, 2007

A Lynn police officer was accidentally shot in the leg by another officer yesterday as they subdued and captured a pit bull terrier at a house where police were pursuing suspected car thieves

The injured officer, a six-year veteran of the police department, was attacked by the dog after he and other officers tried to subdue the animal with rubber projectiles.

Another officer fired his gun in an attempt to help the policeman, but the shot hit the officer in the lower left leg. He was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital.

In a prepared statement, the Lynn Police Department said that the wounded officer, who was not identified, was "conscious and alert."

The dog was removed from the house on Gardner Street and put down.

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Now, from WCVB TV in Boston:

Alleged Chop Shop Busted

6 People Arrested

LYNN, Mass. -- A quiet Lynn neighborhood was anything but Sunday as police descended on what they described as a bustling automobile chop shop.

NewsCenter 5's Rhondella Richardson reported that police tracking a Lo-Jack signal from a Honda Civic stolen in Natick, Mass., were brought to 65 Gardner St. in Lynn. That car had only been stolen hours before and was nearly completely stripped by the time police arrived. In total, six people were arrested in connection with the alleged chop shop. Neighbors said questionable activity had been going on for months and while some are not surprised by what police found, they were relieved.

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So what is the most important part of the story?  That an officer was attacked by a pit bull?  Or that a chop shop that had stripped down many stolen vehicles over the past few months was busted?

Thanks to WCVB for actually following journalism style in getting the story right....cover it all, but most important pieces first.

Comments

[MichelleD]

If dogs are being used by criminals so often WHY OH WHY do they not train police officers in the proper ways to deal with them? This is so freaking stupid!!!! From the way the first article portrays it (yes, which means nothing) that the animal only attacked AFTER they started shooting at it!? "The injured officer, a six-year veteran of the police department, was attacked by the dog after he and other officers tried to subdue the animal with rubber projectiles." Was the officer even bitten anywhere? There are no reports of injuries from the animal - just the bullet fired by Barney Fife.

Why is it surprising that dogs trained to be guard dogs will attack when they, or their owners are threatened? These articles portray the situation EVERY time like the dog was breaking the law.

I was waiting for someone to get shot by some cowboy cop trying to shoot a dog. Maybe when some two year old gets hit in the head they'll change their ways...this near miss won't be enough. Although, they'll probably try to solve the problem by trying to pass a ban.

[Caveat]

Love the use of the word 'battling'. I mean, really.

Burst in to my place and you'll face my wiener dog. Believe me, I'd rather meet a bully breed any day.

I'm sick of these reports and sick of dogs being shot like it's nothing. They should give the owners a chance to control the dogs before they go in, why is that such a big deal? If they are afraid to do that, why don't they get a net or something they can shoot over the dog to give them time to deal with the situation?