Final Story Analysis

For my final story analysis I am analyzing an article titled “A Path to Murder: The Story of Maurice Clemmons”. The article was written by the Seattle Times staff this year as part of their coverage on the shooting deaths of four police officers and the 40-hour manhunt for the suspect. The Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting was awarded to the Seattle Times staff for their coverage of the shooting deaths of the four Lakewood police officers and the apprehension of the suspect.
The article starts with a great lede. I was hooked on the article after reading the first sentence. It is an unusual lead because it is about the suspect’s life history. I think articles without a good lede are almost worthless because readers do not want to read an article that doesn’t seem interesting. Every article should have a good lede, and this article definitely does.
In the beginning of the article, it seems the article is about Joe Lew Clemmons following the American dream until the nut graph is read. In this article, the nut graph is in the fifth paragraph and it identifies what the article is actually about. It is the story of Maurice Clemmons, an Arkansas man who shot and killed four police officers in Lakewood.
This article is flows well and is easily read. It gives facts as well as the perspective of family members. I think this article is written very well and the story is very interesting. It is definitely worthy of an award.