I want to respond to the piece that Lauren posted from Mother Jones. I too admire the author's courage in tackling such a huge subject. However, as a person who knows nothing about mass extinction (let alone camping) I found it difficult to get into the article. The lede is good, the anecdotes about them in their tents and hiking presents the topic as being approachable. Although I can not relate to the "outdoorsy" life, I definitely found these anecdotes to be successful in making this topic easier to read about.
The second and third page dragged on to me. It seemed like I was reading a text book and it was not interesting. Perhaps there was not enough action for me, but I agree that the author could have been more successul had she removed herself from the piece. The stories she recounts about the people she meets are more interesting to me. The lack of direct quotes is boring.
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"Gone: Mass Extinction and the Hazards of Earth's Vanishing Biodiversity" by Julia Whitty is an example of a story with ample amount of research, but interestingly enough, very little quotes. After looking through some background on the publication source, Mother Jones, it became clear that this piece is aimed more towards the politically left, yet the title alone should hint at that. Most of the recent articles I read on MotherJones.com were of same nature as this piece. With heavy reliance on what I call library research, I would have found more quotes much more interesting. Although the way the writer was able to plant herself into the story was done well, but maybe she relied on this technique a little too much, leaving not much room for outside insight.
Overall I thought that if a reader was particularly interested in this topic, and it seems the way the article was written in the norm for this publication, then it did so well. Although personally I felt seven pages of this type of writing was a bit taxing.
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