This article is not a profile. As far as I understand it, one of our options for our next assignment is to write a piece that tackles a big issue, in which "a reporter begins with a bit of news, a trend, an idea, an event or a problem that demands closer attention" (syllabus). I thought this article was a good example of this kind of piece, and it's still told in a very personal, narrative kind of way.
In the article I've chosen to share, Population: The Last Taboo, Julia Whitty writes, "The only known solution to ecological overshoot is to decelerate our population growth faster than it's decelerating now and eventually reverse it—at the same time we slow and eventually reverse the rate at which we consume the planet's resources. Success in these twin endeavors will crack our most pressing global issues: climate change, food scarcity, water supplies, immigration, health care, biodiversity loss, even war." This sentence should give you an idea of the scope of this article: it's trying to get to the root of the (literally) huge problem of overpopulation.
I chose this article because it deals with a complicated and controversial issue in an engaging way, using description to draw the reader in. It's a great mix between the general and the specific, as Whitty uses her experiences and observations in India to illustrate the population problems the world is facing now and in the future. It's a sticky issue, and Whitty doesn't shy away from it; instead she investigates the reasons why any mention of overpopulation is such a taboo.
I know this is a long article, but I found that, just when my attention started to wane, I would get pulled in again by a scene from Kolkata or a humorous run-though of the history of birth control. Though the article is statistic-heavy, the figures were easy to understand and gave a clear picture of the issues they described.
Two places I got snagged a little: I didn't buy the transition from Malthus to India (p. 2) and I'm not sure Whitty made the connection between microloans, birthrate, and increased consumerism in developing nations clear enough (p. 3-5). I started to get it, however, when she summed up in the last paragraph: "The paradox embedded in our future is that the fastest way to slow our population growth is to reduce poverty, yet the fastest way to run out of resources is to increase wealth." I loved the way that she ended the piece with the image of the crowds inside and outside watching the sunrise before the fog settles again. Overall, I think this article was expertly woven, meshing history, facts, and statistics with scenes and description to shed light on this tricky issue.
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When I first began reading this article, I was a bit skeptical. What a huge issue to tackle, and in only an article! However, I was drawn into the piece by Julia Whitty's writing. I liked how she blended scenes, her own family history, facts and figures, as well as possible solutions for overpopulation. She rightfully admitted that this is a taboo subject to write about (beginning with the title of the piece), but this article approached the issue differently. I felt that she delved a bit too much into the history of overpopulation concerns (she lost me for a while), and I was more enthralled the parts detailing possible solutions. "The Girl Effect" was such an interesting concept and I definitely agree that empowering women would be a wonderful and natural form of population control. This was a beautiful piece to read overall and she succeeded in writing about something I did not think could be written about in a mere article.
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