My response is to an article I found in the New York Times about Fashion Week. The article, titled: “At Fashion Week, It’s Where You Sit That Counts,” was all about how the seating chart is put together for Fashion Week. With the arrangement of certain people next to one another, comes certain obstacles and drama to deal with. I thought it was pretty funny though because it was never something I’d given any thought.
The first thing I took note of when reading the article, was the voice of the writer, Eric Wilson. Wilson introduces the article with what I think is a narrative soft lede. It’s not intense, but it puts the audience right where they need to be, with the tiniest hint of humor. Right after the first paragraph, Wilson inserts a dramatic one liner: “Only 104 of them will be in the front row,” followed by a quote that explains the drama behind this line. I really liked the way this was written for several reasons, because I feel like this is how I would write if I worked on a piece about fashion week. I feel like fashion week is hyped up a lot in New York City especially, because it is in fact a big deal, but it’s also really funny to think about all of the things that the big name designers freak out about. Like seating for the runway show! According to the article, certain people can’t sit next to each other due to drama that could possibly arise.
Wilson talks about the status that comes with sitting in the front row, and how people come backstage crying about sitting in the second row. He goes about this in a really interesting way. To me, the subject is somewhat gossipy, which makes it kind of unintentionally comical. When I think about it out of context, a bunch of top designers crowding around a table organizing a seating chart that could possibly make or break their careers is really funny. I think it’s funny because it’s so overdramatic, about such a simple matter.
As the article continues on, Wilson goes into brief description of the celebrities that are sought after for the front row. He name drops a little bit, and then throws in some humor by mentioning Snooki from the Jersey Shore TV show. I think what Wilson did particularly well was report about such gossipy fact, with such a serious tone, which in turn made it somewhat comedic.
I also have to admit that all of the quotes used in this article were very well chosen, because not only were they all perfectly relevant to the nature of the article, but they also flowed well. In other words, they didn’t divide the article up, or make it choppy in anyway. (I find this to be one of the first things I typically look at when I’m reading an article, whether or not the writer has chosen good quotes that don’t interrupt the flow of the piece.)
On a final note, I’d like to address the dynamic between newspaper style reporting online, and blogging. I think it’s an interesting point to address because both exist in the same plane, but each calls for different allowances. To me, a blogger has more freedom and flexibility, while a newspaper reporter online still needs to live up to an image. That’s not to say that a blogger doesn’t have an image to live up to at all, because they do! But the blogger’s image is often times created by the blogger themselves; it’s more about an individual’s image as opposed to that of a group. In this situation, the newspaper writer, Wilson, does a good job balancing between the two because like I mentioned before, there is a hint of humor in his voice, and yet there is a more professional tone that makes me remember that I’m reading the New York Times. To me, online blogging is a form of reporting that has to do more so with the writers’ own individual spin on the news, while online newspapers tend to be slightly opposite.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/08/fashion/08Fashion.html?_r=2&hp
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