Next
to the newly released surveillance photos in the Times Square bombing, CNN has
a very confusing
article about the case, “Photo of Times Square bombing suspect released.”
For someone who does not read the news as much as she should (especially for a
journalist), I was honestly unaware that there had been a bombing on Thursday
morning at the Armed Forces
Recruitment center in Times Square.
Considering the fact that there are
plenty more people in the world like myself who are ignorant when it comes to
current events, the story highlights were way more helpful than the story
itself. They read as follows:
- Photo shows person bicycling away from scene shortly after the explosion
- Authorities are offering a $12,000 reward for information in the case
- Bombing happened near an Armed Forces Recruitment center in Times Square
- Attack could be linked to two other unsolved blasts in New York, police said
The purpose of the
article, based on the headline and the lede, was
to inform readers that the NYPD has released
the photographs and are offering twelve grand for info that leads to an arrest.
Most of the article is in fact about how the bombing could be related to others
as well as suspicious findings
in a Canadian routine car check. The connection between all of these events
is important to those who might have information about useless person/people who
caused the explosion.
What was confusing
about the article was that for someone who was uninformed
of the events, I did not easily follow the connections between the release
of the photos and the Canadian findings. This is the transition that tripped me
up the most:
“The explosion, which caused no injuries, went off about 3:45 a.m. Thursday at an Armed Forces Recruitment center in Times Square.
Authorities were re-examining an incident that happened last month at the U.S.-Canadian border, New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly told CNN Friday.”
Does this mean that at the same time that the blast happened, officials were examining the materials what were found in the car? A few sentences later you learn that within the car that was searched, the police found “Anarchist-type material” and “pictures of New York, including ones of Times Square, at least one of which showed the recruiting station.” This still did not clear anything up for me.
Did the reexamination make the police release the photo – which, by the way
– could have been me on a bike for all I know, it’s so unclear. But, it was
interesting to read several stories that had a common theme but were not the
same, squished into one article. We find out later in the article that they are
also looking into the connection between this bombing and two others as well as
denouncing the relationship between this bombing and weird
letter received by congress shortly thereafter.
The reason an uninformed reader such as myself muddles through this article in such great confusion is because the context gives little clarity as to the occurrences. This is partially, I’m sure, because of the lack of clarity that CNN or anyone else has on the issue but the speculations and investigations are jumbled together in this piece.
My favorite part of the article however has to be the kicker, the last line. In talking about the disturbing photos and letters received by members of congress, the writer, Kevin Bohn, quaintly calms the fears of readers by assuring us that the letters were unrelated and law enforcement sources confirmed, “He is not the bomber.” Bohn concludes his comforting tale of the strange photos of a man in front of the bombing site which included the statement, “We did it,” by telling his faithful readers, “All the letters were received by Democrats…”
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