Michael Brown article: Assignment 2


If I were the editor and this article came across my desk I would not have ran it as it was written by John Eligon.

For it to run I would have taken out all details involving the "trouble" Michael Brown caused or was involved in. I am okay with Eligon saying Brown was "no angel" because in my opinion most people know that. They do not need to know specific details especially at the time of his funeral. Most of the details in the article are typical of a young kid and teenagers these days. Most of his actions were not out of the ordinary. What child isn't a handful when they were young? What is wrong with him becoming a rapper? Plenty of African Americans and whites attempt to become rappers. It is one of the more popular genres of music. Of course kids are going to get involved with it. Teenagers experiment with alcohol and drugs. It doesn't make it right, but it isn't anything out of the ordinary. Outside of the stealing the box of cigars the details of him not being an angel are unnecessary. I think it is sufficient enough to say he was "no angel" or "not perfect" and highlight the fact he was trying to turn his life around by trying to get a job, graduating high school and planning to attend a technical school to land a better job. He was not a murderer or a criminal. There was no need to highlight typical teenage behavior, outside of the stealing, at the time the article was written.

I think the reporter did put Brown "on trial" a bit by pointing out those details of his past. As I have mentioned those details are not bad and are not unusual of a teenager. But, there was no need for those details to be released even though he received them from Brown's family. Eligon should have been more sensitive to the Brown family and their mourning given Brown was being laid to rest the next day.

There is not a difference between "no angel" or "not perfect." They mean the exact same thing. I am okay with Eligon saying "no angel" and I would be okay if it was "not perfect." The two phrases express the same context that Brown had problems like every other person in the world. Highlighting his past with too many details is what I think the issue of the phrase comes in. It would have been better received had Eligon simply said "Brown was no angel, but..."

I think the article was insensitive to Brown and his family for this article to be published as was. If it was simply stated he was no angel or not perfect and highlight the progress and change he was making to better himself it would have caused no issues to the Brown family and to readers who also considered it insensitive.