The most interesting story this week was from the Los Angeles Times. "The Cyber World Shuts out O.C. Loner Too" by Times Staff Writed Kimi Yoshino. Yoshino introduces a boy who suffered from Asperger's syndrome, similar to autism, which made his socially inept. The boy was an outcast basically all of his life, which ended tragically when he shot a neighbor, the neighbor's daughter, and himself at the age of 16. Yoshino tells you this detail fairly quickly in the article, not leaving readers in the dark about the fate and destricution of this young man. However, she manages to win you over and sympathize with the young man as she leads you through his life of no friends, ridicule, and attempts to reach out. Yoshino interviews those who knew the young man and provides his posts on the internet just days before he commited the murders. While the warning signs seem obvious, she is also careful to point out that after the fact, everything always seems much clearer. Yoshino provides a sensitive, insightful look into the life of a young man that we already know ended brutally, giving the reader an perspective that is fresh, unique and intruiging. Throughout the article, she is careful to show his life in an unbiased way and subtly gains the reader's support and sympathy. She is an effective writer and does this story more justice than most reporters would given the devastating events.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cyberlife6nov06,1,3307992.story