Final feature critique
The electric scooter feature piece wasn't the most riveting or well-written of stories, but it was informative, clear and timely.
The dense informational nature is, ironically, what worked against the story's potential.
Several passages of the story were repetitive and the entire piece could have been cut by 700-800 words at least.
I felt overwhelmed by the academic tone and didn't care much for what any of the subjects had to say.
One lone exception was the anecdote about the lengths students will go to acquire an electric scooter, sometimes walking several blocks to find one in order to rush to class.
Despite having to walk, they still manage to shave considerable time from their commutes.
In some ways, the piece read like PR for Lime.
Many of the students offered glowing, uncritical praise and any criticism they offered concerned technical shortcomings.
As with most things in the digital era, the real story here is about convenience.
And yet the story barely considered the ethical implications of our growing reliance on digital on-demand services.
There was, most concerningly, no mention of the contractors who drive around the city late at night picking up and recharging Lime batteries for a pittance.
The story felt extremely one-sided and would have benefited from deeper reporting and a wider variety of interviews.
The dense informational nature is, ironically, what worked against the story's potential.
Several passages of the story were repetitive and the entire piece could have been cut by 700-800 words at least.
I felt overwhelmed by the academic tone and didn't care much for what any of the subjects had to say.
One lone exception was the anecdote about the lengths students will go to acquire an electric scooter, sometimes walking several blocks to find one in order to rush to class.
Despite having to walk, they still manage to shave considerable time from their commutes.
In some ways, the piece read like PR for Lime.
Many of the students offered glowing, uncritical praise and any criticism they offered concerned technical shortcomings.
As with most things in the digital era, the real story here is about convenience.
And yet the story barely considered the ethical implications of our growing reliance on digital on-demand services.
There was, most concerningly, no mention of the contractors who drive around the city late at night picking up and recharging Lime batteries for a pittance.
The story felt extremely one-sided and would have benefited from deeper reporting and a wider variety of interviews.
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