“The Hillary-for-prison sign outside Mine Lifeline on Main Street was so enormous that it attracted attention, even though its message was so ordinary in Logan County, West Virginia, that the sign seemed festive rather than threatening.”
This is the lede from a story I chose called “In the Heart of Trump Country” by Larissa MacFarquhar of the New Yorker. The piece examines the lives, culture, and rationales of rural communities in West Virginia that are almost uniformly Trump-supporting.
I chose this piece because I was intrigued by the title, which is both succinct and expressive. We cannot deny that support for presidential candidates is linked with geography and culture (just think about Athens is the small blue dot in a red state), and I was interested to learn about what economic and cultural factors draw people of West Virginia to support Trump.
I believe the lede for this story can be called a scene-setter, as it paints a picture of life in the rural area about which the reporter is writing. Even when the lede is removed from the picture accompanying it, the mental image conjured by that first sentence creates a glimpse of a world unfamiliar to many readers. What has contributed to a hatred of Hillary Clinton so strong that a “Hillary for prison” sign reads as festive?
The lede, for me, did scream “J.C. listen to this.” Perhaps this is getting more political than is appropriate for class purposes, but I will admit for the sake of this blog post that my blood boils at the very mention of Trump. But to learn about his appeal from an article (rather than, say, my grandpa, whom I love dearly but cannot handle discussing politics with), was informative and even humbling. It is easy to only seek out “journalism” that supports our preconceived ideas and beliefs (especially during election season), but this article represents all the good that can come from taking the time to learn about why others believe what they believe.