The lead in this article was both concise and captivating, using only one sentence to grab the reader. Challenger writes, "Sitting in the backyard garden of a women's outreach center, a woman recounts a life that seems to belie her young age of 20 and her name, Joy." Immediately I had an image in my head of a young woman sitting somberly in a beautiful green garden as she recalled her life's journey up until that instant. I wondered about why her life was such a contradiction to her cheerful name, and so I read on.
Of the many great things about this article, three components stand out. Throughout the piece, Challenger maintained an active voice which kept the reading interesting and vivid. Also, to enhance the flow, the writer used the past tense throughout the entire article. It is important to do this when writing in order to stay consistent and to avoid confusion for the reader. The third element I enjoyed about this article was the sequence in which the writer unveiled parts of the story. He started with a woman's recollection of her life as a victim of the global sex industry, introduced the organization that saved her (as well as many other women), exposed the roots of the problem, and finally elucidated the ongoing ignorance, selfishness, and complacency driving this injustice by sharing an interview with a tourist in a bar in which Joy used to work. I enjoyed how the writer started with just a little information at the surface, then dug deep, and ended back at the surface with a significant impact.
While this was a very well written article, there was one small change I would make if I had the chance. Within the story, a city called "Angeles" was mentioned on several occasions, and it wasn't until the fifth appearance of the name that the writer clarified the pronunciation, "Anglease." I wouldn't go as far to say that the clarification was unnecessary, as most audience members of CNN are from the U.S. and would most likely pronounce the city as they would in "Los Angeles," but it would be more appropriate to include the correct pronunciation after the first time "Angeles" was mentioned.
Over all, this article was interesting and educational all the while exemplifying many characteristic elements of a well written work.