Special Lead Analysis

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/05/world/americas/05galapagos.html?hp

PUERTO AYORA, Galápagos Islands — The mounds of reeking garbage on the edge of this settlement 600 miles off Ecuador’s Pacific coast are proof that one species is thriving on the fragile archipelago whose unique wildlife inspired Darwin’s theory of evolution: man.

Tiny gray finches, descendants of birds that were crucial to his thesis, flutter around the dump, which serves a growing town of Ecuadoreans who have moved here to work in the islands’ thriving tourism industry.

The burgeoning human population of the Galápagos, which doubled to about 30,000 in the last decade, has unnerved environmentalists. They point to evidence that the growth is already harming the ecosystem that allowed the islands’ more famous inhabitants — among them giant tortoises and boobies with brightly colored webbed feet — to evolve in isolation before mainlanders started colonizing the islands more than a century ago.

The growth has become enough of a threat to the environment that even the government, which still welcomes growth in the tourism industry, has expelled more than 1,000 poor Ecuadoreans in the past year from a province that they feel is rightfully theirs, and it is in the process of expelling many more.

By limiting the population, officials hope to preserve the natural wonders that bolster one of Ecuador’s most profitable sectors: tourism. But the measures are feeding a backlash among unskilled migrants who say they are being punished while the country continues to enjoy the many millions of dollars tourists bring to Ecuador, one of South America’s poorest nations.

This story begins with a narrative lead about state of nature in the Galapagos Islands. The writer writes about the mounds of garbage produced by humans and specifically the booming tourist industry. The nut graph is the fourth paragraph. The reader now can tell what the story is truly about, the expelling of native Exuadorians so the tourism industry can flourish.

I like this lead and I think it appropriately introduces the main topic in an interesting way. The first several paragraphs give the reader an image of the exotic wildlife and the vulnerable ecosystem that is being threatened by the added presence of humans.


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125470120316763089.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsThird

Vegas Casinos Fold on Expansion Plans

LAS VEGAS -- After a six-year building frenzy that transformed this city, casino companies are shifting strategies dramatically toward slower growth, paying down debt and cutting back on spending.

Many casino executives don't expect to break ground on another major building project in Las Vegas for at least 10 years.

"The old model has been thrown out the window," says MGM Mirage Chief Executive Jim Murren.

For most of this decade, casinos embarked on a debt-fueled expansion, plowing more than $30 billion into casino and hotel projects around Las Vegas. When the economy collapsed, it left casino companies with dwindling revenues and mountains of debt. Several entered bankruptcy-court proceedings.

Now, casino companies are eschewing capital-intensive projects to focus on increasing profit margins through branding, marketing and customer loyalty.

In this story the writer uses a compare and contrast lead to show the different business strategies that Las Vegas casinos have used and will now be using. The compare and contrast method shows that a change will be taking place in Las Vegas. Then in the next paragraphs, the writer explains why a change is taking place. I think this is an effective lead because the story is about change.