An Article About An Article

Today, the New York Times published an article about an essay written in the Joint Force Quarterly about ending the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in the military. Although writing an article about an article may seem strange, the author, Elisabeth Bumiller,manages to avoid just simply summarizing the original article and actually adds a lot of insight to the subject.

She gives a brief summary of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy as well as the general stance of the article. Instead of just summarizing she uses a direct quote from the essay to give a gist of what it was about. I feel like choosing a quote instead of just summarizing the information, not only was more interesting, but allowed the readers to see what kind of language was being used and just how bluntly the subject was being discussed.

Bumiller then goes on to discuss how although the article does not represent any official military points of view and has no influence on policy, it does "signal a shift in the winds." Bumiller brings up the reactions of different military personal such as Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Admiral Mullen. Although neither Admiral Mullen nor Mr. Gates have indicated that they encourage the story in any way, Burmiller points out how this article is a step forward, drawing upon the reaction from the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.

Bumiller is able to take an article about an article and give it a new and interesting spin.