Pulled Quotes

In a New York Times piece on the conflict in Tibet, I thought it was interesting that they neglected to mention that these conflicts could affect China’s ability to host the next Olympics in the eyes of the world until the middle of the piece, and spent the rest of the piece discussing this relationship.  I do agree that the violence and conflicting reports from the two governments and people is very important, but perhaps it would have been better to insert this tidbit earlier on.  This is because when I read, “The violence in Lhasa and Xiahe has created a major political and public relations challenge for the ruling Communist Party as Beijing prepares to play host to the Olympic Games in August.” in the 6th paragraph I had to stop and re-read it because I did not even realize China was next to host the Olympics, let alone the adverse effect this could have on that. 

I also thought it was an interesting tactic to put the quotes at the end of the piece as opposed to the beginning.  I think that works in this case because of the complexity of the story, which allows the quotes toserve as the detail further along in the piece.