This article can be found at http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/09/22/science/AP-US-Dinosaur-Discovery.html?_r=1&ref=science
Though far from front page news, this news story about today’s discovery of “two new dinosaur species closely related to the Triceratops, including one with 15 horns on its large head,” is concise and clear. It’s a solid story.
The lead is quite effective. It doesn’t just rely on the common person’s enthusiasm over dinosaurs. It includes a bit of information that grabs the reader’s attention—the 15 horns. Since this is an uncommonly large number of horns for an animal (“the most ornate-headed dinosaur known to man”), the reader may just read on even further to find out why there were so many horns, how large they were, what they were used for, etc. Smart move by the Associated Press.
To keep the story alive, the writer attempts a few things following the lead. The first is to mention their somewhat amusing scientific names: Kosmoceratops richardsoni and Utahcertaops gettyi. The second is to quote a leading scientist in the field who emphasizes how big this story really is: “’It’s not every day that you find two rhino-sized dinosaurs…every year we’re finding new things, especially here in Utah.” After that, there’s not much to keep the reader interested—just basic facts about the dinosaurs including their dimensions and weight, the purpose of their horns (mating), and a bit on the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, the place the fossils were found. But there’s little text remaining after the first 3-4 paragraphs, so people may even read the whole thing.
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