Weekly ‘What Works?’ Assignment 6

Headline: A Small Town Kept Walmart Out. Now It Faces Amazon.

The first thing I thought about when I read this article was Water Valley. The town of Greenfield immediately struck me with similarities to the small town, not too far away from our Oxford. From what I remember, Water Valley, too, pushed out possibilities of getting a Wal-Mart. This article made me wonder how Water Valley is being affected by e-commerce as well.

I liked how descriptive this article was. It almost takes on a David and Goliath tone, and it makes readers empathize with small business owners who are, at this point, delusional. Many of them still believe that Greenfield is the place for small business, while their sales are declining.

Again, this story takes a large, widespread problem, and focuses it, allowing the story to become embodied in a set of people and the tiny town of Greenfield. This method is effective, making problems more understandable and real.

I really loved how the writer actually took trips to the town. She mentions visiting the department store in the town, one of the last ones that are independently-owned in the country. Not only did the writer talk to owners of the store and patrons, but her other sources range from developers to governmental agencies. You really feel like these sources are speaking to you, and she has a good range of sources, which I appreciated.

However, even though all of these components were helpful, I still got bored halfway through. Maybe it was the lack of other media components or the topic, but I quickly became uninterested. Usually, I like longer, more feature-y pieces on news topics, The New Yorker-style, but this one failed to really keep my attention.

The topic is one that I’ve heard discussed time and time again, but this takes a unique approach, actually going to the town, which I found particularly commendable. Here in Oxford, at least, I’ve noticed a big push for shopping local, so this article made me think about the consequences of online shopping, something I do pretty often.