Stories of Aleppo to be told

A seven-year-old refugee from Syria documented the conditions of the Rebel-held part of Aleppo during a government push to recapture the city in videos posted on twitter. Her tweets turned her into a celebrity and Bana Alabed is now being offered a book deal with Simon and Schuster.

The New York Times and MPR News both reported on this topic. However I noticed some distinct differences in style and content between the two.

The New York Times focused a lot more on Alabed herself and the things that she is fighting for. They showed one of her tweets that said "I am a Syrian child who suffered under Bashar al Asad and Putin. I welcome Donald Trump action against the killers of my people." By showing this tweet in particular, it shows Alabed's political views. Despite the fact that the missile could have killed innocent people, she feels that it is worth it because of the pain she has endured. The article also depicted the certain things she had gone through while living in and Aleppo under rebel control such as her house getting burnt down.

MPR News on the other hand, went for a lighter approach with this article. They focused much more on the book deal. They gave a very brief overview on who Alabed is and showed many of her tweets and videos throughout the whole article. They included a quote from her that said "I am so happy to have this opportunity to tell my story and the story of what has happened in Aleppo to the world." The whole article has a light, inspiring quality. When reading it, I felt like there was hope that things would get better in the world because of a first hand story from a seven-year-old being told.

This is an amazing achievement for anyone and the fact that the "anyone" in this story will be seven-year-old Bana Alabed is impressive.

photo originally from: The Great Middle East