14. Activists allegedly throw tomatoes at Dutch royals

     This is not the first it has happened. Justin Beiber got hit by a water bottle during one of his concerts and a shoe was thrown straight towards George Bush Jr.'s face. Today, while Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima visited the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory, tomatoes were hurled at the royal couple by Russian activists, led by Eduard Limonov. They missed the target, but they succeeded in calling attention to themselves. Apparently the Russian group of activists wished to attract public awareness about "Netherlands' failure to properly investigate" the case in which one of the members (Alexander Dolmatov) was said to have comitted suicide. The reason for the visit at the Great Hall was to celebrate the amity between Russia and Netherlands, despite being amid tensions after a Russian ship seized a Dutch-flag Greenpeace ship.
     I think this article by the Associated Press and KGW staff was somewhat effective in informing, which was their main purpose. However, I believe they could have explained the conflict more extensively. This way even a reader who does not really follow Dutch royalty or Russian tensions could understand the situation, and know why exactly the activists did what they did. They could have also introduced the readers to the Russian activists a little better (Have they done something as public as throwing tomatoes before? What are their main goals as a group?) They also do not give their own professional opinion about the matter and do not make the reader ask questions (do not make us think further). The target audience is really anyone who is interested in conflicts (almost everyone). Overall, it is well-written and very easy to understand thanks to the simple yet formal vocabulary. The vocabulary is also appropriate for the serious tone of the selection. In addition, the Press and staff post a picture along with the written article so that the reader knows how they look like. Overall, it is effective in telling us basically what happened, but they could have developed on how the tensions first occurred between Netherlands and Russia (after all, they were probably celebrating peaceful relations because they probably did not have good relations before). 

http://www.today.com/news/activists-allegedly-throw-tomatoes-dutch-royals-2D11574050