October 2011 Archives

Robin Van Persie, the captain of Arsenal, scored a hat-trick to help defeat London rival Chelsea Saturday.

Arsenal had tied up the match twice before two late Van Persie goals gave Arsenal a much needed win, 5-3.

ESPN Soccernet reports that John Terry, Chelsea's captain, had a miserable afternoon featuring a slip that allowed Van Persie to walk in on goal and score. This comes a week after Terry was accused of racially abusing a black player from Queens Park Rangers.

Arsenal have ascended to sixth place in the standings with the win, just three points behind Chelsea, according to The Hindu.

Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, warned NATO that any intervention in Syria could lead to "another Afghanistan."

The Guardian reports that though the country is drifting towards a civil war, NATO doesn't believe the "Libya template" would work in Syria because there is not widespread support for the protesters.

Opposition groups have claimed that Assad's warnings are meant to scare away any action that might be taken against his regime, according the The Telegraph.

Protests aren't limited to the opposition, as at least three cities have seen massive demonstrations inn favor of Assad, The Telegraph goes on to say.

A storm in the Northeast left millions of people without power Sunday.

The New York Times reports that more than 2.3 million people in the Northeast were without electricity as a record amount of snow for an autumn snow hit the area.

Electricity wasn't the only thing affected, as roads, flights and Halloween plans were complicated for many, according to The Associated Press, via The Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Downed trees are partly responsible for knocking down power lines, which caused the power outages, The New York Times went on to say.

Chris Cook, a cornerback for the Vikings who's being charged with a felony count of domestic assault by strangulation, has been told by the judge that he can travel with the team, if the team wants him to.

Cook was in court Wednesday to hear the pretrial restrictions he will have imposed on him. They include no contact with the complainant, but he can have contact with his roommate, who's considered a witness in the case.

The Pioneer Press reports that Cook will be able to travel out of state for "business-related" purposes. These could include Vikings away games.

Cook has been suspended by the Vikings without pay, and it remains to be seen whether they would welcome him back to the team, according to The Star Tribune.

A man died of a gunshot wound Sunday morning at a Minneapolis party.

Police responded to the 3000 block of Pleasant Avenue at about 6:30 a.m. and found a man with a gunshot wound. The man died shortly after the police arrived.

The Star Tribune reports that relatives have identified the victim as Francisco Hernandez, 21.

The man accused of firing the fatal shot was arrested after leaving the party in his car, according to The Pioneer Press.

The man is currently in custody and was suffering from minor stab wounds.

I found a story from The News Star about a Louisiana commissioner who holds public meetings at parishes about utility services.

The story is not a recap of the event, but instead something like a preview. The commissioner has held the meetings in the past, so this story informs the reader that they will be held again.

The main issue that's covered in the story is who and what the meetings are about. They are about questions about utilities, and the commissioner encourages representatives of the utilities for the parishes to come to the meeting and answer questions.

The meeting is the main focus of the story, and a lot of it is to simply inform the reader. This includes a schedule of the event, found at the end of the story.

Cristina Kirchner will become the first woman in Latin American to win re-election for the presidency after collecting around 55 percent of the vote in Argentina.

Kirchner has been popular during her term, and CNN.com reports that the economy in Argentina has experienced an 8 percent growth annually under her leadership.

The Guardian reports Kirchner's share of the votes will be the most in Argentina since democracy was restored in 1983.

Kirchner made a speech in August outlining strong economic growth and human rights advances as key to her future mandates.

Up to 1,000 people may have lost their lives after a powerful earthquake hit eastern Turkey Sunday.

The quake, measured at 7.2-magnitude, destroyed buildings and left many people trapped in the rubble.

The Guardian reports that in Ercis, a town in eastern Turkey, up to 80 buildings collapsed and hospitals reported about 1,000 casualties.

Hospitals are packed, with some of them treating patients in their gardens, according to The Telegraph.

Three chemicals used in bath salts were banned by the Drug Enforcement Agency Friday.

The action, deemed an "emergency" by The New York Times, is meant to give the D.E.A. time to study the effects of the chemicals and determine if a permanent ban is necessary.

The New York Times goes on to report that the effects of these chemicals mimic the effects of cocaine, LSD, and methamphetamine.

Thirty-three states have already made measures to control the sale of bath salts, but legislature is trying to place a national ban, according to ABC News.

The ban will take effect in 30 days.

Chris Cook, a cornerback for the Vikings, was jailed this weekend on two charges of domestic assault.

Cook, 24, was arrested early Saturday morning in Eden Prairie after a neighbor called police and reported screaming from his residence.

The Star Tribune reports that Cook is being charged with a felony and misdemeanor.

Cook was not able to play for the Vikings on Sunday against the Packers. He is still being held at the Hennepin County jail.

The earliest date that the cornerback could make an appearance in court is Tuesday, according to The Pioneer Press.

Cook is being held with no bail.

The Golden Gophers football team lost big yet again on Saturday, falling to Nebraska 41-14.

The loss was the Gophers' fourth loss in a row and dropped them to 1-6 overall.

The Star Tribune reports that the Gophers have been outscored 103-3 in the first halves of their first three Big Ten games. Nebraska was ahead at the half 34-0.

This was the 15th consecutive win over Minnesota for Nebraska, according to The Pioneer Press.

The Gophers will play Iowa in next week's game.

The two news organizations' multimedia options I'll be comparing are the websites for The Star Tribune and the Pioneer Press.

Both sites offer both photos and videos, though the Pioneer Press' photos weren't able to load for me. Their videos worked fine though. The Star Tribune's photos were much better organized and streamlined, which is understandable because their website as a whole is much more visually appealing than the Pioneer Press'.

These types of multimedia compliment news stories by adding a visual aspect to them. Rather than having to describe a story entirely with words, it lets a photo do most of the story telling.

The type of writing I found in the slideshow photos was always one sentence in the past tense describing what is happening in the photo. If there is a second sentence, it is used to further explain the photo. The photos in the slideshows are almost always put in an order to tell the story.

The characteristics of the writing in multimedia options are fairly straightforward. They mostly just explain the photo or give further information on the topic.

Dan Wheldon, the winner of this year's Indianapolis 500, died Sunday in a 15-car crash in a race in Las Vegas.

The crash occured on Lap 11 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Two cars ahead of Wheldon had touched tires, and he was unable to avoid the wreck.

ESPN.com reports that Wheldon's car sailed into a fence, where rescue workers arrived quickly to help.

The race was cancelled as a result of the crash. CBS/AP reports that the racers returned to the track to take part in a five-lap salute in Wheldon's honour.

Francois Hollande was chosen by French socialists to take on Nicolas Sarkozy in next year's presidential elections in France.

Hollonde was chosen in the final round of primaries for the Socialists, which were the first of their kind in France's political history, according to The Telegraph.

The candidate, nicknamed "Mister Normal", has pledged to reverse Sarkozy's cuts to education and take on the financial markets who hold sway in politics, according to The Guardian.

A large majority of 56 percent of the vote chose Hollande over his rival, Martine Aubry.

A third killer whale was found dead in an Alaska river on Friday.

The Associated Press via Yahoo news reports that the carcass of the whale, a juvenile, was spotted in the body of water Friday. The body of water is influenced by tides coming in from the ocean.

The first two whales found were adult, and evaluations of the carcasses did not provide any clues about the cause of death.

Killer whales are often found near the mouth of the river, although they have never been found far up an Alaska river before, according to Reuters.

The forest fire in the Boundary Waters area of Minnesota is around 90 percent contained, but strong winds may hamper further efforts by fire fighters.

The Star Tribune reports that winds restricted the moving of equipment and the airborne portion of firefighting.

Rain has helped put out the flames over the last few days, but the strong wind has made wind chill a concern for workers, according to the Duluth News Tribune.

The Star Tribune goes on to report that snow flurries are possible in the area by Monday night.

Police confiscated tents that protesters put up at the OccupyMN demonstrations in Minneapolis Sunday.

About 28 tents were confiscated from protesters, despite their best efforts to prevent the police from taking them, according to the Star Tribune.

The Pioneer Press reports that police had made clear to the protesters that tents could not be put up in the Hennepin County Government Center plaza.

Up to 150 people were reported to have camped out in the plaza on Saturday night.

I actually found a news story and follow up news story from The Guardian that were only a few hours apart. The stories were about the riots in Egypt. They can be found here and here.

The most prominent difference between the two leads is the updated information on how many people were dead. In the first one, the number of dead is reported as 19. In the second, The Guardian says that there were 24 deaths.

Both stories give an account of how the event started. The main news is generally summarized the same way. Both use a quotes from people involved. In the second article, they get into the chronology of the event a lot sooner.

The second story advances the news by giving a more concrete set of facts about how and why things occurred. This is because it was a few hours later and they had more details.

The second story is not a response to any other report. It simply updates the death toll and retells the first with more details.

Ron Paul, a Republican from Texas, won the presidential straw poll at the Value Voters Conference Saturday.

Supporters of Paul flocked to the event, which consists mostly of social conservatives, to push him ahead of more popular presidential candidates Rick Perry and Mitt Romney.

The Associated Press via the Star Tribune reported that Paul received 37 percent of the vote.

The victory was not by any means a surprise for Paul. The Los Angeles Times reports that he has a loyal following and routinely does well at events such as the Value Voters Conference.

Herman Cain, of Florida, finished second with 23 percent of the vote.

Dozens of Egyptians are dead after Christian protesters clashed with the Egyptian military Sunday.

Christians assembled in Cairo to protest the burning of one of their churches, according to the International Business News.

The protests quickly turned into a riot, however, and the army was called to control the mass.

The Telegraph reports from witnesses that fire was opened on the crowd by the army.

They go on to report that at least 19 Christian protesters were killed in the riot.

A prominent pastor who gave Rick Perry his endorsement for the Republican presidential race later called Mitt Romney's church a cult.

Robert Jeffress, a pastor at First Baptist Church in Dallas, gave his nod to Perry before introducing the candidate at a conference. He then made the remarks to a group of reporters, according to The Detroit News

The New York Times reports that they could not reach Perry for comment as to whether or not he knew of the pastor's remarks,.

Romney himself is set to speak at the conference on Saturday.

Protests against corporation's influence on the government have reached Minneapolis, with other 500 people participating Friday.

The protests, which originated in New York on Wall Street, have spread nationwide and settled in the Hennpin County Government Center in Minneapolis.

The Star Tribune reports that people are not planning to quit anytime soon. Jesse Ventura even stopped by to offer his support.

No arrests have been made, and protesters have been falling all laws regarding sleeping situations, according to the Pioneer Press.

Mario Lucia, who is the son of Gopher hockey coach Don Lucia, has decided to play hockey for Notre Dame in college.

Mario was a standout player for Wayzata high school last year before deciding to play in the British Columbia hockey league this year, according to the Star Tribune

Though his father is the Gopher head coach, the Pioneer Press reports that he understood that his son needed to choose his own path.

The 18-year-old was selected by the Minnesota Wild in the draft earlier this year,

In the Amanda Knox news story I used from The Guardian, the structure of the story is fairly straightforward.

The reported has summarized the current and past developments in the case in the first four or so paragraphs, followed by information about public sentiment towards the case in Italy.

This creates an order that isn't chronological, but mixes information about public sentiment with the facts of the court. For example, we're given plenty of information about both the Italian public and Italian leaders who have gotten behind Knox in the case. I think it's a very effective way to tell the story, as it brings in interesting statistics.

Amanda Knox, the American student accused of killing her roommate while studying in Italy, will give a final plea for her freedom on Monday.

Knox has originally been found guilty and was sentenced to 26 years in prison, The Guardian reports.

They go on to report that key forensic evidence was deemed unreliable in June.

CNN reports that the defense is seeking an acquittal while the prosecution is seeking an increase from the original sentence to life in prison.

Public opinion in Italy was originally anti-Knox, but The Guardian reports that those sentiments may be changing.

A long range goal by Kyle Walker proved to be the winning goal in the match-up between Arsenal and Tottenham.

The North London clubs were tied at 1-1 after 70 minutes before Walker's strike put Tottenham ahead for good, ESPN Soccernet reports.

The loss is already Arsenal's fourth of the young season. The side, which finished in the top 4 last season now find itself in 15th place.

The Associated Press via Yahoo.com reports that injury was added to insult for Arsenal as Bacary Sagna, the team's star defender broke his right leg during the match.

The Tigers survived a late rally by the Yankees to even the series at 1-1 in their best-of-five series.

The Yankees were down 5-1 going into the final innings before scoring twice and nearly winning it, the Associated Press via My Central Jersey reports.

Colorful closer Jose Valverde was brought in to pitch for the Tigers, and he successfully stopped the Yankees come-back attempt.

Not content with just the win, Valverde took it a step further and predicted that his team would win the series in Detroit, ESPN New York reports.

Valverde told ESPN that "the series is not (coming) to New York."

Police are calling the death of a Coon Rapids woman suspicious.

The Star Tribune reports that police were called Saturday morning and the woman was found dead upon arrival.

Two other people were at the residence with the woman.

No charges have been filed and no further information is available as of yet, according to Fox 9 News.

A forest fire in the Boundary Waters in northeast Minnesota has now reached a cost of $14 million.

The Star Tribune reports that though the fire has been costly, it is now 71 percent contained.

The fire has burned about 145 square miles of forest.

Funding to contain the fire is coming from the U.S. departments of Agriculture and the Interior, according to the Brainerd Dispatch.

The blaze has remained relatively the same size since mid-September.