Cho's News Blog

Records/CAR

2009-12-19T02:31:23Z

Analysis on Records:
Minority Businesses Shut Out of Stimulus Loans

For the analysis, I chose investigative story of business. The reporter Aaron Glantz had several visual sources, such as interactive map and pie chart for readers to understand the story better. First of all, the interactive map of America's Recovery Capital Stimulus Loans was well made. By scrolling, it was easy to zoom in and zoom out from the map. Also, the chart of each state's loan and population percentage of different race groups showed up by clicking the state. The map was easily accessible and clearly organized. Moreover, three pie charts of stimulus loans to distressed small business, percent of business ownership, and percnet of U.S. population was very easy to understand. The significant difference between different races clearly showed by just taking a one look. It does not require much time to understand the information.
Glanz used different records to produce the story: Demographic information from the U.S. Census Bureau, For the pie charts, he gathered information from ARC loan statistics from the U.S. Small Business Administration, population percentages 2008, business Ownership percentages are from the Census' 2002 Economic Census: Survey of Business Owners. Although there are a lot of numbers mentioned throughout the story, it is easy to read because the information is clearly organized by supporting the main point. Also, he interviewed different sources and produced variety of views about the subject. Overall, Glanz did a very nice job incorporating the data using computer skills and organizing the important data for his story.

Apple Acquired Lala Music Service

2009-12-05T21:34:17Z

                               Apple agreed to buy online music company Lala Media Inc. on Friday, possibly showing their attempt to expand its digital music services.
                               Lala differs in its service with Apple's iTune: They let users to pay 10 cents per music for permanent access to play the "Web songs," which is known as the cloud system for Lala users, New York Times reported.
                               According to Wall Street Journal, the three-year-old company based in Palo Alto, Calif. does not let music to be downloaded into the user's computer or portable device.
                         If Apple incorporates the cloud system into their music service, a user's music library would be playable on any of the Web-connected mobile devices.
                               An Apple spokesman, Steve Dowling said the company "buys smaller technology companies all the time, and we generally do not comment on our purpose or plans."
                               The Washington Post reported Lala recently integrated into Google to let people sample free music through its site, Onebox. Also, Lala made a deal with Facebook to allow its users to give songs as a gift.

North Korea Revalues Currency

2009-12-03T18:03:11Z

                            North Korea revalued its currency for the first time in 50 years on Tuesday, restricting the amount of old money for trading it to a new money.
                            The Reuters reported the government lopped two zeroes of the value of its currency, replacing the 1,000-won notes with 10-won notes.
                            The government's action was to break down the black market, which became an important part of the market trading system in the country, reported the New York Times.
                            Nicholas Eberstadt, political economist and North Korea scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington said, "It's another way of limiting, harassing and punishing people who have had the bad political sense to engage in market activity."
                            The sudden revaluation and exchange limits of the new money created chaos among people, leaving most of the old North Korean won worthless,Washington Post reported.
                            According to the Wall Street Journal, the banks and offices were packed with North Koreans, asking for information and trying to exchanges or trade existing North Korean won for euros and U.S. dollars.
                            Marcus Noland, a senior researcher at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington said, "It's basically a way of rewarding your friends and punishing your enemies."

Anti-War Protesters Marched in Minneapolis

2009-12-03T17:42:13Z

                         A group of anti-war protesters marched downtown Minneapolis, criticizing the war in Afghanistan during the rush hour traffic, Wednesday night.
                         About 100 protesters marched down Hennepin Avenue trying to get attention of people, expressing their opposition toward President Barack Obama's decision to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, reported the MN Daily.
                         Protester Kevin Smith said, "We really think Barack Obama has let us down and it's common madness as normal when it comes to politics," Fox News reported.
                         The march started at the Loring Park around 5:30 p.m., continued through downtown for nearly two hours and returned to the park.
                         Minneapolis police arrested 11 war protesters for unlawful assembly Wednesday night, Kare 11 News reported. The protesters said the purpose of the march was to disrupt traffic flow to publicly declare their opposition on increasing the troop size for Afghanistan war.
                         "People are dying for this," one of the arrestee, Bryan Berry said. "We need to open our eyes and say that that's not right."
                          The march was organized by Direct Action to Stop War and Occupation (DASWO), a local anti-war organization.

St. Paul teen charged with killing friend

2009-12-02T02:19:08Z

A 16-year-old St. Paul boy has been charged with second-degree manslaughter for shooting his friend on Thanksgiving day, which killed him.

According to a juvenile petition filed Tuesday in Ramsey County District Court, Cody Isaiah Nelson shot and killed 15-year-old Darion Joseph Smith, of St. Paul, the Pioneer Press reported.

A 19-year-old Daniel T. Cornell, of St. Paul, is also charged in Ramsey County District Court with three counts in relation of Smith's death, Star Tribune reported.

The fatal shooting happened at a house party on Thanksgiving morning, while they were playing Russian roulette game with an unloaded .22-caliber handgun, MPR News reported. According to a criminal complaint, Nelson said he did not know the gun was loaded wen he pulled the trigger.

Nelson was also charged in a separate juvenile petition with two counts of second-degree assault for allegedly firing shots into an occupied home one night earlier.

Smith was a student at St. Paul Central High School.

Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner said in a statement, "This fatal shooting seemed to be the inevitable tragic conclusion of young people handling a gun with wanton disregard for life."

Obama will send 30,000 troops to Afghanistan

2009-12-02T01:24:02Z

U.S. President Barack Obama annouced Tuesday that he will send 30,000 troops to Afghanistan by mid-2010 and withdraw American forces July 2011.

"They will increase our ability to train competent Afghan Security Forces, and to partner with them so that more Afghans can get into the fight," Obama said at the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. "And they will help create the conditions for the United States to transfer responsibility to the Afghans," reported the Wall Street Journal.

People have not expected to receive a firm date for the troop drawdown. Obama and his aids view Iraq war has sapped America's resources for many years.

Furthermore, Obama viewed Al Qaeda terrorism as a cancer in his speech, reported the New York Times. "We are in Afghanistan to prevent a cancer from once again spreading through the country," Obama said.

Obama has always voted against the war: He voted against former President George W. Bush for ordering 2007 troop surge and criticized Afghanistan war during 2008 presidential campaign election.

"I believed it was very important for us to define the mission in a way that speaks to the very real security interests that we have in keeping the pressure on al-Qaeda, but to do so in a way that avoids a nation-building commitment in Afghanistan," Obama said in an interview on Tuesday.

Diversity

2009-11-21T03:56:22Z

Analysis: When Death Visits a Popular Beauty Salon

Often, newsroom sends journalists who are more familiar with that group who can reflect on the coverage. The reporter of this story is assumed to be hispanic based on his name and the story is focused on hispanic group. In this case, journalist of color The story is about the death of popular beauty salon's owner, Joselin Castro.

University of Minnesota graduate student, Dina, who came from Gana said she thinks the reporter does not moves beyond the stereotype. Because the reporter portrays how Castro moved to United States and saying she was a hard worker, it seems it is very stereotypical type of the story. He used attributions from her clients from the past, which are all hispanic. The reporter also used an observation to set the mood of the story. He also used a lot of quotes while he was observing people around the beauty salon. The reporter captured heart-warming scenes of grieving people very well.

Nurse couple honored for saving man's life

2009-11-19T20:32:50Z

                          A St. Paul couple were honored Monday for saving a man's life, receiving Chief's award from St.Paul Police Department.
                          The award is the highest honor given to non-sworn personnel in the department, said spokesman Sgt. Paul Schnell. Ryan and Amy Sportel received an award on Monday for their action, saving man's life on Aug. 27, reported the Star Tribune.
                          While caring for their 11-day-old baby, the couple helped a 60-year-old Terry Bushard, who had a heart attack while he was driving, which led to a car crash last August, reported the Pioneer Press.
                       According to the Star Tribune, Ryan and Amy Sportel, administered CPR to Bushard until paramedics arrived, Star Tribune reported.
                           Ryan Sportel, 34, works as a nurse anesthetist at the Fairview Red Wing Medical Center and Amy Sportel, 31, is a nurse in the intensive care unit at United Hospital in St. Paul.
                           St. Paul police chief John Harrington said, the couple's action was "quite truly was life-saving intervention. If it had not happened, another St. Paulite would have perished that day."

St. Paul Police arrested suspects based on video

2009-11-19T20:08:52Z

                          St. Paul police arrested an adult and a juvenile based on recorded video, which was posted on YouTube about random muggings in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
                          Police watched the viral video of teenage group of boys attacking people on the street on the YouTube, which was removed on Tuesday afternoon. They had enough time to identify the suspects to file a search warrant on Wednesday, reported the CBS News.
                          According to police report, a 19-year-old was booked into Ramsey County jail and a 17-year-old was booked into juvenile detention center on Tuesday on suspicion of assault and robbery, reported the Star Tribune.
                          Minneapolis Police Chief, Tim Dolan said, "I'm hoping these things were staged... they are very concerning."
                          The concerning video presented the real names of the suspects and shows the action of groups taking turns saying, "Watch this," before hitting victims, running away while laughing.
Mohamed Abdi, 19, recorded the assaults with his digital camera, edited and uploaded by his labtop computer, Pioneer Press reported.

Senate Health Bill to Cost $894 billion

2009-11-18T22:50:59Z

The U.S. Senate's health bill will cost $894 billion over 10 years, covering 31 million Americans without insurance, Senate majority leader, Harry Reid said on Wednesday.

The senior Senate Democratic leadership aide said the federal deficit will reduced to $127 billion over the next decade, while making changes to Medicare benefits, New York Times reported.

Reid presented the bill, which meets President Obama's requirement of the bill's cost, with his fellow Democrats at the meeting.

Senate's health bill proposal is broadly similar to the House Bill, but it differs in the tax aspect, such as, high-income people's Medicare payroll tax and high-cost health plans in the business companies.

Since Reid hoped the vote will be held before Thanksgiving break, the first vote could happen in weekend, reported the Associated Press.

According to Washington Post, Reid needs 60 votes in order to continue procedural motion to begin the formal debate. Ben Nelson of Nebraska released a written statement Wednesday saying he won't decide the vote because he needs to review the bill first to know the details.

Obama's China Visit

2009-11-18T01:47:45Z

U.S. President Barack Obama is visiting China to discuss several issues, but China is saying no to most of the topics.

China's President Hu Jintao held news conference and said that China will not change its currency and human rights, reported the New York Times. They agreed to work together on issues involving climate and North Korea.

A China specialist at Cornell University, Eswar S. Prasad said, "China effectively stage-managed President Obama's public appearances, got him to make statements endorsing Chinese positions of political importance to them and effectively squelched discussions of contentious issues such as human rights and China's currency policy."

The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. finalized seven energy-related deals in Beijing, involving greenhouse gas-emissions and energy conservation.

Obama brought up human rights issue involving religion freedom to Hu: "While we recognize that Tibet is part of the People's Republic of China, the United States supports the early resumption of dialogue between the Chinese government and representatives of the Dalai Lama to resolve any concerns and differences that the two sides may have."

According to BBC News, Obama will visit Seoul on Thursday meting South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak.

Water found on moon

2009-11-15T22:03:29Z

Scientists confirmed Friday there is a water on the moon, stating it is not a dead place.

"Indeed yes, we found water," Anthony Colaprete, the principal investigator of NASA said. "And we didn't find just a little bit. We found a significant amount," reported the New York Times.

The discovery of water on the moon is huge because it increases a chance that human can survive and live on the moon.

Anthony Colaprete, the chief scientist for the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite mission said, "The moon is alive," reported the Chicago Tribune.

At Oct. 9, the satellite Lcross crashed into a crater near the Moon's south pole. The 5,600-miles-per-hour impact carved out a 100 feet wide hole and discovered approximately 25 gallons of water in the form of vapor and ice.

The $79 million Lcross mission was created to search for a water in June.

University of California, Berkeley, Dr. Gregory T. Delory said the discovery is "painting a really surprising new picture of the Moon; rather than a dead and unchanging world, it could be in fact a very dynamic and interesting one."

Numbers

2009-11-15T04:30:59Z

Analysis: New CDC estimates show what toll swine flu is taking in U.S.

This article about swine flu uses numbers several ways in the story. The numbers are little overwhelming, because there are numbers in every paragraphs. However, there is really no other way to replace the numbers, because the purpose of the story was written to inform readers about the numbers related to swine flu. But, it would be nicer to include poll data for the story and more use of percent, rather than rough numbers.

For the death and H1N1 infection case, total number and the range of sample were presented. Also, the percent was used in presenting the number of drug usage.

The reporter used math to tell the story more effectively using percent to help understanding. The sources of those numbers came from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, public health agency, and pharmaceutical company. All the sources were listed clear and completly in the story.

Police investigates suspicious death in Minneapolis

2009-11-15T04:18:29Z

Unidentifed man was found dead in Northern Minneapolis today morning, police is investigating the case under the suspicious circumstances.

According to the Pioneer Press, Emergency responders were called to help an unconscious man, but found him dead when they arrived.

The police found the man around 5 a.m. in the 1000 block of Lowry Avenue Northeast, Star Tribune reported.

Kristi Owens, neighbor said, "He was stabbed and they found him in the alley that they may have found the guy, I guess he had cuts all over him."

The cause of death or the identity has not yet been released by the Hennepin County medical examiner's office.

Minneapolis Police confirmed the death was a murder, but they are looking for suspects, reported the 5 Eyewitness News. Sgt. Jesse Garcia said, "Something like this is pretty unique, and I'm sure it surprised all the neighbors."

Obama will send envoy to North Korea

2009-11-15T03:51:13Z

U.S. president Barack Obama will send a senior U.S. diplomat to North Korea for a direct talk before a year ends, officials confirmed on Tuesday.

The administration officials said the visit is aiming to restart the six-nation talks to end North Korea's nuclear program, Washington Post reported.

State Department spokesman P.J Crowley said, "After careful consideration and extensive consultation among our allies and partners, we have told North Korea that we are prepared for Ambassador Bosworth and a small interagency team to visit Pyongyang at an appropriate time not yet determined," reported the AFP.

The ABC News reported Obama administration is planning to start negotiation of its nuclear weapon.

Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton said in October, "We may use some bilateral discussions to help get that process going."

The last six-nation talks was about Pyongyang's nuclear program, joined by U.S., China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and North Korea on December 2008.

Obama will visit South Korea on November 18 on his Asia trip.