Africa's eye on the news

Summary: the AP reports said eight American soldiers, 95 Iraqis including 12 policemen and a journalist were killed in Iraq on Sunday. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18515265/ The story written in an inverted pyramid form began with the most important events moved in a descending order to the less important. All the deaths were caused by roadside bombs AP quoted Iraqis police.

Sunday deaths raised American casualties to at least 3,373 since the war began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press.

There were few opportunities for improvement in this report as the reporter did an excellent job given the environment under which the story was written. I comment the reporter for attributing the facts and other pertinent information in the story to either Iraqis or U.S. military officials.

He must be commended for emphasizing the Iraqis casualty right in the lead and the second paragraph. This brought me to a pause because most stories from by American Journalists often focused heavily on the U.S. losses with few words devoted to hundreds of Iraqis killed every day.

The same story appeared in the Daily Times of Pakistan with a different slant. http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C05%5C07%5Cstory_7-5-2007_pg7_23 The marked different between the two stories was that Daily Times’ account carried quotes by bystanders and a deputy governor of the province hit by the attacks. Thus, daily Times brought in the ordinary humans’ side of the story compare to the often scripted official positions

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Reuters news agency reported that latest efforts by the United States to restart peace talks between the Palestinian Authority and Israel were rejected by Hamas, a militant organization that leads a unity government. Israel also said there were serious problems with the plan. On the other hand palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said he would work for the implementation of the latest plan, clearly showing split between the two main faction leaders
of Hamas and Fatah organizations.

A hard news story, the writer did an excellent job presenting views/quotes from all the three parties involed - Israel, Hamas and the Fatah's officials. Very good job in meeting the principles of fairness and attribution. Read this story at:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUKL06651800._CH_.242020070506

The AP''s account of the same story has some problems. The lead was too wordy and confusing for ordinary readers not familiar with the Israelis Palestinian conflict.
While the lead implied that Hamas has rejected latest plan to pursue peace, the writer did not say anything about this rejection until in the 10th paragraph. Instead, the writer focused on the new threat by hamas to attack Israel with rockets. Eight paragraps were devoted to to this new threat.

Using the hourglass style, the writer had enough opportunity to give readers the immediate event before delving into other important facts or development. That opportunity was missed. A critical reader could also could also see the writer's bias for the Hamas. he same to have contrated on the point that Hamas was responsible for the violence against Isreal without any just cause. That unstated position rendered this AP account not balanced.
The challenges this writer face were: 1} Reporting the news as it a happend in a clear and unbiased way. That is, tell readers about the latest efforts by U.S. to bring peace between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. 2) Report on the new threat issued by the Hamas. Besides, Hamas is only part of the whole when discussing the Israelis-Palestinian crisis.

The AP writer's emphasis on Israel's security same to suggest that the Palestanians search for independent was less important than Israel security. Read it at:
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/05/06/africa/ME-GEN-Israel-Palestinians.php

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This AP story talked about the worse boat distaster to hit Haitian migrants trying to flee their country due to poor living conditions. The story reported that U.S. Coast Guard ended efforts to find 40 missing Haitians after Wednesday disaster in which 36 migrants died after a boat they were on capzised with 160 passengers. The accident happened on the Turks and Caicos Islands. Local authorities on the Turks and Caicos Islands, however, were continuing the search a day after the deadliest maritime disaster to befall Haitian migrants in years.

This was a hard news written in an inverted pyramid style. There were very little room for improvement because the writer did an excellent job. It was balanced, and all attributions and quotes were done in a professional maner.
Read this story at:
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/World/2007/05/06/4157669-sun.html

The same story by Reuters was very confusing and poorly constructed. The lead said; "A sailing boat packed with up to 150 Haitian migrants capsized while it was being towed by a police vessel from the Turks and Caicos on Friday, and the U.S. Coast Guard said 20 people had died while another 58 were missing." This lead suggests that this disaster was a result of police action.

In the second paragraph, the Reuters said the vessel 'flipped oveer," making it to seem that indeed that this accident could be avoided if police had intercepted the boat. To the contrary, the AP story indicated that the boat capzided as a result of strong storm it encountered.

The only useful information Reuters provided readers was the number of migrants the U.S. Coast Guard has rescued so far in 2007: 909. Everything else reported by the Reuters was either inaccurate or confusing. For instance it said 20 died and 58 were missing. AP discounted that.

I think part of the challenge the Reuters reporter faced was sitting in Miami to file a story that occurred hundreds of miles away. It was better not have even attempted. It was a disservice to goog journalism. Read this piece at:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKN0426466620070505

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Summary: This Reuters story looks at the latest efforts by both Democrats and the White House to find a compromise on how the handle the U.S policy in Iraq. It also showed a divide between the Democratic-controlled Congress and President George Bush on Iraq.

At issue, is the president's request for a funding bill without withdrawal time table for American troops in Iraq. Democrats on the other hand agree to fund thw war but with conditions attached.

The story was well balanced with quotes by President Bush and Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY).

The challenge/opportunities the writer face wass to steer clear of infusing opinion disguised as interpretative analysis. Clearly the basic thing for reporter was to report the facts and leave the readers that job. I think that
paragraps two, six and seven were opinions since readers were not told where these comments came from. Information contained in these paragraphs were not attributed to any one, polls or institutions. Without them the story will still strong. You can read this story at:

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/WireStory?id=3143709&page=2

The same story by AP appeared in the Boston Globe.
The lead was great and quite to the point, compared to the Reuters version in the ABC. Also this story was without comments and carried a great sense of what is news.

While the Reuters story focused on a search for compromise and difficulties face by both parties in getting funds for the troops the AP story focused the president latest call for a prompt bill.
AP story was also great at giving each side a fair chance to make its position known.

The writer could have pressed Bush and Schumer if they would be willing to compromise. That would have made more news instead of basically telling readers what they already know. Read this story.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/05/05/bush_urges_prompt_war_funding_bill/

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For centuries the tradional mission of journalists has been to inform, educate and entertain. This mission has changed or expanded over the years as technology has taken journalists to a completely new age. Information technology. Journalists have increasingly made government officials to be accountable and responsible to their citizens. But this role varies from developed ton developing societies.

For journalists in the developing world continue to face myriad of difficulties some these challenges. Lack of better training institutions, lack of technology and democratic governmenst are some of the huge difficulties these third world journalists are face with.

But globalization and by convergence of information tecnology has provided hope. Today, cell phone, internet are can be found in the remotest part of the world where users in those parts of the globe can get in touch with people and read what events took place in the U>S, Britain, France Japan etc.

This brings me to my role as journalist from a developing country. I have a responsibility tell story. This story has been told already by many outsiders. The story of Africa has been told but in a way the storytellers chose. This story is largely onesided.
Often, stories from my continent only addressed what happened. The how and why components are left uutouched. For instance, in the United States, the image of Africa is one of decease, violence, corruption and civil wars. Western journalists barely take time to go beyond the events to understand the causes or origins of these problems.

The point is, while it is true that parts of Africa experience these problems, the Western media establishments have completely ignored the good side of Africa.

I believe that with proper training and understanding the mentality of the West, one can make a meaningful contribution to reshape Africa's image. This will be my journalist mission.

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Summary: This story appeared in the New York Times in which presidential contender Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) proposed a bill to reverse the war authority granted the president ito invade Iraq. The proposal came days after President Bush vitoed a $124 billion emergency spending bill for troops in Iraq that linked the funds to a time table for withdrawal.

The story, was unsually long but was written in a way that makes readers to read it to the end. The writer, in a very professional and clever way presented views from Democrats and Republicans. Hourglass style was effectively used.
opportunities: The story did make it clear whether or not President could vitoe the proposed legislation if it passed the Democrat-controlled Congress.A comment from President Bush could have gone a long way in balancing the story. Read it at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/04/washington/04cong.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1178308971-YyUaHjkkR98DHk8VNYkvKQ

The same story was found in The California Majority Report but in the form a statement. This version offered a shorter narrative and readers the chance to read what exactly Sen. Clinton said. Read it at the url below:

http://www.camajorityreport.com/index.php?module=articles&func=display&aid=1819&ptid=9

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The Business Journal of Phoenix carried a story about a political ad on the MoveOn.org, a liberal grassroot and anti-war organization. The group has been critical of Iraq war and now has been enraged by Sen. John McCain's joke about bombing Iran to stop that country from producing nuclear weapons. McCain made the joke during a campaign stop-over in South Carolina on Wednesday. He was asked how the U.S. should deal with Iran, its alleged nuclear weapons program, its alleged support for insurgents in Iraq and threats against Israel.

In the second paragraph that writer implied that there were evidence that Iran was supporting the iraqis insurgents. The writer also implied that there were evidence of Iran's eminent threat to Israel. The story also inferred that Iran has admitted to nuclear programs for military purposes. The writer failed to tell readers that Iran has denied supporting the insurgeny in Iraq. the story should have mentioned that iran its nuclear programs were for civilian use only. On this note, the story was not balance.

Other opportunitie: McCain responded that by sayint or simply McCain said ... instead of McCain fired back (we know he is an old soldier but he was not on the battle front. He said would have still served the purpose. Also, being on the extreme left. What does that mean for ordinary readers? Read it at...

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2007/04/16/daily47.html

The same story in the Washington Washington Post was handled with much professionalism - providing better analysis and more facts about the ad. The AP reporter told readers have much the MoveOn.org would to air the ad, it reported the number of hits the had received and more importantly, a youtube link to the ad was provided at the end of the story. The writer should have used has launched instead of "is launching."

"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/20/AR2007042000759.html"

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United States Resettlement Program and the Green Card visa Lottery have helped hundreds of thousands of people from developing countries to settled here permanently. But there is growing debate among leaders of developing countries whether or not these programs are not a brain drain on the developing world especially Africa. This interpretive story will wegh in on the debate by looking at the demographics of resettle immigrants in the United States, where they work, and who benefit. To do this, three experts from three top American research instituions will be interviewed. What can be done to stop this labor migration to the developed world especially the United States? Who really is benefiting - America or the the developing countriest?.

Elizabeth Ferris
Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Studies
Co-Director, The Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement
communications@brookings.edu
Tel 202 797 6052

William Easterly
Faculty
Economics, Faculty of Arts & Science
Tel: (212) 992-8684
Fax: (212) 995-4186
william.easterly@nyu.edu

Dr. DanielnByman is the Director of Georgetown's Security Studies Program and the Center for Peace and Security Studies as well as an Associate Professor in the School of Foreign Service.
dlb32@georgetown.edu
202 687 4095

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Getting your hand on public record can be both tiring, time consuming and expensive. That was my experience for journalism 3101 assignment for this week.The assignment required a contact with either a police station, local city council, state or federal government or some agency.
I googled "Minneapolis Police." When I called 612 673 2808, I was told to go to 350 South 5th street, Room 31 Criminal History.There, I will read through the daily reports and select the two crime-incident reports I needed. "Yoy pay 25 cents a page," the receptionist said. I hung up and drove there. After circling around for 30 minutes looking for parking place without luck, I found a parking spot near the Library between Hennepin and 3rd Street South. I put $1.50 in the meter and walked over to the 350 South 5th Street address.

In the basement of 350 South 5th Street, I walked in Room 31. I was not happy with what I found and could not found. I need any crime-incident report that dealing with homeless people. From the first few pages I had read, it seemed unlikely there was any such report. I asked if there were cases or incidents of homeless people been arrested for any reason. "I really don't know, " came the answer. But who would know? I asked. Again he told me he was there only to retrieve reports that requested. Things were not going the way I expected and I needed to get back for Lab.
I selected two burglary entries. I walked out holding a three-page report for two crimes not really related to what I wanted. Besides, there was nothing extraordinary about the reports that I carryied. No arrest was made in either case but a car was impounded. I would try the second option.

I checked the Brooklyn Park City Council web page and found the complete aganda packets. Though it was not really What I needed, this information was newsworthy and somehow related to the feature I want to work on. The 79-page document discusses the decline in property values in the Brooklyn Park area. Many property owners in the area are not happy with the 2.2 percent growth for the properties for the 2007 assessment.
The report, compiled by the City Assessor, will be discussed by the Brooklyn Park City Council on April 16, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. I spent $7.90 forfull report.
I do not think the process of retrieving public information will be easily understood by average citizens. I don't think many people care about the either.

Minneapolis Police Department (Criminal History)

http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/police/crime-reporting/

Tel: 612 673 2808

Brooklyn Park City Councy (Assessing)

Tel: 763 493 8173

http://www.brooklynpark.org/

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Stephanie Dickrell's analysis about the news story in Somalia was an excellent piece of work by a student. Her ability to focus on the what is important and therefore news worthy is commendable.

I found her analysis particularly informative when the pointed out what U. S media thinks is news worthy. In this case the arrival of an American official in Somalia. Of course the number of dead in the six days street fighting between the U S-back interim government forces and the Ethiopian troops was presented with less enthusiasm. Excellent job, Stephanie.

But Stephanie did not say whether or not there were opportinities to improve the stories.The phrase "Called off" in the AP's account for example, meant "cancelled."

Als,o an important observation was left out. That is, both versions did not mention the fact that the U. S assisant secretary of state for African affairs Jendayi Frazer had no contact with the islamists. More than 1,000 people have so far been killed in Somalia since fighting began early this month.

I would have emphasized United States possible involvement with possble war crimes given its support for the interim government and the Ethiopian troops with the information from the EU. I think that the warning by the European envoy of possble war crimes been committed in recent fighting was down played by Wsetern media establishments. Did it prompt the U.S. visit?

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Melinda Feucht's comments on the Eritria government's ban on female circumcision were emotionally charged. She left out important weaknesses about the two versions by AP and Reuters. The AP writer used the the words "abolished" and "describing" in the lead. This is inconsistency. Part of the lead could have read: The government of Eritria has abolished ... which it described...

Melinda Feucht's first sentence for the AP stroy read: "This story writes the sentence I previously stumbled over, in PRESENT tense." This story writes (?). Only Humans write, not abstract things. "previously stumbled over" should be "I read earlier."

Would she have written that that the practice is "inhumane," and yet said it was the culture of the people. journalist must state the facts and leave the rest to the readers. Why did she used the big word Marriageability? Make it simple for the avarage readers. It would interest my classmate to know that the practice of female circumcision originated from the West in the 17th century. It is part of the legacy of colonialism in Africa. Women Studies professors would bear me out or visit http://www.historyofcircumcision.net/

I commend her for catching the difference between 140 and 130 million cited the in the two versions. The trouble is we do not know who was right.

A Big plus for the blog is that it is well organized especially in making the links to stories. I need to learn how she does it.

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This Reuters's news story is about the continuing profit losses in the subprime mortgage industries. Subprime mortgages are home loans given to customers with bad credit and partialy disclosed income statements. The result is that borrowers are charged with prohibitive interest rates compare with their counterparts who get low interest rate because they have excellent credit credit. These prohibitive interests, in recent months caused many homes to be foreclosed by lenders due to non-payments.

The story was focused on American Home, the latest financial institution to losses. There were opportunities for attribution in the third and fourth paragraph when he said that home loans to borrowers with poor credit histories may be spreading to higher-quality loans; he needed to mention the source when he said that American Home specializes in prime and near-prime loans and makes roughly 2.5 percent of all U.S. mortgages.

The first quote in this suggested that the writer did not talked to the soure. Was this an email interview? clarity was compromised here. There was no quotes from those impacted. It waould have been good to hear from subprime mortgage borrowers. On the plus side, the story was well researched with appropriate links attached for further information for those interested in the current trends in the housing markts. read it at:

http://investing.reuters.co.uk/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=tnBusinessNews&storyID=2007-04-09

The same story in the online Forbes magazine was much harder to understand. Clearly it was directed at a much more sophiscated audience.

The first problem with version is the found in the lead. The word "securitized" could be subtituted for a much simpler word. in the second paragraph another tumbled could simply be replaced for fell. "Analyst polled", "secondary securitization," where some the words and phrases that could make ordinary reader stop.

Like the first version, there was no input from the affected audience or its leadership. In this sense, the principles of fairness and balanced reporting were ignored. Read the Forbes article at:

http://www.forbes.com/markets/2007/04/09/ahm-alta-guidance-markets-equity-cx_af_0409markets04.html

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Last November Democrats took control of both chambers of Congress with four new members from Minnesota, including Keith Allison, the first black and muslim from Minnesota elected to that position. As part of the majority bloc the new members were given key committee assignments. This story will focus on how these congressmen and congresswomen doing in their lesgislative assignments? Are they working for the state (districts) or their parties? What can be learned from their current performances in relation to their reelection bids in the 2008 presidential and congresiional elections/

Ken Rudin, Political Editor
National Public Radio
202 513 2000

Professor Kathryn Pearson, Congressional Politics and Institutions
University of Minnesota
kpearson@umn.edu
Tel: 612 626 2777

Professor Timothy Johnson, Judicial Politics
University of Minnesota
trj@umn.edu
Tel: 612 625 2907

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A man came home late from work, met his wife having sex in the lover's truck in the driveway. Upon seen the her husband appraoch she allegedly cried rape. The husband who carried a gun shot the man. A Texas jury found the woman guilty but not the shooter.

This is Associated Press story in Electric News. The lead is the clearest and simplest I have read yet. It said, "YOU caused your lover's death by yelling rape when your husband caught you." The jury's decision in this case leaves a big question: Was justice served? If law is all about precedent, then this one is questionable to say the least. An interesting piece.

The story fits a perfect example of a human interest story. It can generate interest in any human society. Attributions, quotes, and other AP styles were applied approriately. An excellent journalistic here.

http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,126361,00.html

Same story appeared in the Digital Journal. But this reporter compromised the principles of attribution, quotation and fairness. The reporter got involved in story. For example: "Tracy Roberson didn't want her husband to know about this affair, lied to Darrell that she was being raped. The husband got angry with LaSalle fired four shots as he was trying to escape but it was late, one bullet struck LaSalle in the head and died."

Where did this information come from. The Court? Was it Tracy's confession? If the reporter Roberson "got angry" and shot the man, the implication is he knew what he was doing or that he did it on purpose. He was "provoked" was another opinion. Who said he was provoked?

This sound like a drama the reporter enjoyed and was therefore giving his opninion instead of reporting the fact as it was expected of him. Good story but unprofessional work, in my opinion.

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Millions of homeoners across the United States are in deep worries. Adding to these worries, New Century Financial Corporation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the biggest collapse of a mortgage lender in the U.S. housing downturn. The company also fired 3,200 employees.

USA Today said the growing trouble in the subprime mortgage industry poses many uncertainties nationwide, especially for the financial industry. For example, shares of many subprime lenders have plummeted including NovaStar Financial, a leading subprime lender. Its shares have plummeted more than 42% to $10.10 after it announced a fourth-quarter loss of $14.4 million, USA Today has reported.

This news feature will look at the negative impact the housing downturn is likely to have on Minnesota's economy and housing market. The story will look especially at the impact on low income families and what could be done to prevent foreclosures. How is the impact in Minnesota compare with other states?

Dexter Sidney, Field Officer (Minnesota)
U S Department of Housing and Urban Development
Tel: (612) 370-3000

Professor Ed Goetz, Director of the Urban and Regional Planning Program, and Housing Research Fellow at CURA Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.
Tel: 612-624-5003
egoetz@umn.edu.

Jacqueline King - Assistant Vice President and Community Affairs Officer
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
Tel: 612 204 5470

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