January 2010 Archives

"Italian magistrates have walked out of courts across the country in protest against changes to the legal system proposed by Silvio Berlusconi, the prime minister, and the language he has used to describe members of the legal profession."

Al-Jazeera

I will begin with the article's title: "Italian judicary stages walkout." This article was likely translated from Arabic to English for wider distribution on Al-Jazeera's English website. One issue that arises from translating is the occasional misspelling. Unfortunately, this one happens to be right in the title with the word "judicary" which should be spelled "judiciary."

As for the lead:

The lead takes a hard news approach but fails at grabbing attention as well as it could. There are a few words I would have left out like "have," "the prime minister," and "has." Also, "members of the legal profession" seems cumbersome.

This lead appeals to prominence and conflict news values. It is clear the Italian magistrates are upset since they staged a walkout but the motivation behind it was a man of prominence, the prime minister of Italy. This protest also gives rise to a conflict that would be of interest to Italians. If this lead were used by Italian news organizations it would also pull a proximity appeal to its readers.

The lead cites "changes to the legal system" as the reason for the walkout but further into the article the reader discovers there is more to the story. The prime minister had been trying to make it illegal for him to be tried while in office so he could avoid fraud related charges that could have added more trials to his history.

An important detail in this lead is that it the walkout involved magistrates from all over the country, which carries a lot more impact. If only the magistrates from Sicily walked out there might not have been as big of an article written for the news.

It seems as though the reporter chose to go from a very neutral standpoint on this news item, which reads in the lead's language. The lead does not come off as accusatory toward the prime minister, which is a sign of a good reporter who does not impart his personal views into his or her work.

Ten Americans face charges of child trafficking in Haiti.
CNN, Wall Street Journal

A group of five men and five women claim they had good intentions in attempting to move ten Haitian children to the Dominican Republic after the Januray 12 earthquake. The church group from Idaho had intentions of constructing a 45 room orphanage for children without homes.

The group released a statement online saying they were "falsely arrested," and that they are doing everything they can "to clear up the misunderstanding that has occurred in Port-au-Prince

According to CNN's report, group member Clara Thompson says the group is finding strength in God while awaiting more news after the charges, saying, "We have our bibles and we are OK."

The Wall Street Journal reported the church group was attempting to take more than thirty children from these orphanage without any documentation to legitimize their actions.

However, the group claims they had "all the paperwork they thought they needed" but failed to have on hand "one of the pieces of paper they apparently needed, and next thing they knew they were being arrested," assistant pastor Mr. Ham said in a statement.

The group is currently detained at the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, according to the Wall Street Journal.

A policeman died Friday in a snowmobile accident in Alexandria, Dakota County's police department said.
WCCO, KMSP

According to WCCO, Patrick Callaghan was found by respondents on the scene at 8:10 p.m. Callaghan was injured along with another man, Mark Ruder, who is in serious condition at Hennepin County Medical Center.

Ruder is in training to become a police officer in Alexandria.

WCCO also reported that both men were wearing helmets at the time of the accident. Minnesota State Patrol is looking into the incident to see if alcohol or reckless driving were contributing factors. Douglas County Sheriff's Office is also investigating the incident.

According to FOX 9, Callaghan comes from a family full of police officers. He is an Alexandria native where his great grandmother was the city's first female officer.

Alexandria lieutenant commented on the accident, saying, "It's quite a somber atmosphere today... Everybody that works in this area knew Pat, worked directly with him or indirectly, even the ambulance person that responded last night. We're all acquainted in one way or another."

Police say a young man was stabbed to death early Saturday morning. One juvenile male is in custody, Saint Paul police say.
WCCO, KSTP

Darius Maxwell suffered multiple stab wounds on the intersection of Maryland Avenue and Weide Street after his girlfriend's ex-boyfriend broke into her house and confronted Maxwell. The victim was able to leave the house after being stabbed and was found by police after they responded to a 12:07 a.m. call about the break-in.

Maxwell's girlfriend had a restraining order filed against the perpetrator, 19-year-old Phillip Elphage, which was served to him in December of last year.

Formal charges will be open for consideration Monday.

Lightning strike grounds Fla.-bound plane in Ala.
Washington Post, USA Today

U.S. Airways announced Saturday that a airliner headed to Florida was struck by lightning mid-flight and has re-routed its 73 passengers to Alabama. The plane landed safely in Montgomery Friday evening.

All passengers were provided with hotel accommodations for the night.

U.S. Airways spokeswoman Liz Landau said the flight departed from Charlotte, N.C. A majority of passengers took the airline up on its three-hour limosuine ride offer to the Pensacola, the flight's destination. Others chose to wait for another flight.

Spokeswoman Landau also said the plane will be taken to Pittsburgh for inspection. No injuries were reported in the incident.

Italian judicary stages walkout
Al-Jazeera, NewsDaily

Law officials in Italy walked out of sessions Friday in protest against alterations the country's prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, made to their legal system.

The protest left trials to move "slower than those in Gabon," according to Italy's chief justice of the supreme court.

National Magistrates Association union leader Gioacchino Natoli said Saturday that part of the protest arose from a "string of insults" that came from Berlusconi. Magistrates were described with the words "execution squad, sewer, cancer, metastasis" and "communists" by Berlusconi, which has "incensed" the magistrates to the point of walking out all over the country.

Italian magistrates are particularly upset by a recent bill that would cut down the maximum time a trial in Italy can last, which would in effect put an end to two trials the prime minister is facing on charges of corruption and tax fraud.

Berlusconi's immunity from being tried while in office is no longer active as of last October as it was seen as a constitutional violation

73-year-old Berlusconi has been tried 109 times and has yet to be convicted of any charges.

*Please note: 'Judicary' was incorrectly spelled in the headline from Al-Jazeera. The headline should read 'Italian judiciary stages walkout.'