February 2012 Archives

In a CNN.com story about the death of journalist Marie Colvin, they supplement the article with two videos that are located in the middle of the text. The first video is a discussion between experts on the significance of what Colvin was doing in Syria in terms of reporting on deaths of civilians. They draw comparisons to the 1994 Bosnian civil war and attempt to project what will happen in Syria in the near future and whether or not it will be different than Sarajevo. The video overall is a very strong video that captures the true issues of the violence in Syria so that readers understand what is going on there.

The second video that CNN.com shows in the article is one that remembers Colvin, including reports that she gave about both Syria and Libya. She discusses with Anderson Cooper how this war in Syria is the worst she has worked in due to the fact that there is no where for her to escape to, as the government has the entire perimeter of the city.

The two videos are vital to giving the whole story because they provide images of the war that would not be replicated in a general article. The videos showed where exactly she was living and the ruins that were left after the shelling, giving the viewers a sense of the realness of war. The writing in the remembrance of Colvin was more storytelling than hard news. It was chronological in terms of the wars she has covered and the reports she gave in Syria, as opposed to necessarily the most important information first.

In the other video it was simply discussion between a host and two experts, so there was little if any script besides the questions the host was asking. It was effective because CNN used two very different viewpoints, a British female reporter and a Middle Eastern male reporter. It was useful that they gave their opinions on what we should expect to happen in the near future. We have enough information from reports that Colvin and other journalists did that it is now up to the world to decide what to do about it.

The Pakistani Government tore down the three-story building where al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed Sunday, according to the Washington Post.

Journalists and spectators were kept away from the area as trucks and other machinery destroyed the building, according to an Associated Press reporter.

The Pakistani Government has not released why the building was torn down, although there were concerns over it becoming a shrine for the late al-Qaeda leader.

U.S.-Pakistan relations have been weak since U.S. Navy Seals infiltrated and killed bin Laden last May. Pakistan officials said they were not informed an attack was taking place, and expressed anger because of it.

U.S. officials said the reason the attack was kept a secret was because there were concerns over members of the Pakistani Government releasing the information. U.S. military and civilian funding to Pakistan has since been decreased by billions of dollars, according to CNN.com.

Residents of the area said a large number of Pakistani troops and police officers have been surrounding the site since the work began, along with at least five construction cranes, according to ABC News Australia.

Minnesota's Washington County has listed about 10,000 acres that it wants to keep from development, according to the Star Tribune.

It is planning on using some of the $20 million voters approved in 2006 to be used to conserve land and water. The land that is to be protected equals about 3% of the county's total land area, according to the Star Tribune.

Some of the agreements the county has already made have involved six projects that related to land acquisition or conservation easements with owners. In these scenarios private ownership is still possible, but the land must remain in its natural state, according to the Star Tribune.

Jane Harper, the county's principal planner for the Land and Water Legacy projects, said none of the proposals have gone to public hearing because they need to be more specific. She also said Washington County commissioners will need to provide direction in order to approve the list of locations for improvement, according to the Star Tribune.

Two American officers working in the Afghan interior ministry were killed Saturday, according to CNN.com.

The officers, one a major and the other a colonel, were found dead in their office with wounds to the head, and officials say it is not clear why they were killed, according to CNN.com.

The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the killings in response to a recent burning of Qurans at a U.S. base.

American officials said the books were burned because they had extremist instructions written in them, however President Barack Obama has since apologized for the incident. Demonstrations throughout the week have followed and left 25 dead across the country, according to the Washington Post.

The shooter escaped the building and is still at large, as Gen. John Allen ordered all military advisers with the International Security Assistance Force to withdraw from the Afghan capital in response to the deaths An investigation of the attack is ongoing, according to the Washington Post.

The Red Cross failed to achieve an agreement between the Syrian Government and opposition Saturday that would have stopped the fighting to allow for injured citizens to be evacuated, according to CNN.com.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has asked the two sides to stop fighting for two hours each day to bring aid to those in Homs and other cities.

They succeeded in evacuating 27 wounded people from the Homs neighborhood of Baba Amr Friday, however there was no agreement made on Saturday, according to the Star-Telegram.

Two foreign journalists are among those injured in the city by a rocket attack. Those still in the city face issues like food and water shortages, a lack of medical supplies, and almost constant shelling, according to CNN.com.

100 people were killed across Syria on Saturday, with 47 in the city of Homs alone.

President Bashar al-Assad said the Syrian Government will create a reform initiative on Sunday, however Syrian civilians are saying they are being forced to vote in this referendum, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said.

Almost 70 countries from across the world are planning on increasing political and economic pressure on Syria, with the hopes of forcing al-Assad to step down as president.

Danica Patrick's quest for a first Nationwide Series race win ended early Saturday at Daytona when teammate Cole Whitt rear-ended her, according to ESPN.com.

Patrick, 29, won the pole position for Saturday's race, making her the first woman since 1994 to do so. She spent much of the first part of the race near the front of the pack, until Whitt hit her from behind in lap 50.

Patrick showed her frustration in an interview after the race. "I don't think it's ever great when teammates come together," Patrick said. "So we'll have to figure out what happened and move forward."

Whitt said he did not hit her on purpose, instead that it is sometimes the nature of the track.

"I got to her back bumper at the wrong spot at the wrong time, you know? So that's about it."

Patrick came back into the race after extensive repairs and finished in 38th place.

James Buescher, driver of the No. 30 FOE Chevrolet won the race after avoiding a final-lap wreck that took out 11 cars, according to WGN Radio.

In a section of the article "CNN reports from inside Syria," the information is very basic because it is being constantly updated and created into separate articles, depending on the specific topics. The information I will focus on is the part about the 10 people that died in Homs on Sunday. The only information it gives is that they were among 23 total people that died across Syria Sunday and they said almost 9,000 have died in 11 months. Because a follow up article was written, they inserted a hyperlink to an article released later Sunday describing in detail what is going on in Homs.

The difference in the two leads is that in the breaking news story, there is strictly information on what happened. In contrast, the follow-up article provides some color, stating "Homs is such an incessantly bleeding wound that Syrians speak of it now as though it were a norm." This would have been ineffective in a breaking news story, because it skirts around the facts.

The second article contains a few paragraphs of the first, including the statistics and who was killed. It adds, however, the work that doctors are doing and what they are unable to do because of arrests and killings.

Competing news organizations like the New York Times have concentrated on other parts of the Syrian events, like how Senator McCain wants the U.S. to arm the rebels. At least three other major news organizations don't even have the story about Homs on their front pages or easily accessible. This means that CNN has control over that lead, mainly due to the fact that they have a person on the ground in Homs.

Because CNN is the only one reporting from Homs, there is a possibility that all of the news is not being found. The benefit of having different articles about the same story is that most or all of the information is given to you, however in this case it is only coming from one source. It forces the reader to believe it in its entirety and only pass on information from one source.

The Minnesota Golden Gophers lost their third straight conference game Saturday in a 64-53 loss to the Northwestern Wildcats, according to gophersports.com.

The Gophers (17-10, 5-9 Big Ten), struggled to hang on to the ball, as they had 21 turnovers in the game. Junior Rodney Williams had four of their turnovers.

Junior Julian Welch scored a season high 21 points as he made five three-pointers in 34 minutes.

The Gophers trailed 36-28 at the half, and the Wildcats went on an 8-3 run to start the second half, according to gophersports.com.

Minnesota responded with a 9-2 run of their own in response to cut the lead to 47-40.

The Gophers scored only three points in the final 7:22 of the game.

Wildcat forward John Shurna set a school record for most career points, as he scored 18 points to give him 1,902 for his career.

A man detonated a suicide car bomb outside of a Baghdad police academy Sunday as recruits were leaving the building, police said.

The bomb exploded as a group of police recruits were leaving the academy, wounding at least 21 others, reports said.

No one has claimed responsibility, but officials believe it is al Qaeda related, according to CNN.com.

The bomber waited for the group to leave the premises and enter the street, in which he drove his car next to them before it exploded.

Academy officials said the recruits had just finished a two-week training program.

In a separate incident, four people were gunned down at a house north of Baghdad in the Diyala province.

The victims were mainly ex-al Qaeda soldiers who have become targets for attacks recently. The United States has supported these Sunni Arab fighters who are helping to reduce violence in the region.

Two Iranian warships entered the Mediterranean Sea Saturday, entering through the Suez Canal in Egypt, reports said.

It was only the second time Iranian ships have done so since 1979 during the Islamic Revolution, according to CNN.com.

The destination for the two ships has not been made clear, however Rear Adm. Habibollah Sayyari said the ships carry a message of peace and friendship.

He also said Iran is showing its "might" to countries like Israel and other Middle Eastern nations, according to The Telegraph.

There has been speculation of a possible pre-emptive Israeli attack on Iran due to reports of an Iranian nuclear weapon program. Talks between Iran and Western nations about nuclear weapons could continue, as Iran offered to do so.

Western nations are still determining the sincerity of the offer, according to CNN.com.

New Jersey governor Chris Christie vetoed a same-sex marriage bill Friday, saying the issue should be settled by voters, according to CNN.com.

Legislators passed the bill on Thursday, but Christie's veto means they will have until January 2014 to get a two-thirds majority in both houses to officially pass the law.

Christie, a Republican, said the issue "should not be decided by 121 people in the statehouse in Trenton."

Senate president Steve Sweeney said, "He had a chance to do the right thing, and failed miserably," according to the Guardian.

The bill states that gay marriage is a civil right, while opponents say the definition of marriage should be between a man and woman.

Currently, 52 percent of New Jersey's citizens would support a gay marriage bill, while 42 percent would oppose it.

New Jersey and five other states currently allow civil unions.

Technology analyst John Kinnucan was arrested Friday and is facing charges related to insider trading after he made $110 million in illegal business deals, according to CNN.com.

Kinnucan, 54, is under investigation for befriending insiders at corporations like Apple and Dell for information that he then sold to portfolio managers and analysts.

Kinnucan was arrested in his home in Oregon, but will be moved to New York, according to the U.S. Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York.

According to businessweek.com, he is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and two counts of securities fraud in the complaint unsealed today in federal court in New York.

According to Kinnucan, in October of 2010 the FBI asked him to wear a wire in an insider-trading investigation, and he shut down the Broadband Research Corp. shortly after.

In the article "Amid clashes, Greek Parliament approves austerity measures, the CNN wire staff began by explaining the reasons for the protesting by saying,

"Lawmakers in Greece voted early Monday to approve another round of austerity measures, sought in return for a new eurozone bailout of the debt-stricken country, while protests raged in the streets."

This allowed those who did not know the context in which the article was written to understand why they are protesting. I think this is appropriate but i think the most important fact was that 70 people were injured in a protest, which isn't written until the third paragraph.

From there they move on to go back and forth, describing Greece's debt and what the plan is to pay back loans and debt. They do an effective job of quoting stakeholders, including the Greek Prime Minister. he discusses the consequences of not passing the bill, which I think is important to readers.

One source they did not consult, however, was the people protesting. I'm not sure how they can have an effective story without talking with those who played a vital part in the event. I would have asked at least one or two protesters what they saw during the protests and why they were fighting in the first place. They described through a CNN associate the background of the protest but it doesn't have the same effect as a direct quote would have.

Another interesting angle would have been a few paragraphs about what the United States is doing in regards to the situation, if anything. Even though it is a European story it has effects across the globe.

Overall I think the structure makes sense and provides sufficient information, but I would have added the few aforementioned items that would have added some depth and important perspectives that were left out.

Twenty-five protesters and 40 police officers were injured in Athens, Greece Monday when several buildings were set ablaze, according to CNN.com.

Citizens are protesting about a new plan that will cut government spending, wages, and pensions in hopes of achieving a €130 billion ($172.6 billion) bailout deal from eurozone finance ministers.

Thousands showed up in the square outside Athens' national assembly building, facing off against 6,000 police officers, according to the Guardian.

Prime Minister Lucas Papademos said failing to support the bill would result in bankruptcy.

"It would create conditions of uncontrolled economic chaos and social explosion," Papademos said.

Greece is planning on reducing its debts from 160 percent of gross domestic product to 120 percent by 2020, according to CNN.com.

Germany has put pressure on Greece recently, saying they need to make deeper cuts than those presented in the bill.

German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble said, "The promises from Greece aren't enough for us any more."

"Greece needs to do its own homework to become competitive - whether that happens in conjunction with a new rescue programme or by another route that we actually don't want to take."

The Minnesota Gophers men's basketball team fell 68-61 Thursday to the Wisconsin Badgers in overtime despite a strong defensive performance in the second half.

The Gophers (17-8, 5-7 Big Ten) didn't allow a point for the last 7 minutes of regulation, and it allowed them to force overtime after being down by as much as 13, according to ESPN.com.

The Badgers (19-6, 8-4 Big Ten) shot only 36 percent from the field, but made 15 free throws in overtime to seal the victory. Coach Bo Ryan said, "Our guys didn't let that bother them down at the defensive end. They didn't get out of what we were doing."

Badgers guard Jordan Taylor scored 27 points, making five 3-pointers and six free throws to lead his team to their fifth road win of the season.

"We did a good job of sticking together and finding a way to claw one out," Taylor said.

The Gophers will face another tough home test Tuesday, as Big Ten leader Ohio St. will visit Williams Arena. They haven't defeated the Buckeyes since Jan. 3 of 2009.

The Badgers will have a week off before traveling to Michigan St. to avenge a 63-60 loss to the Spartans in January.

Mitt Romney received a boost to his campaign Saturday with victories in Maine and in a conservative straw poll, CNN.com said.

The straw poll, which was conducted through the Conservative Political Action Confrerence, voted 38 percent in favor of Romney. Rick Santorum received 31 percent with Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul finishing far behind.

Maine narrowly voted in favor of Romney over Paul in a contest in which fewer than 6,000 voters participated, according to CNN.com. According to the Washington Post, Romney won 39 percent of the votes, and Paul won 36 percent.

It was an important win for Romney, as he lost to Santorum in Missouri, Minnesota, and Colorado on Tuesday.

Upcoming primaries include Arizona and Michigan on Feb. 28, with 10 states voting on Super Tuesday March 6.

Romney has faced questions recently regarding his statement saying he is a "severely conservative Republican."

According to CNN.com, radio host Rush Limbaugh called the line a "pander."
"I have never heard anybody say, 'I'm severely conservative,'" Limbaugh said on his show. "I've never heard anybody say it."

Violence between the Syrian government and its people continued Saturday, killing at least six including a Syrian general, officials said.

Shelling has been non-stop for seven days in the city of Homs, with the Syrian Army using tanks and soldiers in the assault, according to CNN.com.

Five men in the province of Daraa were killed by an tank near Al Musefra, LCC activist Abu Oudai said. CNN.com said Daraa is where the violence began last March.

Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri voiced his support for the rebel cause in a video he released, according to BBC News.

"If we want freedom, we must be liberated from this regime. If we want justice, we must retaliate against this regime," he said.

According to BBC News, al-Qaeda has been connected to the Syrian violence through potential suicide bombs that killed 44 people in December. The Syrian government blamed al-Qaeda, while the Free Syrian Army said it was the government's doing.

A draft resolution created last week by the U.N. Security Council that would end the violence and force President Bashar al-Assad to step down was vetoed by Russian and China, who are both trade allies with Syria.

In another effort to stop the violence, Saudi Arabia created a document similar to the Security Council's and will be submitted to the U.N. General Assembly, according to CNN.com.

Washington legislators passed a bill that legalizes same-sex marriage Wednesday, making it the seventh state to do so, officials said.

The law was passed after a 55-43 vote that included two Republicans that supported the bill, according to CBS.com.
The law will go into effect in June, unless the opposition is able to put it on the November 2012 ballot.

Gov. Chris Gregoire is expected to sign the bill next week, saying it is "a major step toward completing a long and important journey to end discrimination based on sexual orientation."

Some Republicans argued the bill goes against the tradition of marriage, according to CBS.

Rep. Jay Rodne said, "It contravenes human nature and it will hurt families and children."

According to CNN.com, The National Organization for Marriage is seeking to have the voters vote on it as a referendum in November. In order to do so, they will need 120,577 signatures.

According to a University of Washington poll, 55 percent of Washington respondents said they would vote to uphold the law.

Once Gov. Gregoire signs the bill, couples will need to wait 90 days for the law to go into effect.

In the article titled "Car bomb kills 7 people in southern Afghan city" by the USA Today, they use attributions in many different ways. There are a total of nine attributions in the story, with sources including officials, police spokesmen, the U.N., and a Taliban spokesman. In this article the sources are the main part of the story because it starts with a report from Afghanistan stating what happened, then it covers reactions from both the police and the Taliban. The sources that were named were: Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid, the commander of U.S./Nato forces in Afghanistan General John Allen, and deputy police chief Sayed Jahangir. The journalist in this article does a nice job of presenting both sides because when discussing the facts of the number of citizen deaths in 2011 it notes that the Taliban do not agree with the numbers.

Seperately, the attributions tell the story of the article. Without them we we not know background information about previous attacks and how the current attacks occurred. It is also important that the sources are ones that were either in Afghanistan at the time or are politically active in the area. It is very clear that the journalist covered all of the angles and provided all of the necessary information while setting up potential future articles by noting there are still investigations going on regarding the killing of an Afghan guard by an American soldier.

At least seven people died in Kandahar, Afghanistan Sunday after a car exploded just outside of police headquarters, according to The Associated Press.

Five police officers and two civilians were killed by the bomb and 19 others were injured, some of them children, reports said.

Government spokesman Zalmai Ayubi said the bomb was in a parked vehicle and was set off through a remote, shattering windows in nearby buildings, according to the USA Today.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, however a spokesman for the governor accused Taliban terrorists.

According to the USA Today, violence against Afghan civilians has risen, as over 3,000 civilians were killed in 2011, the highest total for one year in the Afghan war.

A separate incident in northern Afghanistan on Friday resulted from a misunderstanding between a U.S. soldier and an Afghan guard. The American thought the guard was about to attack him so he shot and killed him in the Sari Pul province, according to the Washington Post.

Deputy Police Chief Sayed Jahangir said the situation was an unfortunate misunderstanding, according to the USA Today.

"Our initial reports show that the American thought he was acting in self-defense," Jahangir said.

Six protesters were arrested Saturday morning at a Washington D.C. Occupy site for violating park camping rules, according to CNN.com.

Officers riding horses came into McPherson Square around 5:45 a.m. while a helicopter flew overhead, attempting to increase enforcement on a camping ban.

Four of the protesters were arrested for failure to obey a lawful order, and two for crossing a police line, according to CNN.com.

Police were going through the camp sites in order to tear down tents with violations regarding mattresses and sleeping bags. Protesters said, however, tents were taken down that were not violating any rules.

"This is a slow, media-friendly eviction," said protester Melissa Byrne. "We're on federal property, so they have to make it look good."

According to CNN.com, police found only one tent that obeyed the rules, and they removed the rest.

Jeff Light, a lawyer who represents a few of the protesters, said police are not doing what they said they would in court. A government lawyer said tents that were compliant could remain in the park.

The park will reopen to the public when the entire park is cleared of violating campsites.

A U.N. Security Council plan to end violence in Syria failed to pass Saturday as Russia and China vetoed the resolution, sources said.

The council sought approval of a plan that would respond to the growing violence between the Syrian Government and the Free Syrian Army. It would involve the removal of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and an immediate stop to violence against the Syrian people.

Of the 15 Security Council members, only Russia and China opposed the plan. Russian foreign minister Sergey V. Lavrov said the plan's demand of the removal of the Syrian Army is unrealistic.

According to the New York Times, Lavrov also said the plan would be viewed as "taking sides in a civil war."

Supporters of the resolution said they have made compromises that met demands made by Russia and others.

Peter Wittig, the German ambassador to the United Nations, said "the scandal is not to act. The scandal would be failure to act."

U.S. President Barack Obama also called for an end to the violence, saying the international community "must work to protect the Syrian people from this abhorrent brutality," according to CNN.com.

At least 260 civilians were killed in the city of Homs Saturday, with the White House accusing Syria of murdering many women and children.

According to the New York Times, President Obama said President Bashar al-Assad "has no right to lead Syria, and has lost all legitimacy with his people and the international community."

University of Minnesota Athletic Director Joel Maturi announced Thursday that he will step aside on June 30 when his contract runs out, according to the Star Tribune.

Maturi, who is in his 10th year as athletic director, said it is the right time for a change.

"It makes a lot of sense to make a change now. We have a new president, and we have an old athletics director," Maturi said in a press conference Thursday.

According to ESPN.com, Maturi has agreed to a one-year contract to serve as a special assistant to Kaler, in hopes of easing the transition of hiring a new athletic director.

Maturi's term has been given mixed reviews, as he has had notable successes with the building of TCF Bank Stadium, but expensive buy-outs for football coaches Tim Brewster and Glen Mason.

Kaler is planning on hiring someone with experience in Division I athletics by July, according to ESPN.com.

Head football coach Jerry Kill, who was hired following the 2010 season, said it is important that his team improves quickly.

"There's more pressure on me today. I want to make sure [Maturi] leaves knowing he made the right hire," said Kill.

Kaler said the new athletic director will portray "integrity, first and foremost."

Golden State forward Brandon Rush scored 15 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter Tuesday to lead Golden State to a 93-90 victory over the Sacramento Kings, according to ESPN.com.

Rush, who shot 4-5 from the 3-point line and 6-10 overall off the bench, helped Golden State win their seventh game of the season by sparking a 9-0 fourth quarter run. The Warriors bench outscored Sacramento's 33-21.

According to Yahoo Sports, starters Steph Curry and Monta Ellis did not play most of the fourth quarter, as Head Coach Mark Jackson rode his bench to a victory despite a near triple-double by Kings forward Tyreke Evans.

"The bench, we played pretty good. I like playing with those guys on the bench. We come out with a lot of energy," said Rush on ESPN.com.

Evans scored 22 points and 10 rebounds in Sacramento's fifth straight loss, putting them in last place in the Pacific Division, according to Yahoo Sports. Center DeMarcus Cousins scored 21 points and had 14 rebounds while shooting over 50 percent.

Golden State followed up their win Tuesday by beating Utah 119-101, according to ESPN.com. They play Sacramento again Saturday looking for their third win in a row.