October 2012 Archives

In the articles about the 17-year-old high school football player that drowned, the Pioneer Press and the Star Tribune took very different takes on the story, which I found interesting.

The Pioneer Press took a factual approach on the story and wrote information about the case that the readers needed to know in order to be informed. It told the who, what, when, where and why which is very important in a news story.

The Star Tribune took a different approach and talked more about the rest of his football team and their decision to play the game in honor of the victim. It does not give the basic information you need to know right away, and seems to have a more sentimental feel to it.

I believe that the Pioneer Press wrote this story better because the news is all about informing readers, and they did a good job of getting the basic information across to the readers.

According to the Star Tribune, a woman was shot and the shooter is on the loose as of early Sunday morning.

The woman was sitting in the passenger seat of the car on the lap of another person with her back against the window. A bullet went through her right shoulder and is not considered life threatening, according to Police.

There were 8 people total in the Jetta and the driver was intoxicated and got his second DUI, according to the Pioneer Press.

According to the Washington Post, 3 al-Qaida militants were killed in Yemen.

Officials have said that 2 of these people were believed to be Saudis and they were killed in the courtyard of a house in northern Yemen.

It was the first reported airstrike in this province which borders Saudi Arabia, according to the http://www.startribune.com/world/176163631.html.

According to the Star Tribune, a high school football player drowned after his boat capsized on Lake Elysian in southern Minnesota while duck hunting Saturday morning.

He was hunting with four other friends who made it back to shore, and two were hospitalized, according to Waseca County sheriff officials and the Pioneer Press.

17-year-old Brady Hruska was scheduled to play in a playoff game on Saturday evening. His teammates played in honor of him and beat the Medford Tigers.

According to the Pioneer Press, a 20-year-old man died after a hit and run in downtown Minneapolis early Saturday morning.

The incident happened in the intersection of 3rd Street and 1st Avenue at about 2:45 am.

He was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center in critical condition, but died there, according to the Star Tribune.

According to the Washington Post, Hurricane Sandy is moving up the west coast towards the Washington area.

Tens of thousands of people have been warned to get out of the highly populated area before one of the most fearsome storms in U.S. history hits near New York, according to the Star Tribune.

"This is a serious, killer storm," said Maryland Governor, Martin O'Malley.

In the article about GM versus Obama in the Washington Post, I believe that good and bad aspects of news writing have been put forth.

The lead is always supposed to include the most important information in order to get the most important points across, but this lead seems more like the beginning of a story. I think that they should have put more critical information in the beginning and worked off of it with less important details.

One thing that i believe was done well in this story is the ending. It ends in a good quote which is a good way to close off a story.

According to the Star Tribune, he man suspected of killing three and wounded four in a shooting in a day spa in Brookfield, Wis. was found dead on Sunday afternoon.

According to authorities, the suspect, 45-year-old Radcliffe Franklin Haughton of Brown Deer, slashed his wife's tires two weeks prior to the shooting.

His had a 4-year restraining order against Haughton. According to Police, she was an employee of the spa. It is unclear whether she is a victim of the incident.

According to the Star Tribune, the construction of the new light rail has been slowing down business and housing near Washington Ave.

Efforts are being made to save them, which is costing millions of dollars more in public subsides.

Proposals claim that the light rail will transform neighborhoods and create an "arts-centered cultural district.

The light rail is scheduled to open in 2014 and will run between downtown St. Paul and downtown Minneapolis.

According to the Star Tribune, three people were killed two different car accidents this past weekend.

A woman died in a five-car accident going eastbound on Highway 7 in St. Louis Park on Saturday afternoon. She was pronounced dead at the scene, but nobody else required and medical attention.

According to the Wright County Sheriff's Office, two drivers died in a three-car accident in St. Michael on Friday night.

None of the identities of those involved in the accidents have been released.

According to the Washington Post, 4 people were injured and 21 were detained during protests against plans for a gold mine in Northern Greece on Sunday.

According to police, one of the injured people was a police officer, while the other 3 injured and 21 detained were protesters.

Similar events have happened in the past when a multimillion dollar project got shut down due to protests in a nearby area about a decade ago.

Many protesters are against the mining for environmental issues, but advocates claim that the gold mine will create jobs and help the economy.

According to the Washington Post, a second town-hall-style presidential debate between Obama and Romney on Tuesday got much more heated than the first.

Unlike the first debate, the two candidates got very argumentative and aggressive, and talked over each other constantly.

Obama, who was criticized for not being aggressive enough in the first debate, redeemed himself and was much more upfront against Romney.

The candidates debated about several issues, but unlike the first debate, Obama has been said to win the second debate.

The news story about Catholic Knights of Columbus in the Star Tribune has some good aspects, but did not interest me very much.

The lead to this story is one of it's weak points because it doesn't give answers to the 5 W's that storys are supposed to have to get people's attention and inform them as soon as possible.

Another negative aspect of this is the length of the paragraphs. Even though many only use a few sentences, they are very long and should be shortened into more concise paragraphs.

One good thing about this article that stood out to me is the fact that it ends with a good quote to leave people off with and it ties everything together in the end.

According to the Star Tribune, Minnesota Gopher football coach, Jerry Kill, suffered seizure on Saturday following the Gopher football game at TCF Bank stadium.

The seizure happened less than an hour after the Gopher football team lost, and Kill was still at the stadium in his private locker room. He was released from the hospital on Sunday.

Kill suffered from a seizure 13 months ago, also at a Gopher football game, but according to defensive coordinator Tracey Claeys.

Two men died after their car went off the road and rolled into Lake Mille Lacs on Sunday morning, according to the Star Tribune.

The driver, Andrew Nickaboine, was not wearing a seatbelt but passenger Ronald Dorr was. There was also a third man in the car, Keegan Morrison, who survived the crash with only noncritical injuries.

It was detected that all three of the men in the car had alcohol in their systems, and is assumed to be a factor in the accident.

According to the Star Tribune, a St. Paul woman was shot to death on Sunday afternoon in St. Paul.

The woman, who was about 20 years old, was found by police in a parked car in an alley after responding to a report of gun noises in the area. Police are still looking for suspects.

According to the New York Times, 16 were killed and 15 were injured in a suicide attack in Pakistan on Saturday.

Government official Azam Khan said that the vehicle explosion killed mostly local Afridi tribesmen.

Although the target of the attack was not known, it is believed that it was aimed at pro-government tribesmen who have been fighting groups affiliated with the Taliban in the area.

According to the New York Times, a 43-year-old Austrian man jumped over 24 miles to earth from space, breaking the sound barrier on Sunday afternoon.

"Trust me, when you stand up there on top of the world, you become so humble. It's not about breaking records anymore. It's not about getting scientific data. It's all about coming home," said Baumgartner after completing his jump.

It took Felix Baumgartner just under 10 minutes to complete the 128,100 ft freefall, reaching the ground in Roswell, New Mexico

Baumgartner broke reached a maximum speed of 833.9 miles per hour, or Mach 1.24, breaking records set 50 years ago by Joe Kittenger, who is now now 84 years old.