CJones

Summary:
From best actor nominee Will Smith to a younger best supporting actress nominee, Abigail Breslin, there was a buzz in Hollywood as the Oscar nominations were announced. The movie taking in the most nominations, "Dream girls" with 8 nominations somehow fell short of a best picture nomination.
Challege:
The challege for this story is to report who the public wants to see. With so many nominations, it was crucial to pick ones that the public wants to see.
Comparison:
David Carr of the New York times reported on the nominations as well. Although the set up was slightly different, the two stories focused mainly on the same points. "Dreamgirls" received 8 nominations and little Abigail Breslin is in the running for best supporting acress.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/24/movies/awardsseason/24osca.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Lede: I noticed the lede was very plain. The word 'Oscar" was enough to grab viewers attention.

Posted by Callie Jones at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Summary:
In his State of the Union Address, President Bush focused on his agenda for Iraq, but also gave insight into his plans for health insurance coverage and gas consumption. Bush's domestic policy proposed that health insurance spending be tax deductable up to $15,000 per family which can benefit some families and have a negative effect on others. He also proposed cutting gas consumption by 20 percent in the next 10 years by requiring the use of alternative fuels like ethanol. Bush's main concern was with his decision to send more troops into Iraq.
Challenge:
This story is one of the most important stories in the nation at the time and the pressure to report accuartely and promtly is a challenge. Also deciphering what the most news worthy topics were in the address was key.
Comparison:
Dan Balz of the Washington Post reported on State of the Union Address as well. All of the same topics were stated.
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/16530227.htm
Lede: I noticed that the lede is a hard-hitting quote.

Posted by Callie Jones at 10:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Summary:
The Ramsey County Board decided to hold federal immigrant detainees in the jail. The board was debating over legality and morality issues of holding immigration prisoners from the U.S. Immigrantion and Customs Enforcement agency. Commisioner Jim McDonough concluded that it was their job to uphold the law and take in any prisioners given to them.
Challenge:
The challenge of this story was accurately reporting the legal issues stated.
Comparison:
Tim Nelson of the Pioneer Press reported on the same story. The two stories follow the same line of events faily similarly, however, the Star Tribune reports that the decision to accept immigrant detainees was decided by a vote of 4-3 by the Ramsey County Board while the Pioneer Press stated that there was no real vote concluding the decision.
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/16538182.htm
Lede: The lede in this story is misleading because it makes no reference to immigrant detainees which is the main subject of the story.

Posted by Callie Jones at 10:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Summary:
Minneapolis schools are seeing budget cuts because of a decline in student enrollment. The school district is now contemplating ways to boost education to lure families back to Minneapolis schools. Minneapolis has since fallen to third largest school district in Minneasota behind Anoka-Hennepin and St. Paul.
Challenge:
This story required a lot of statistics. These statistics required a lot of time consuming research to publish accurate reports. Also condensing the facts into a logical order for the reader to follow was a challenge.
Comparison:
Megan Boldt of the Pioneer Press ran a similar story, however, it focused on metro budget cuts instead of just Minneapolis. The article highlights that even though Gov. Tim Pawlenty's generous proposal gives the districts more money than usual, it still will not be enough to prevent the districts from making budget cuts. It then says that Minneapolis will be hit the hardest with losing $16 million.
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/16548151.htm
Lede: I noticed that the lede presented a problem and a solution to the problem.

Posted by Callie Jones at 9:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Summary:
As of Tuesday, passports were needed to travel anywhere in the world; including traveling to Canada and Mexico for Americans. There will be a one year grace period to use a license or birth certificate, however, effective Jan. 1, 2008, a passport will be required for all international travel. Passport expediter services have already seen a 50 percent raise in passport sales.
Challenge:
Although this story is not hard news, idealy, the lede would have started out attracting the attention of any reader who many be reading the paper. Instead, the story starts out by telling the reader that if they are in Mexico at the present time without a passport, they will be in trouble when it comes time to re-enter the country.
Comparison:
In comparison to the Star Tribune article, I looked upon CNN.com. Rather then focusing on Mexico as a country to visit, CNN used Canada as an example. CNN was worried that the new laws will some how disrupt trade and they are afraid walls will be put up in reaction to the new law. As an alternative, a passcard has been discussed as a cheaper alternative to a passport.
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/TRAVEL/01/17/passport.rules.ap/
Lede: I noticed that the lede uses a semi-colon.

Posted by Callie Jones at 9:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)