January 2011 Archives

This story idea was spurred from all the recent coverage in regards to the Obama administration's formal stance on the Defense of Marriage Act, and the two new federal lawsuits that threaten to define that stance.

The news lead in this story by the New York Times works because it incorporates prominence and impact, involving the Obama administration, and conflict, portraying the different decisions the administration faces.

The prominence is detailed in the news lead because it involves President Obama's administration. Also the impact is detailed, showing that the administration has been on the fence and now is forced to decide due to the new lawsuits.

This story's lead generalizes the timeliness news element because it is not as important as the impact of what the same-sex marriage lawsuits imply.

The Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak dismissed his government officials, but made no announcement in the national television address on Saturday about leaving his post as President, reported the Los Angeles Times.

The Los Angeles Times reports that in his address, Mubarak failed to fully discuss the severe poverty, inflation, unemployment, and other social problems that fueled the protest movement in the first place.

According to the New York Times, President Mubarak desperately attempted to reinstate power back in his authoritarian government, by sending the nation's military into the streets and enforcing a national 6 p.m. curfew. He also ordered that Egypt be isolated from the global Internet and telecommunications systems.

Harvard Market, after 106 years of business, closed on Monday to make way for a student housing project and another CVS Pharmacy, the MN Daily reported.

The Star Tribune reports that students fled to the small convenient grocery store on Monday and took full advantage of the 50 percent off closing deals.

Harvard Market represented a place where several generations of University of Minnesota students went to quench cravings and stock up on ramen.

The body of a University of Minnesota student, who had been missing since he was released from jail, was found in a boxcar on Thursday near the TCF Bank Stadium, reported the Star Tribune.

Keaton Patrick Murphy, 20, was suspected to be involved in a child pornography case and was arrested Jan. 20, reported the Minnesota Daily.

The MN Daily reported that, according to the University Police Chief Greg Hestness, the police do not believe it to have been a homicide.

Jay Carney, the communications director for Vice President Joe Biden, will take over for Robert Gibbs as President Obama's press secretary, the White House announced on Thursday.

Carney previously worked as a journalist for the New York Times for 20 years. His promotion is part of a White House staff reorganization, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Along with Carney two other deputy chiefs of staff have been appointed, including Nancy-Ann DeParle, the administration's former key person on health care legislation, and Alyssa Mastromonaco, who is in charge of the president's schedule and advance operations, the New York Times reported.

One of the most prominent advocates for gay rights in Uganda, a country that has serious consequences for homosexuality, was beaten to death with a hammer in his home on Wednesday.

David Kato had received many death threats and months earlier his picture was on the front page of an anti-gay Ugandan newspaper next to the words "Hang Them", the New York Times reported.

The Ugandan Police said on Thursday that Kato's sexual orientation had no connection with the killing and that they arrested one "robber", the Star Tribune reported.

The Star Tribune Reports that the Human Rights Watch requested an investigation, saying that Kato's work as a gay rights campaigner threatened his personal safety.