Kojetin Weblog

StarTribune/AP: U.S. war dead in 2007: Update the toll
CNN: 6 U.S. troops die in Afghan ambush

Six American forces died Friday in an ambush by Afghani insurgents. The troops were on joint foot patrol rounds with Afghan National Army soldiers. Three Afghan National army soldiers were killed, and at least 11 were injured. One Afghan insurgent was killed in the ambush.

These articles dealed heavily with numbers, relaying information about those killed and injured. Each article mentioned the overall count of those dead in Afghanistan and Iraq. The AP article read very easily even though it was discussing trends year to year and was very number heavy. I have no complaints on the CNN article's use of numbers.

Posted by Matthew Kojetin at 8:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Kare11: Injured park police officer dies
StarTribune: Funeral plans set for officer Mark Bedard

Minneapolis Park Police officer Mark Bedard died Friday after injuries suffered on Nov. 1 while chasing a suspect. Bedard was struck by a police vehicle while chasing the suspect on foot through an alley. Bedard suffered several broken bones and injuries to his internal organs, leading to his death on Friday.

These two versions of the story are interesting because they are covering different aspects of the events, but each address the initial incident in different ways. The Star Tribune article gives a lengthty account of the accident that led to Bedard's death, whereas Kare11 touched on it breifly. The Kare11 video addressed the press confrence, in which Andi Bedard spoke about her husband, heavily and used it as a centerpiece of the story, adding additional information around it. The StarTribune article aknowleged this press confrence through a detail photo.

The StarTribune article talks about the upcoming funeral service for Bedard, and therefore gives a fair amount of numbers including addresses, times, dates and ages. At first glance it appears cluttered, but everything is set up properly and reads very easily.

Posted by Matthew Kojetin at 8:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

StarTribune/AP: Police in Pakistan clash with lawyers protesting state of emergency; media in stranglehold
CNN: U.S. to Musharraf: Cut army ties

Pakistan's president Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency rule this weekend. Pakistan has been under military rule for most of its 60-year history as a nation, and protests have broken out, but are mostly limited to activists and lawyers.

The main point of interest in the coverage is that the AP version of the story mainly focuses on the protests and the stranglehold on independent media. The CNN version writes as a speech story about Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's speech, and presents it as the U.S. stand on the issue. The AP mentions this, but later in the article (in the 4th paragraph.)

Posted by Matthew Kojetin at 4:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Pioneer Press: In post-Imus era, KQRS-FM quick to apologize after morning show host Tom Barnard, sidekick insult American Indians
StarTribune: Latest static over remarks at KQ a clear sign of times

KQRS morning radio host Tom Barnard and "sidekick" Terri Traen made off color comments about the Red Lake Indian Reservation in Sept.

Simple story, however I think the coverage is rather interesting. First off, because we discussed ethics this week, the Pioneer Press made an interesting (and ethically sound) judgement to include the note "(Pioneer Press sports columnist Bob Sansevere, a regular on the morning show, was in the studio at the time but wasn't part of that conversation.)" Omission of this comment would've presented the appearance of a conflict of interest potentially.

Secondly, timing of the articles is interesting. The comments made were in Sept., and the Pioneer Press article posted this story on Nov. 2. It appears as though the StarTribune followed suit on Nov.3 and re-reported the story.

Neither is strictly a straight news story, but have similar angles, speaking about FCC censorship and hypersensitivity in the media.

Posted by Matthew Kojetin at 9:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)