Kvlocke's News Blog

In the Frontline story Poisoned Waters, The records that they needed for this story had to do with water reports and water records. They include stats on safe drinking levels and drinking contaminants. There are interviews and discussion but analysis is also done by the reporter. It is displayed in different links, where each area is reported on such as, "Weren't our waters supposed to be cleaned up years ago." which leads to a video and more links about water pollution. The computer skills the reporter probably needed to do this reporting would include an understand of how videos are embedded (how long they can be or good shots for a small screen, etc.) in order for the video to look good once it has been embedded on the website. Also, they probably have to know how to analysis records and report them in a way that people can understand. Also having an understanding of how photos look when posted on the web (resolution, etc.) would be helpful for this project.

Posted by lock0186 at 10:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HSBC Raises $17.7 Billion in Stock Sale is a story that I found that uses numbers in at least 3 ways. The article uses percentages, whole numbers, and dollar amounts. The reporter has used numbers to tell the story because the story is about HSBC selling shares to existing stock holders, so numbers are needed to understand why the fact that they sold shares is important; the amount that HSBC raises is a very large amount. I do not think the numbers are overwhelming even though I don't know a lot about stocks. The reporter used whole numbers and percents to put the numbers in perspective, for example the reporter says, "To strengthen its finances, the bank sold 4.9 billion shares, or 96.6 percent of the stock offered." This is also a good example of how the reporter may have to to crunch numbers to tell the story more effectively. They most likely had to take the number of bank shares divided by the amount that they sold. The sources of the numbers that the reporter used are from HSBC directly.

Posted by lock0186 at 10:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Arthur Code, Astronomer and Professor, Dies at 85, was published on March 22, 2009 by The New York Times.

It has a very standard obituary lead:
Arthur D. Code, an astronomer and designer of space observatories who helped lead a triumphant experiment in the 1960s that yielded information about the composition of stars, comets and galactic gases, died on March 11 in Madison, Wis. He was 85.

It starts with the name of the person, notable identifying facts and when the person died. The last sentence is separate, "He was XX" and follows our guidelines for writing leads.

This lead works because by starting this way it lets the reader know that it is an obituary and not a special interest piece or a feature.

The kinds of sources that are used are his family (they tell how he died), and verifiable facts such as, "Dr. Code taught at Wisconsin, the University of Virginia and the California Institute of Technology before returning to Wisconsin as a professor of astronomy in 1958."

This obit differs from a resume in that it does not just list his accomplishments, it explains them in detail. It does not include all of his accomplishments, rather a summary of the most important events in his life. It also features quotes by Code about discovers he made.

Posted by lock0186 at 10:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ADVANCE: It's easy to think of a solo Dan Auerbach gig as Black Keys Lite -- his solo debut "Keep It Hid" features a lot of the same howling vocals and gritty guitar parts heard on Keys discs, but none of the heavy pounding of band mate Patrick Carney. A careful listen, however, will find a more personalized and Dylanesque songwriting style and some experimental sonic elements, along with a few surprisingly lovely acoustic numbers (especially "When the Night Comes"). Two promising openers: San Antonio's Hacienda, one of Auerbach's discoveries as a producer, plus all-girl Tennessee twang trio Those Darlins. (6:30 p.m. Sat., First Avenue. 18 & older. $14-$16.) (C.R.)

This advance does not have a source for the most part, the information comes from the writer or the advance. When he says, "Keep It Hid" features a lot of the same howling vocals and gritty guitar parts heard on Keys discs, but none of the heavy pounding of band mate Patrick Carney" that is an interpretation of Auerbach's sound that is made by the writer of this article. The angle of the story is positive, for example the journalist says, "along with a few surprisingly lovely acoustic numbers" This is more than a listing because it is descriptive and somewhat persuasive. The discribtive words used by the journalist give readers a better idea of what Dan Auerbach's style is like in case they have never heard him.

Posted by lock0186 at 11:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

CBS 47 reported that Arnold Schwarzenegger held a press conference on Friday in Fresno in front of the Fresno County Sheriff department. After watching the recorded press release, I can see that CBS 47, chose an angle that they thought was most important, and reported mostly on that aspect. They chose to report on the fact that the budget was already passed and that Schwarzenegger passed out 3 page packets telling the people why they should be pleased with the passed budget. They briefly inform the audience that other issues were talked about such as, "blocking legislative pay raises during down times, a “rainy day fund” that would cap spending growth in good times to put money into reserves for bad times and a measure to remove partisan politics from some primary elections." The reporter had to make a choice about what information to include in the story. They included everything he talked about for the most part, but went most in detail about what they thought was most important, and that was Schwarzenegger's discussion on the passing of the budget.

Posted by lock0186 at 11:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The stories that I found about the Cairo bombings are a good example of differing leads from one day to the next because of the time zones. The BBC News lead reads, "A bomb explosion in Cairo has killed a French tourist and injured more than 20 other people, mostly foreign tourists." In this lead they state that there were 20 people injured, this number changes when the Star Tribune reports from AP in their lead that 21 people were wounded. As time goes on and more information is discovered, the leads change. The second story advances the news as we find out that their are suspects in custody, that there were other bombs planted which did not explode, and that the bomb appeared to be homemade. The second story is from a competing news source. This shapes the follow of the story in that information such as where the bombing occurred and how many were injured has already been in the news, so as a follow they need to provide more information for the readers. They do this in the examples above such as the fact that the bomb was homemade, but also when they discuss possible motives for planting the bomb. They suggest that the attackers may have had links to extremist groups. They also suggest that the attacks may have been young and inexperienced.

Posted by lock0186 at 8:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In the article about a plane crash near Buffalo the reporter organized the information with the newest information in the lead. The newest piece of information for the incident was that the plane was on autopilot when the plane when down near Buffalo during icy conditions, even though it is against the airlines polices and federal guidelines. The reporter still summarizes the important events further down in the story towards the end of the story when he refreshes the readers memory with a statement about the plane crashing into a house. It is effective because the most important information may be a clue as to why the plane crash; the fact that it was on autopilot If the lead or first paragraph were to explain the crash, it wouldn't be effective because the reader would assume that is what the story is about. It could have been done a little differently by refreshing the audiences memory on the incident sooner than the last paragraphs. This would be effective for someone who didn't read the story the first time around that way they would understand why having the plane on autopilot was bad.

Posted by lock0186 at 5:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In the story about the wild fires in Australia reported by BBC News, there are seven sources used. They include Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, firefighters, officials, a Whittlesea resident, an unnamed woman, and the Head of State, Queen Elizabeth II, and residents. The two sources not named are a woman who describes seeing victims of the fires, and the officials who believe the fires may have been started on purpose. The sources are scattered throughout the story. The information is from people, but there is also recorded of past fires and reported deaths that is posted, but the source is not listed. The fact that the officials are not named, makes the comment about the deliberate starting of the fires less valid because the reader doesn't know what kind of officials they are or if they credibility. The attribution is set up in a way that is effective except for one paragraph, "Reuters reported that shocked residents wandered the streets of the hamlet of Whittlesea" where they refer to Reuters for the first time with no prior description or use of this persons full name. When information is gained from another source they let the audience know by setting up the attribution is ways similar to, "Whittlesea resident Sam Gents told the agency he had not heard from his wife Tina and three young children" which lets the reader know that they did not actually speak to Gents.

Posted by lock0186 at 5:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This lead from an article on Jan. 31 from the Star Tribune:
"The three men who gunned down Jeffery Lamont Logan during a botched robbery in St. Paul early Saturday could have just asked for the money."

This lead includes who, what, where, when, why and how. The who is Jeffery Logan, the what is that a man was gunned down by three men. The where is in St. Paul and the when was Saturday. The lead explains the why by stating that Logan was shot during a "botched robbery", and how Logan was killed is explained in the lead; he was gunned down.

The lead is very detailed, but not too detailed with information such as time, which can be added later on in the story. The lead is not a completely straightforward hard-news lead because of the last part of the sentence in the lead, "could have just asked for the money". The reporter chose this approach as a way to tell all of the facts but the comment that the three man could have just asked for the money leads to a story about Logan's personality.

This leads to comments from his brother that he would have given the money to them out of the kindness of his heart, and that they didn't even need to rob him. The fact that the lead states that robbers could just ask for money catches the readers attention. It makes the reader wonder why the robber's didn't just ask for the money in the first place.

Posted by lock0186 at 4:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)