NMalec

A bird flu outbreak hit a poultry farm in Japan, no humans are known to be infected. This is the first bird flu outbreak to come to Japan in three years.

The Yahoo news article, http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070116/wl_nm/birdflu_japan_dc, says that the bird flu was "the first such case to hit Japan in three years," while the http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6305029.stm, says it was "the second to strike Japan's main chicken-producing region of Miyazaki."
Both give different impressions of what happened, The BBC article seems more pressing and serious, since it does not give a timeline like the yahoo article, whilch says that an outbreak has not happened in three years.

Posted by Nicholas Malec at 11:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

As congress' view of the Iraq war becomes more negative, 100,000 protesters take the opportunity to voice their opinions in Washington, D.C.

The AP article, http://www.startribune.com/484/story/963992.html, from the Star Tribune, was very clear in stating what happened, who was involved, when it was, and even why the protest was meaningful.
It was meaningful because "Protesters [were] energized by fresh congressional skepticism about the Iraq war."

The AP article, http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/nation/16562292.htm, from Pioneer Press basically had the same take, but was more vague and did not clearly explain why the protesters were "Convinced this is their moment."

Posted by Nicholas Malec at 10:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A neo-Nazi book burning event in the Twin Cities is publicly denounced by members of the community.

The Star Tribune article, "Book-burning plans denounced" http://www.startribune.com/462/story/962510.html,
focused primarily on the holocaust survivor Margot DeWilde and her speech at the denouncement. Though, her thoughts and ideas are quite virtuous her name in the lead is unrecognizable and therefore confusing.
"Compared with the unspeakable things Margot DeWilde has seen, a neo-Nazi book-burning rally scheduled for somewhere in the Twin Cities today is not much."

The Pioneer Press's article, http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/local/16557268.htm, was much clearer and explained the whole situation before talking about Margot DeWilde.
The lead goes:
"Religious and government leaders gathered Friday to denounce plans by a neo-Nazi group to stage a burning of Jewish books and other texts today in the Minneapolis area."
and DeWilde is not mentioned until paragraph 14.

Posted by Nicholas Malec at 8:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A tax break for a Thomson West legal-publishing could lead to more jobs in the community.

The Pioneer Press's "Officials defend Thomson Tax break" answers or tells the people why officials would give a tax break to a large company and how that is beneficial to the people.
(http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/16558034.htm)

Star Tribune (http://www.startribune.com/1069/story/960840.html)
and Pioneer Press both use a question lead. The book we read in class points out that quesiton leads take the reader off guard, since the reader wants the paper to answer quesitons not ask questions. In this case I find it interesting that they both have question leads then, but I, myself wondered after I read the headline why a company gets a tax break, but I learned that it can be a good investment for the community in the long run.

Posted by Nicholas Malec at 11:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Mesaba Airlines recieved 36 planes from Northwest Airlines, allowing Mesaba to rehire employees and expand their workforce.

The writer of the Star Tribune article "New jets breathe life into Mesaba" gave background of the story. This helped readers understand the significance of the new planes. Obviously they helped Mesaba get out of "the threat of liquidation just a few months ago."

Pioneer Press did not give the background of why the planes were important until the second line. They said that Mesaba had "won the right to fly 36 more planes for Northwest Airlines, its future parent company."
However, Pioneer Press did explain why Northwest Airlines had given them the planes, which was because Northwest will eventually be "their parent company." The relationship between the companies was mentioned sooner than Star Tribune, making that relationship clearer. So, both took different angles, Star Tribune focused on the reason the planes were needed by Mesaba and Pioneer Press focused on the relationship of the companies and why Northwest gave Mesaba the planes.
Both articles began with who, which was "Mesaba Airlines," which seems correct, but I have never heard of that airline.

Posted by Nicholas Malec at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)