March 2010 Archives

The obituary I will se for this blog analysis is from The New York Times.

The obituary I will use is writting about legendary rock 'n' roll photographer Jim Marshall. Marshall died on Wednesday after being found unconscious in his room and being declared dead on the scene.

The obituary lead followed the traditional format. It began with his name, described his career and importance as a rock 'n' roll photographer, the circumstances of his death, and gave his age.

The lead worked as the description of Marshall explained the necessity of the obituary, and only explained that he was found in a hotel room as the reason for death has yet to be confirmed.

The obituary continues with the claim to fame section and the chronology, further sticking to the traditional obituary model. The accomplishments and descriptions of his life are speckled with anecdotes and quotes, making it different from a resume.

Sources used included friends Gail Buckman and Annie Leibovitz, along with excerpts from books and interviews quoting Marshall.

Gun raids in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan have resulted in three arrests in connection with weapons charges, The Associated Press reported.

The FBI said that at least one of the raids were targeted at a Christian militia group, The Seattle Times reported. Michael Lackomar, a spokesman for the Southeast volunteer Militia, told The Times that militia members that were being raided called him asking for a place to hide, a request he promptly denied.

Schools in St. Cloud, Minn., have announced that they will begin working with a Minnesota Islamic rights group that filed a complaint against the school district citing hostile learning environments for Islamic students since June, The Star Tribune reported.

The two sides are considering making a public statement concerning the issue after many complaints from students called for the involvement of the Islamic rights group. The group has said that there are an increasing amount of harassment of the Islamic students throughout Minnesota, The St. Cloud Times reported.

Joe Mauer signed the largest contract in MLB history on Sunday, signing a $184 million, 8-year deal with the Minnesota Twins, USA Today reported.

The deal had been expected to be signed before the team started its regular season, and while the talks took longer than expected to finalize, this is a welcome sign of commitment to winning as the Twins open their new stadium in less than a month, the Pioneer Press reported.

A 15-year-old from Afghanistan was killed late on Sunday in Athens by a bombing outside of a public officials training institute, The BBC reported.

The blast also injured the boy's mother and 10-year-oldsister, The Guardian reported. The sister was taken to a children's hospital where she received care for burns and bruising. The mother did not sustain any serious injuries.

Police said that this and other recent bombings in Athens have come from leftist militant groups, reported The BBC.

A 22-year-old student and The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse who was believed to be missing was found intoxicated in a car Sunday morning, The Star Tribune reported.

The student was reported missing late Saturday night when he never made it back home after spending the night at a La Crosse bar, WKBT reported.

A policeman told WKBT that we wishes a more severe punishment could have been handed out for the stress that the student caused friends and family

The press release I will use for this analysis is from reporternews.com, and the following press release from the event at News Week

The article covers a Palestinian press release concerning an American that had been charged with treason for working with al-Qaida, who was recently captured.

The writer focused almost exclusively on the American angle of the story in the beginning of the story, covering Adam Gadahn, the American who was a suspected terrorist suspect, and his connections to al-Qaida.

The next part focused on the atmosphere at the press release. AP writer Ashraf Khan reported, "Some observers were cautious about giving credence to the claim that Gadahn was in custody as reports emerged that the man arrested might instead be a Taliban militant leader." This choice helped engage the reader in the setting of the press release.

After this, the coverage contained a chrnology of the events that had led to the terrorist suspicions for Gadahn, and the Pakistinian response to his capture.

At the end, the article ends with a kicker, mentioning that "Gadahn has been on the FBI's most wanted list since 2004 and there is a $1 million reward for information leading to his arrest."

Mark Linkous, who performed under the name Sparklehorse, took his own life on Saturday, Pitchfork reported.

A spokeswoman for Linkous said that the recording artist took his life with a gun, he was 47, the Los Angeles Times reported.

"We are thankful for his time with us," Linkous's family said in a statement, "May his journey be peaceful, happy and free," Entertainment Weekly reported. Linkous was best known for his work with Sparklehorse, but also collaborated with artist such as Tom Waits and Daniel Johnston.

Three Shiite pilgrims were killed when a car bomb exploded on Saturday, the day before the Iraqi elections, CBS News reported.

The elections still went on on Sunday amist the terrorist activity, The New York Times reported.

In what was considered the surprise performance of the year, Mo'Nique was awarded an Oscar for best supporting actress Sunday night for her role in the movie "Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire," the AP reported.

Mo'nique, whose real name is Monique Imes, joined Hattie McDaniel, Whoopi Goldberg, and Halle Berry as one of four African-American women to win an Oscar, ABC News reported.

The Minnesota Timberwolves announced the first large-scale season ticket price cut by an NBA franchise in an attempt to improve attendence, The Star Tribune reports.

The Minnesota Post reported that Timberwolves president of operations Davin Khan took this drastic measure to combat the poor ticket sales the team has been facing during the teams poor performance in the last few years.

A 40-year-old man was shot and killed Saturday night, police said. Brian Orloske of Houlton, Wis., was found dead around 11:30 p.m. last night on the 1300 block of Reaney Ave. in East St. Paul, The Star Tribune reported.

The Pioneer Press reported that the motive is still unclear, but police were told that the borhters had been fighting earlier in the night.