The issue explored by this article -- why Florida students are graduating from high school without being able to "read, write, or solve math problems well enough to take some college-level courses" -- is one with a variety of sources, none of which are without their controversies. This means that not only did the authors have to hunt for various types of statistics and information from a multitude of sources, but they also had to work hard to ensure that the facts they were using were all sound and reliable.

The authors had to know what to look for -- which means they had to brainstorm all the different types of sources that could explain this issue, and then hunt for relevant information and data. First of all, the authors use information regarding school records -- that more than half of high school graduates who took the college placement test in the 2010-2011 school year found out they had to take at least on remedial course in college to boost skill, for example. This required taking data from education departments and perhaps other sources across the state, specifically regarding college placement tests and demand for remedial courses. They reference things like the "Florida College System Readiness report"

Then, the authors explored economic data. One of the factors behind the crisis of remedial education at community and state colleges that they chose to discuss was the Great Recession. This means that they had to dissect relevant economic data in order to intelligently discuss the reasoning behind this argument, too.

The authors also assert that there is a disconnect between what students are learning in K-12 schools and what they need in order to be successful in college. For this section, they analyzed things like curriculum and graduation requirements, Florida's history of change and primary education reform, and more.

The authors of this article did not utilize many "online tools" in order to engage the reader. They did not include charts or anything to pictorially display the many statistics they write about in their article; the only images were headshots of the people quoted in the article. The article was accompanied by a radio report from State Impact Florida, though, which was kind of unique to see on a news organization's website. I like this combination of media forms; it was interesting to listen to the clip while reading the article.

The most notable work of the authors of this article seems to be research. They looked at a lot of different data and spoke with different people from a variety of sources. I'm sure they also did more than a little data analysis in computer programs like SPSS, that help statistics become a little bit clearer. Whereas they did not choose to use online tools, I would have appreciated a few graphics that really illustrated the basics of this issue. It was a long article with many blocks of text and a lot of numbers -- I think the statistics would have had more impact on me if I had seen them displayed graphically or visually rather than just read about them through text.

Cody, the newborn son of Tammy Van Dyke, was accidentally put in the wrong bassinet in Abbott Northwestern Hospital, as the Pioneer Press reported.

"You put your baby in the nursery, not even 48-hours old, and you think they're safe," Van Dyke told ABC News. "I'm holding it together. I'm just in disbelief, and it was like I was in a dream, a bad dream, and I couldn't get it to stop," Van Dyke said, as ABC news reported.

Van Dyke was given the details of what had happened two hours after the incident occurred. She was just about to leave the hospital with her new baby, the Pioneer Press reported.

Cody had to immediately undergo blood testing for HIV and hepatitis. The tests came back negative, but the hospital told Van Dyke that Cody would need to return for blood testing every three months for the first year of his life, ABC News reported.

Hospital spokeswoman Gloria O'Connell said these tests were just a precaution. She could not say more because of patient confidentiality, ABC News reported.

Van Dyke spoke to the other mother, which she said gave her "peace of mind."
"She was just as distraught as me that this happened to her," Van Dyke said, as the Pioneer Press reported.

A letter of apology from Abbott Northwestern to Van Dyke read as follows: "Please accept this letter with our sincerest apologies for what occurred today at the hospital, that in the nursery your newborn son was placed in the wrong bassinette and then was taken to the wrong mother and breastfed. The hospital agrees to pay for the additional testing that you had done today and will also pay for the tests recommended for your son related to this incident up to one year," ABC News reported.

"There is nothing recognizable, neither material nor human," Mexico's Transportation and Communications Minister Gerardo Ruiz Esparza said. The remains of the plane "are scattered over an area of 250 to 300 meters," Esparza said. "It is almost unrecognizable," he said, as the Associated Press reported.

Esparza said "everything points toward" that this plane was indeed that which was carrying Rivera and six other people from Monterrey to Toluca, just outside Mexico City, the Associated Press reported.

The singer had just given a concert in Monterrey. She was 43, Billboard reported.

No cause was given for the plane's crash. The area in which it was found, though -- near the town of Iturbide in Mexico's Sierra Madre Oriental -- is known for its rough terrain, Billboard reported.

The Learjet 25, number N345MC, left Monterrey at 3:30 a.m. and was reported missing about 10 minutes later, the Associated Press reported.

Celebrities and media organizations sent condolences to Rivera's family on Sunday even though it has not been confirmed that she was aboard the plane yet. Authorities said there will be an investigation to identify the remains found at the crash site, Billboard reported.

The other passengers on the plane were believed to be her publicist, her lawyer, makeup artist and the flight crew, the Associated Press reported.

T-Mobile executives have said that not carrying the iPhone has contributed to T-Mobile losing valuable contract customers to its competitors. T-Mobile said the agreement with Apple fills a key competitive gap, the Wall Street Journal reported.

"We have now added the final piece to the jigsaw to boost the competitiveness of T-Mobile USA sustainably," Rene Obermann, chairman of T-Mobile's parent company Deutsche Telekom, said, as the Wall Street Journal reported.

Already, 1.7 million iPhones run on the T-Mobile network. The AT&T version of the iPhone can work on T-Mobile because it runs on similar network technology, but because the wireless frequencies are different, using the iPhone on T-Mobile's network tends to be a much slower experience, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The terms of the deal with Apple were not announced. New T-Mobile CEO John Legere said that the launch of the iPhone would occur in "several months," CNN reported.

The terms of T-Mobile's iPhone deal with Apple were not announced. Legere said the agreement will be profitable by 2014 because T-Mobile will not offer subsidies on the phone, CNN reported.

Originally from Eagan, Mrozinski was named "The Voice of Eagan" by Mayor Mike Maguire at his homecoming performance. Mrozinski is one of the top four contestants in the singing competition and came home to briefly visit his family before immediately returning to Los Angeles for filming, Patch reported.

Mrozinski performed two songs that he has sang on the show, including Ben E. King's "Stand by Me" and Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On," Patch reported.

KARE-11's Eric Perkins emceed the event and renamed the Mall of America's amusement park "Nicholas-odeon Universe" as the star performed inside, Star Tribune reported.

Mrozinski is a father of two. This is the first time he has been home since the competition began its live rounds in early October, the Star Tribune reported.

"It's like I'm walking in a dream right now," Mrozinski told Perkins on stage, as the Star Tribune reported.

The brother of Neegnco Xiong, 2, found a loaded handgun in a bedroom and was playing with it when it discharged and struck Neegnco around 12:45 Wednesday afternoon. He died at the scene after paramedic tried to revive him, the Star Tribune reported.

Sgt. William Palmer of the Minneapolis police called the shooting "a horrible accident" and said it served as a reminder to safely and correctly store all firearms, the Pioneer Press reported.

The parents of the children, Kao Xiong and Ma Vang, were at home in the 1900 block of S. 7th St. when the shooting occurred. Another child, a 1-year-old, was also home, while a 5-year-old sibling was at school, the Star Tribune reported.

The parents were taken downtown by police following the shooting and are under investigation. The children have been placed in protective services. The results of the investigation will be presented to the Hennepin County attorney's office for possible charges against the parents, Palmer said, as the Star Tribune reported.

In a news release, Palmer said, "It is a crime in Minnesota to store a loaded firearm in a manner where a child can gain access to it," the Star Tribune reported.

Guns should not be stored loaded, Palmer said. Firearms should be kept unloaded, with ammunition stored separately. Both should be locked up with a key, Palmer said, as the Pioneer Press reported.

It's interesting to look at the quick turnaround on this news report. The news release was posted on Facebook at 1:01 p.m., and Paul Walsh's Star Tribune article is listed as being updated at 3:47 p.m.

The most notable differences between the news release and the Star Tribune's article is that the Star Tribune did not use any names in the article. It is clearly its newsroom policy to not name suspects until they have been formally charged; the only identifying details about the suspect are that he is male and his age. In fact, the article explicitly states that the man has not been charged; readers can read between the lines and understand that that is the reason that the article does not contain his name.

Other news organizations, however, do not make this same choice. For example, an article entitled "Suspect Arrested in Sexual Assault Near St. Kate's" on the website for KAAL-TV does choose to name the suspect.

The author also chooses not to explicitly name the police officer who interviewed the suspect, whereas this is listed in the news release. Perhaps it is newsroom policy to keep all names out of this type of article - the very first discussion of a suspect - so as to provide readers with the bare-bones details and fill in the rest as more information is learned. Or perhaps the reporter simply did not find it important to discern which specific officer is involved in the case.

I did not actually previously realize that news releases from the police are published publicly for anyone to find (i.e. on the internet). However, while doing this news analysis, I noticed that the Minneapolis Police Department posts these on its Facebook page! This was very surprising to me. I have known for a long time that newsroom policies about "naming names" are always a top consideration for journalists, but such standards seem slightly less vital now that the general public can access these names anyways. I know that matters of public record have always been available to anyone who wants them, but it's a bit different to have to go to City Hall to search through them, as people did before the internet. Now, they show up on people's Facebook news feeds! This is very interesting to me and brings up an important issue for debate.

The 48-year-old man is being held in Hennepin County Jail on suspicion of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. He has not been charged, the Star Tribune reported.

The woman attacked is in her 20s and is a student at St. Kate's. She was near West River Parkway and 27th Avenue South when the attack occurred, Kare11 reported.

The arrest of the man occurred Tuesday, after security officers at Region's Hospital in St. Paul received a complaint from two women. The women said a suspicious man was approaching women near the parking area, the Star Tribune reported.

The man was arrested on an unrelated outstanding warrant, and Ramsey County deputies noticed that he "bore a striking resemblance" to a composite sketch that was released to the news media Tuesday regarding the sexual assault at St. Kate's, Kare11 reported.

The man has a criminal history in Minnesota for theft and domestic abuse convictions, the Star Tribune reported.

U.S. diplomat Robert Wood made the announcement to the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency, a 35-nation board, The Daily Star reported.

Iran was first reported to the U.N. Security Council about its nuclear program by the IAEA in 2006 and was then given U.N. sanctions, The Daily Star reported.

Last year, the IAEA published an intelligence report that revealed past - and potentially continuing - research in Iran that could be related to nuclear weapons. Since then, the IAEA has tried to gain access to Iranian sites for inquiry, but to no avail, The Daily Star reported.

Iran denies it is on a quest for atomic bomb capability, but it has refused to curb nuclear work with both civilian and military applications. The US has become increasingly frustrated by the country's refusal to be transparent with the IAEA, Reuters reported.

"If by March Iran has not begun substantive cooperation with the IAEA, the United States will work with other board members to pursue appropriate board action, and would urge the board to consider reporting this lack of progress to the U.N. Security Council," Wood said in a statement, Reuters reported.

A simple majority in the IAEA board would be required to refer an issue to the U.N. Security Council, which has put four sanctions resolutions on Iran in the last six years, Reuters reported.

Romney wished the president well on the next four years and congratulated Obama on a successful campaign, the White House said, as the Washington Post reported.

The two also pledged to explore future opportunities to work together, the Washington Post reported.

An appeal Wednesday from Fox News correspondent Ed Henry asking for the lunch to be open to the media for photos and video was declined by White House Press secretary Jay Carney, USA Today reported.

Each man wanted to have a private conversation," Carney said. "They did not want to turn it into a press event," he said, as USA Today reported.

There are no plans to offer Romney a position in the administration, Carney said, as the Washington Post reported.

Before going to the White House, Romney met Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), his former vice presidential running mate, on Capitol Hill, USA Today reported.

"I remain grateful to Governor Romney for the honor of joining his ticket this fall," Ryan said in a statement. "I'm proud of the principles and ideas we advanced during the campaign and the commitment we share to expanding opportunity and promoting economic security for American families," he said, as USA Today reported.

Larry DePrimo of the Sixth Precinct saw a shoeless man on the sidewalk on the night of Nov. 14. He found out the man's shoe size and then went into a Skechers store on 42nd Street and purchased a pair of insulated boots and thermal socks, Newsday reported.

He returned to the man and knelt down to put the boots on the man's feet, Newsday reported.

Tourist Jennifer Foster of Florence, Ariz., was watching the whole thing. She took a photo of the interaction and sent it to the NYPD, along with a note, ABC World News reported.

"I have been in law enforcement for 17 years," Foster wrote. "I was never so impressed in my life. It is important, I think, for all of us to remember the real reason we are in this line of work," she wrote, as ABC World News reported.

Foster did not get the officer's name. NYPD posted her message and photo on its Facebook page, and the officer was identified, ABC World News reported.

DePrimo has since received an incredible amount of attention worldwide, which has been "shocking, he told the New York Times. He joined the NYPD in 2010, Newsday reported. He lives in Long Island with his parents and did not know about the photo or that it was going to be posted online, he told the New York Times.

"It was freezing out and you could see the blisters on the man's feet," DePrimo told the New York Times.

The NYPD's post of Foster's photo and message has received 347,000 "likes" on Facebook. It has been shared over 94,000 times as of Nov. 29, ABC World News reported.

One ticket sold in Winona County matched all five numbers in the Nov. 28 drawing, but not the Powerball. Five numbers matched yields a prize of $1 million, the Associated Press reported.

The prize has not yet been claimed. The winner has not yet come forward, and the person's identity and purchase location have not been released, Minnesota Lottery spokesperson Debbie Hoffmann told the La Crosse Tribune Thursday morning.

Local laws give lottery participants up to a year to come forward, but "based on our history they don't generally wait that long," Hoffmann told the La Crosse Tribune.
Six other tickets had four of the five numbers correct and the Powerball. These tickets are each worth $10,000, the Associated Press reported.

Two tickets matching all six numbers and the Powerball for the record-breaking $587.5 million jackpot were sold in Arizona and Missouri. The grand-prize winners have not yet been identified, the La Crosse Tribune reported.

This article is written about Tina Kotek, an out lesbian legislator in the state of Oregon. She has served as leader of the Oregon House Democratic Caucus since 2011 and will be Speaker of the House for the 2013 session -- the first lesbian legislative leader in the nation.

The author of this article does a great job of using neutral language to describe Kotek. He does not use the word homosexual, which has a negative connotation and should generally be avoided. Instead, he refers to Kotek as a lesbian, as openly gay, as out.
I also appreciate the way in which the author makes it very clear that the fact Kotek is a lesbian is just one aspect of her life. The author finds a good way to balance highlighting the accomplishments she has made in her political career -- the milestones she has made as an openly gay legislator -- while still making it clear that sexual orientation is just one part of her (just as being straight is one part of other politicians). In fact, the author blatantly says such: "Kotek will be one of a handful of legislative leaders who are out and proud and the first lesbian to hold such a position. While her sexual orientation is just one facet of her life, she is proud to represent the community."

Beyond accomplishing the history she is making as an openly gay legislator, though, the author does not dwell on Kotek's sexual orientation. Instead, he talks about the same type of things an article about a straight legislator would -- that Kotek recognizes that the Legislature has a lot of hard work to do, what type of opportunities there are for the future, and so on.

The article also talks about Kotek in the same way an article about a straight person would, too, which illustrates that the author does not hold a bias (nor is overcompensating to try to cover up a covert bias). The end of the article talks about how Kotek came to Oregon, how she got involved in politics, and her personal life (it mentions that she lives in Portland with her partner, Aimee Wilson).

I think the author did a great job giving credit where credit was due for Kotek's historical accomplishment as the first open lesbian legislator while clearly illustrating that her sexual orientation is just one part of her. I especially believe that the language the author chose made the article very nonbiased. I believe his only source was Kotek, as she was the only one quoted in the article, but that appeared to be enough for this short article to have its impact.

The Minnetonka Skippers were originally awarded the team title at the end of the meet, winning by 49.5 points. Minnetonka won the 400-yard freestyle relay, the last event, and set a state record by .02 seconds, which sealed the meet victory. But just minutes after the team was bestowed the trophy, it had to hand it over to the Edina Hornets, the Pioneer Press reported.

Meet officials discovered that Minnetonka coach Dan Berve had submitted an incorrect lineup for the race. Such an error is considered an "illegal entry," so the Skippers were disqualified and the state record was voided, the Star Tribune reported.

At this point, Minnetonka would still have been able to win by 2.5 points. But Minnesota State High School League officials said they decided to look at Minnetonka's other relay lineups and discovered they had received incorrect lineups for all the relays, the Pioneer Press reported.

After their points were tallied with taking account for their disqualifications in all three relays of the meet, Minnetonka ended up fourth. Edina became state champion and Wayzata and Eden Prairie took second and third places, respectively, Swimming World Magazine reported.

Berve took the blame for the incorrect submissions and called it an "administrative error" on his part. After swimming several alternates in the prelims in all three relays, the Minnetonka coaches did not formally change their relay entry cards for the finals session. The correct swimmers were not listed on the relay cards, and one swimmer exceeded her maximum allowable events for the evening, the Star Tribune reported.

A security official said over 50 children between four and six years old were on board the bus when it was hit. This crash is Egypt's worst tragedy since the election of its first freely elected president, Mohammed Morsi, took office last summer, the Associated Press reported.

It appeared the railroad crossing was not closed as the train sped toward it, a security official said. A witness said the train pushed the bus along the tracks for nearly a kilometer (half a mile), the Associated Press reported.

The event will likely give ammunition to critics who say Morsi has done little to improve life for Egyptians, the Sunday Times reported.

An Associated Press reporter at the scene said many of the remains were unrecognizable, the Associated Press reported.

Two hospital officials said more than a dozen injured were being treated in two different facilities, many with severed limbs. They spoke anonymously, the Associated Press reported.

Transport Minister Rashad al-Metini has resigned in the wake of the tragedy and said he "accepts responsibility" for the accident. Morsi addressed the nation from his office in Cairo and said he has tasked the state prosecutor with investigating the crash, the Sunday Times reported.

"Those responsible for this accident will be held accountable," Morsi said, as the Associated Press reported.

The Muslim Brotherhood, Morsi's main support base, blamed the crash on a culture of negligence created by deposed leader Hosni Mubarak, the Associated Press reported.