Dinky Town Weekly

Summary: Berlin is the next “hip and sexy� place to live with rising real estate and condos popping up left and right. Old Mills and Prisons are being renovated into apartment complexes. The city has a great night life, life crime rate and a reliable public transportation system.

Challenge: The reporter has a challenging job with dealing with numbers in a nut-graph ex. Commercial, industrial and residential sales revenue jumped 58% from 2005 to 2006, from $12 billion to $19 billion. The number of property purchasing contracts rose from 18,000 in 2004 to 27,000 last year.

Comparison: The Los Angeles Times reported that a “four-room flat offered by Herbert and Kohlmeyer for more than $335 per square foot in 2006 is likely to get $418 per square foot this year.�

Opinion: this was a successful story. The information was relevant and newsworthy. The reporter did a nice job stating the change that is happeing by focusing on where Berlin was and where it is going.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-hotproperty29apr29,1,1799791.story?coll=la-headlines-world&ctrack=1&cset=true

Posted by Johan Quie at 11:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Summary. Three Pakistani soldiers died Friday by Israeli troops. Hamas leader calls for “all possible means of resistance against Israel� Sunday ended was the most violent for Pakistani’s and Israelis in weeks

Challenge: The reporter had a challenge in stating the specifics about the deaths of soldiers. The reporter used vague terms of describing the exact amount of deaths in a specific time frame.

Comparison: The Associated Press reported that “Ghazi Hamad, spokesman for Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas,� said “the government "condemns the ugly massacres."

Opinion: This is a successful article, it reports on a newsworthy event. The report fell short on communicating specifics on the deaths of the soldiers.

Posted by Johan Quie at 11:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Summary: The question of what makes a super athlete is always an interesting question. Why are women in Korea six times more likely to become professional golfers than women in the U.S? Why is the Domican Republic such a breeding groun

Challenge: The author faces a challenge when deciding how technical the terminology he should use. He did a good job making sure the everyday American can read it.

Opion: This was a successful artcile. It brought up new infrmation in the fitness and health world. The story was written well and it focused not only tennis but on figure skating hockey ect.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/02/sports/tennis/20070302_BRAIN_GRAPHIC.html?ex=1176350400&en=73a0d2817dac7873&ei=5070

Posted by Johan Quie at 5:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Summary: Iraq – A large protest of Shiites broke out in Najafde demanding that the U.S. Pull out of Iraq. U.S. Officials said they didn’t agree with the message but they did agree how they’re practicing free speech

Challenge: The reporter has a challenge of bias in this story. There is a lot of the anti American Iraq war speech going around but the reporter did a nice making it so it was not an issue in this story

Comparison: The New York Times reported that a suicide car bomb killed three civilians and wounded four others on Sunday night.

Opinion: This was a successful story. It was interesting because the Iraqi’s are practicing their democracy. The story is long and in depth. It gives the readers a broad overview of everything else that is happening in Iraq.

Posted by Johan Quie at 5:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Summary: With the rising global temperatures it may have a detrimental effect on China and Africa. By 2055 in china there will be a Hunger problem because the rising temperatures there will be a decrease in rain and it will be difficult for plants that now a staple to grow. The rising temperatures in Africa will have detrimental effects on wheat, which is a staple. With the rising temperatures sea levels may raise which may increase the floods on costal African countries.

Challenge: The reporter used quotes effectively. The story was organized well. There was no apparent challenge.

Comparison: The Star Tribune reported “climate change threatens the ecologically rich Great Barrier Reef and sub-Antarctic islands, and could melt the snow on Africa's Mount Kilimanjaro, according to the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.�

Opinion: This is a successful article. Global Warming is a very talked about topic and the U.N. just released their 1,500 page report on global warming so this story is very fitting.

Posted by Johan Quie at 4:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Summary: An increase of security of troops and security in Baghdad has had some successes. Overall casualties have dropped significantly in the last few weeks. In the last seven week period there has been more casualties than on average. Baghdad has become a very deadly battle ground for U.S, troops with six U.S. troops dying on Sunday

Challenge: As the story went on the story lost focus. There were a lot of numbers used to describe the death count in Iraq. The reporter used to many specifics and details and it detracted from the focus of the story.

Comparison: Washington Post and the Associated Press reported, “one U.S. private in the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry, described the Americans' fight this way: "The insurgents, they see what we're doing and we see what they're doing. Then we get ahead, then they figure out what we've done and they get ahead. It's like a game of cat and mouse. It's just a really, really smart mouse."

Summary: This as a successful story the reporter did a nice job of talking/arguing both sides of the story. The reporter stated the pros and the cons of having more troop in Iraq.
http://www.startribune.com/722/story/1107405.html

Posted by Johan Quie at 11:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Summary: A French court ruled in favor of the Danish newspaper that published controversial cartoons of the prophet Mohammed. The charges accused the newspaper and the editor for "publicly abusing a group of people because of their religion".

Challenge: The reporter focused on the history of the case. He retold the entire course of events which was not necessary.

Comparison: StarTribune reported that the news paper's editor, Phillipe Val, and the news paper could face charges up to $29,000 and a six-month prison sentence.

Opinion: This was a very brief story if gave the history of the procedural history and then gave an explanation of the courts final ruling. The story was successful
Startribune march 23, A2

Posted by Johan Quie at 9:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Summary: A story is told about three Iraqi families. The first, is about an Iraqi mother who shares her thoughts on the Saddam’s ruling over Iraq. When Saddam died the Iraqi mother was happy so see that her son’s will finally see freedom. She explained the first time she was able to vote with her two sons and how happy she felt having such power. Shortly after Saddam’s death the mother realized that they are dealing with more problems than when he was alive. The Iraqi mother has lossed multiple family members since the fall of Saddam

Challenge: The reporter did not mention what changes are being made to help out all of the problems. The story went in depth about the deaths of the family members and other problems the family’s were facing but did not mention why they got shot or why they are dealing with the problems. It was left unclear.

Comparison: The St Paul Pioneer reported that Layla Muhammad, a Sunni Muslim mother of three, can't afford to keep her house warm and no longer goes to her pharmacy in the neighborhood of Hurriyah due to the chaos of the new government ever since the fall of Iraq

Opinion: this was a successful story because it dealt with the common people of Iraq and the problems they are dealing with since the fall of Saddam. It was interesting because the story looked at another angle of Iraq with Saddam this article is making the point that when Saddam was in power it was beneficial towards some people.
http://www.startribune.com/722/story/1063599.html

Posted by Johan Quie at 12:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Summary: BAGHDAD, Iraq - A female suicide bomber kills 41 at Mustansiriyah University. The woman was strapped with explosives. The bomb went off during the Shiite militia leader Muqtada al-Sadr said the security detail would fail due to U.S. troops.

Challenge: The reporter immediately states the facts of the suicide bomber, practicing the inverted pyramid theme. In the following paragraphs the reporter analyzes some of the events that were happening in Baghdad at the time of the bombing and then returning to the female bomber and stating that female bomber are not uncommon.

Comparison: The Associated Press reported that students used rags and towels to try to mop up the blood. The Associated Press reported that 41 died. CNN reports that at least 40 are dead with at least 50 injured. The CNN article was separated in sections using headers where as the Associated Press’s article did not use that format

Opinion: The CNN article was more successful than the Associated Press since of the organization of the story. It made it easier to read and follow. The Associated Press was unsuccessful because of this.http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/nation/16783547.htmhttp://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/02/25/iraq.main/index.htm

Posted by Johan Quie at 11:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Summary: At least 57 civilians died in Baghdad Iraq due to a string of car bombs. The car bombs exploded mainly outside of Shiite market areas. Many women were injured and killed while shopping in the markets.

Challenge: The author goes into great detail how the bombs and killings affected the cities of the bombing.

Comparison: According to the Star Tribune more than 125 people were injured and carried to make shift hospitals. The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports that 63 people were killed in the bombings.

Opinion: The Pioneer Press and the Star Tribune reported different facts in their stories. They were both successful due to thorough research and quotes to help better understand the mood of the story and events.

Posted by Johan Quie at 5:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Summary: More that two dozen teams are playing in empty stadiums Italy. After the death of police officer in Naples, Italy. Due to the lack of security more than two dozen stadiums are not letting fans watch the games. Before each game there is a moment of silent for the officer that lost his life

Challenge: The reporter handled the challenge of deciding what to report on by briefly covering all the topics at hand and not going into much detail

Comparison� CBS News reported that fans are upset and if had the chance would attend games.

Opinion: This was a successful story. The reporter told the history of the event, had successful interviews and had many shots of the games held with no fans in the stands.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/10/world/main2458225.shtml

Posted by Johan Quie at 11:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)