J Vanden Heuvel

The story tells about Somali pirates hiajacking Russian ships. The reporter describes the Somali pirates as tough fighters and gives their general characteristics. The story is better for the character descriptions and is not based on stereotypes.
The story tells about how piratees are taking over ships and demanding ransoms off the coast of Somalia and how when their demands are met, they move on to another ship.
I think the reporter did a good job of describing the pirates and physical as well as mental personas. It helps the reader to relate to the story they are reading and get a visual picture.

New York Times

Posted by vande613 at 11:06 PM | Permalink

In the story "A gift that gave back", it uses numbers in three separate instances; age, dates, and money. The author is very careful to use the numbers in such a way as to not confuse the readers. They are used far apart in the story and don't make it overwhelming at all. The numbers are directly from the soures themselves, the ages and dates derived from interviews. There is a sum of money that was collected as donation that is sighted in the story, which also comes directly from the source. The author used the numbers very effectively in the story and it helped the reader fathom the intense amount of money raised and to relate to the people in the story by telling their age.

The Star Tribune has the story of this analysis.

Posted by vande613 at 11:23 PM | Permalink

The Science Museum of Minnesota is running a three month long exhibit featured around CSI. The event is scheduled to open on Wednesday.
The reporter chose to get info from a person who actually works in criminal investigations to get their take on the exhibit and what they think about it. They also interviewed the director in charge of the exhibit itself to get an inside look into what people can expect. Both points of view offer a great basis for the advanced story. It gets readers involved and wanting to go see if for themselves.
The reporter chose to make it an interesting precursor to the event by adding infromation from the actual show and comparing it the exhibit and what visitors can expect when they go. This keeps people guessing and intrigues the readers even more.

Posted by vande613 at 10:54 PM | Permalink

In the news story about the 51-year-old woman being killed after being hit by an SUV, the reporter gives the information in chronological order.
The reporter first starts with the lead, drawing the reader into the story and then proceeds to tell what happened, where and when. This is a very useful tactic for writing stories about victims and the situation they were in. It gives the reader the whole story up front, even thought the ending is already stated in the lead.
This story could not have been done any differently. It summarizes the high points in the story, and then brings the reader into the story by using chronology.

Posted by vande613 at 9:30 PM | Permalink

In the story about Eden Prairie being ranked the top 3rd retirement spot in the country, there are several sources listed in the story itself.
U.S. News and World Report are documented in the story as the source for the story itself. References are made throughout the story, taking information from the magazine to add credibility to the story. All of the information gathered for this story is from records and reports.
The attribution of this story is set in the middle of the text and it isn't given specifically to an individual but citing the magazine. It is not confusing at all and adds to the depth of the story and its credibility.

Posted by vande613 at 11:44 PM | Permalink

According to The New York Times, Kim Jong-il, North Korea’s leader, is seriously ill and is likely to have suffered a stroke weeks ago, American officials said Tuesday, raising the prospect of a chaotic power struggle in nuclear-armed North Korea.

This news lead starts off with all of the five W's. The "who and where" are tied together in the very first sentence; Kim Jong-Il, North Korea's leader. The "what" is that he is seriously ill. He suffered a stroke weeks ago relating to the "when" factor and the "why" is that it's raising the prospect of a nuclear-armed power struggle.

All of these elements help to make the lead catching to the reader and draw them into the story by giving the facts first.
Detail is used when describing when the day of the week of the report, and when the stroke occurred. The more basic or general details are telling us that there is a power struggle, but it doesn't allude to who is involved.

Starting a lead as hard-news gets the reader interested up front and tells them what they need to know. It utilizes the inverted pyramid method of writing by giving the readers the most important facts first and then adding details in the following paragraphs. This method allows readers to grasp the concept of the story and decide whether or not it is worth reading further.

Posted by vande613 at 5:47 PM | Permalink