Tuesday, September 28, 2010
News leads (ledes) in practice
I would like you to visit and read a major daily online newspaper in class today. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the New York Times, The Washington Post, The LA Times, the Chicago Tribune, etc. Quickly find the one newspaper that you want to and are able to browse (some papers ask you to sign up for free accounts, if you want access to this paper take a brief period of time to do this, otherwise move on) and read through their news section. Read four or five articles in their entirety. Then select one and evaluate the elements of news that apply and its lead. To evaluate something is to identify it and examine its effectiveness. Do that for both the elements of news and the lead in the story you've selected. You will need to post your response as a comment on this blog and link to the story.
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ReplyDeleteThe New York Times - "Israel Stops Jewish Activists From Entering Gaza"
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/29/world/middleeast/29gaza.html?_r=1&hp
Lead: "Israeli navy commandos peacefully commandeered a catamaran sailed by an international group of Jewish activists on Tuesday trying to break Israel’s blockade on Gaza."
Though the story does not demonstrate any significant proximal interest or prominence, it does manage to incorporate human interest, relevance, and timeliness.
Placing the last first, timeliness is easily shown because it happened mere hours ago, today.
As far as human interest is concerned, at this time, one of the biggest powder kegs in the world, if not the biggest, is the Israel/Gaza area. The world's bleeding hearts cry over the poor trapped Arabs, the money bags cheer over the war that keeps American economic interest in Israel going strong, and the moderates watch the volley like a tennis match.
Since the world cares so much about what goes on in Israel (Why? Well, because a magical book said they have to) this also raises a level of relevance that resonates throughout the world.
The explosive situation in Israel needs to be resolved, or bad things are going to happen. Human interest will continue to increase, and that's not always a good thing. Too much human interest means more radicals, and more radicals means bigger problems. I kind of think it's like a bunch of kids fighting in a playground, if you let them beat the living daylights out of each other, they won't do it again. So I say, let 'em at each other.
The end.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/education/28school.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper
ReplyDeletelead- "A decade ago, Brockton High School was a case study in failure."
This article mainly employs human interest, while prominence, relevance, timeliness, and proximity loom in the back round.
I find that this article satisfies human interest, mainly because our culture is build around education, and wether or not larger schools do or do not affect our educations adversely is a matter of opinion. As Brockton High School larger classrooms can also receive a satisfactory education.
As for the other elements of such as proximity does not apply as much to us because the fact that we are located so far away. timeliness does not apply either because the studies to prove that large class sizes can still result in a good education had taken over a course of a year, and by the time this story came out it easily could have been over a year since this report was started.
prominence and, relevance could be taken into account because it has to do with education.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/health/28cases.html?_r=1&ref=science
ReplyDeleteThis Story has poor prominence because there really is not anyone in the story thats famous. The story is not timely because the event happened in May but the story was posted in September. The Story wasn't very relevant,however it does show some of the problems that people were having in Haiti still 4 months after the earthquake. It has a high human interest because it deals with the lives of young children & poor health conditions. The story has poor proximity considering it took place in Haiti. I felt the lead was an ok lead, because it gave why and who but it wasn't really attention grabbing. Its also not an ideal lead because it didn't give the most important part of the story in the lead.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/crime/103874599.html
ReplyDeleteAlthough it is bad news to hear, this article does display good news.
UW- stout hockey players charged with murder of teammate! It shows timeliness because this only happened a few days ago- The incident was September 18th but his death followed 5 days later! It may not be relevant but it does display a ton of human interest. When it comes to murder, whether or not the community knew the person, it is very heart breaking and mood changing to the readers. You can't not feel sympathy and sadness when reading an article like this. And the reality of it is, that the sadder the news, the more people really want to hear about it. There isnt much proximity because the incident happened outside of the milwaukee area. However, it still has prominence because the students were UW students, that were traveling to Menomonie from Milwaukee. Therefore, this is a good worthy piece of news!
LA Times - "Fatal shooting sets off violent clashes in East Jerusalem"
ReplyDeletehttp://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-jerusalem-violence-20100923,0,3064159.story
Lead: "With U.S.-brokered peace talks hanging by a thread, clashes erupted in East Jerusalem on Wednesday after a private Israeli security guard, working for Jewish residents of an Arab-dominated area, shot to death a Palestinian man during an early-morning altercation."
--The lead definitely states the most important fact of the story, while still incorporating each country involved without sounding cluttered. Since the story is violent, it is definitely effective in grasping one's attention just by reading the lead.
Two of the main elements are not extremely eye-catching or relevant. Happening in Israel, the proximity of this story is not exactly close to home. The timeliness is also a little off as this event happened a little less than a week ago. It is, however, important to the world, Israel, Palestine, and America as we are dealing with Israel and it's violence at the moment, yet not very prominent since no Americans were involved in these violent actions.
Though it is just a small incident, it has been said that it will cause even greater tension between Palestine and Israel. This definitely catches human interest, as many American citizens and students are planning on traveling abroad to either Israel or Palestine. Many also have connections to family, friends, or those in the army of either country. Overall, this article is very effective.
http://www.desototimes.com/articles/2010/09/28/news/doc4ca249cd6dd0b736638804.txt
ReplyDeleteLead: "U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Joshua Ose was laid to rest in a hilltop cemetary about two miles from his childhood home in Hernando as the notes of 'Dixie' echoed mournfully in the balmy breeze."
This article displays most of the elements of news. Timeliness because it only happened a few days ago; relevance because I'm sure there are quite a few people who know someone who was or is in Afghanistan or an area like that; human interest because many people knew Josh or knew of him throughout DeSoto County; prominence isn't very large, unless you count him having a lot of friends and family. The article was important to me because I'm from DeSoto County and I knew of Josh Ose, but it doesn't relate very much to anyone here. The lead of the story is a bit lengthy (and would be better if they said that Josh was killed in Afghanistan), but it does state the main reason for the article: a young man died.
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/obama-whips-up-large-campus-crowd/?hp
ReplyDeleteLead ("Lede"): "Facing the potential for historic losses in midterm elections,
President Obama sought tonight to light a fire under his party’s
supporters at a rally in front of thousands of college students in
Madison, Wisconsin."
This story is one that displays timliness because is was on the New York Times website only hours after Obama rallied in Madison. The Article shows great prominance because it is about one of the most important people, if not THE most important person, in the U.S. Proximity is almost dead on seeing as Madison is in our state. The story is pretty relevant becacuase Obama was talking about the elections that are about to take place in Wisconsin.
The only thing lacking is human interest. There's just about no human interest involved here since no one got hurt and no one is being wronged.
I think that the lead was fantastic. It was loaded with info, giving the most important first and goes to less important while holding interest and not using passive voice.
I really think this story is important because it hits on a lot of the elements VERY well and was just a flat out interesting article for anyone interested in politics on state or national level.
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/09/12-year-old-boy-shot-in-arm-in-south-shore.html
ReplyDeleteLead: "A 12-year-old boy was shot in the arm by a 68-year-old woman after he and another youngster broke many of the windows of her South Shore home while she was out, then returned to threaten her with bricks, authorities said."
The lead summarizes the most important facts of the article into one sentence, and really grabs your attention.
The article displays alot of timeliness because the article took place today at September 28, 2010 7:39. The relevance is prominent because milwaukee has a high crime right, and a problem with violence. The human interest is relivent in this story because alot of people take interest in neighborhood crimes and things that could happen within your neighborhood. The proximety of this article is very aparent because chicago is in the midwest and so is milwaukee and they're only a hour and a half away. The prominence of this is not really present in this article because they're just avegage everday people.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
ReplyDeletehttp://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/103929588.html
Milwaukee now fourth poorest city in nation
City's poverty rate in 2009 rises to 27%, Census says
By Bill Glauber and Ben Poston of the Journal Sentinel
Sept. 28, 2010
Lead: “Milwaukee emerged as America's fourth-most impoverished big city in 2009, as the Great Recession rippled across the city and state, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures released Tuesday.”
What Makes News?
Timeliness -U.S. Census Bureau figures released Tuesday
Relevance- we live in the 4th most poverty struck big city.
Prominence-“Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, a Democrat who is running for governor, said the poverty numbers “"are unacceptable and should be of concern to everyone in the community and the state."”
Proximity- Milwaukee. Most important because it wouldn’t matter how poverty struck Milwaukee was if we didn’t live there
Human interest- We are part of that population also very important linking to proximity
Elements of Good News
Accurate- Sources~ County Executive Scott Walker, Michael Bonds, president of the Milwaukee School Board, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, U.S. Census Bureau figures. Confirming Facts~ “Milwaukee's poverty rate reached 27%, up from 23.4% in the previous year. Only Detroit (36.4%), Cleveland (35%) and Buffalo (28.8%) had higher poverty rates among cities with populations greater than 250,000.”
Balanced- Democratic side, and Republican
Objective- Is unbiased, only states facts and thoughts of others on both sides
Complete- Shows many facts related and what people plan on doing to fix it
Readable- Very readable and interesting with great flow
Organized- Facts and statements well placed with a showing and telling format
http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/103930314.html
ReplyDeleteLead:Gregory Tyson Below, already facing charges that he sexually assaulted nine women, has been charged with 15 additional felony counts in a series of assaults against a 10th woman.
Timeliness- it was posted yesterday so its pretty recent.
relevance: he has commited so many serious rapes that have been in the news recently. so many women have come forward and told about how many life's he damaged.
Prominence: everyone knows who he is now but it has no celebraties. but the people who were raped there important to the story.
proximity:the story didnt happen in shorewood but it happened in milwaukee and who knows were the rape victioms came from. and milwaukee is close to shorewood so the proximity is close.
human intrest: people would want to no about the rape victims and his punishment, so has a high ammount of human intrest.
i think the lead was good, it told who did it and used important things it sais how many women he raped and how many counts he will get agents him all in one lead. i think this is a good lead.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/30/business/energy-environment/30safety.html?_r=1&hp
ReplyDeleteBP to create new safety division in wake of oil spill
lead: Although questionable, BP's future chief executive Robert Dudley has big plans for the companies future.
This article is right on time, since Dudley isn't even taking over until friday. It shows Dudley's good and bad sides, giving a well rounded view. Although people have strong feelings about BP the article is unbiased. It gives background so you get the whole story. Its pretty well written, if a little hard to follow in places. I thought it read in a nice order and was well organized. It's relevant since BP has been in the news so much lately and people are curious what they're going to do. Dudley is relatively prominent now, with this new position and BP's infamy. It's in London so it doesn't have the element of proximity, but everyone here sees BP gas stations on any given day. there is a lot of human interest, especially with all the disaster and destruction, people want to know what's going to be done.
Washington Post - University of Texas shooting: Gunman dead; searching for second suspect
ReplyDeletehttp://voices.washingtonpost.com/college-inc/2010/09/gunman_shoots_self_at_universi.html
The story isn't really close but the timing and situation is very relevant.
The school shooting happened in Texas, but that fact that it is another college shooting is the part that hits home. Because we have a college that is right around the corner and these college shootings pop up randomly with no warning. The article came out very early and was updated daily as new news came out related to the shooting.
JS Online - "Accused serial rapists faces 15 new counts"
ReplyDeletehttp://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/103930314.html
Lead: "Gregory Tyson Below, already facing charges that he sexually assaulted nine women, has been charged with 15 additional felony counts for a series of assaults against a 10th woman." This lead is primarily a summary of the entire article, which is what it's supposed to be. The sentence accomplishes showing the reader who, what, and why. Who is Tyson Below, what is hes being charged again, and why is because a 10th woman came forward. This lead is successful because it tells you important information that grabs the readers attention.
When analyzing this article's elements of news I found that timeliness, proximity and human interest were the strong elements present. Relevance was of medium strength in this article and prominence was weak. This article was timely because it was reporting a new update/addition to a case. Proximity is strong because the accused person lives on the east side of Milwaukee and commited the crimes in the same area. This creates human interest because it's close by, also because of the violent and horror-film-like scenerios that the victoms described the accused of doing. Prominence was weak because no important people were involved or mentioned and relevance was just okay because stories like these come and go, though the subject remains an important issue in the community.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/29/us/politics/29obama.html?_r=2&ref=us
ReplyDeleteLead: President Obama, seeking to avert potentially devastating losses for Democrats on Election Day, delivered an impassioned appeal to a cheering throng of college students here Tuesday night, telling them to “keep believing change is possible” and pleading, “You’ve got to stick with me, you can’t lose heart.”
This was a strong lead that added interest because of the quotes and provided good information for about the first 2/3 of the article. The article dominantly talked about Obama speaking at Madison last night but towards the end it started discussing Obama's brief stint in Albuquerque and his plans to reconnect with voters in the next 5 weeks leading up to elections. The article was very timely since the speech was yesterday and it also had lots of prominence since the president was its main focus. The article was relevant since it discussed the upcoming elections and how Obama was trying to promote voter enthusiasm. Human interest was present especially when quotes were mixed in from the president's speech. The articles proximity was very good for the first 2/3 because it was discussing Obama's speech in Madison, but then it zoomed out to his other travels which lost proximity. Overall it was a good article.
chicago tribune: "women who shot 12-year old: What was i suppouse to do"
ReplyDeletehttp://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/09/neighbors-support-woman-who-shot-12-year-old-boy.html
the lead: "a 68 year old woman who shot a 12 year old boy has told a neighbor she was only trying to scare him off and feels remorseful about wounding him in the shoulder".
i thought this was a good lead because it gives you the main idea of the story. This story was basicly about a 68 year old women shooting a 12 year old boy out of self defense because him and another young man were throwing bricks at her and saying fowl language but felt bad about shooting him because she was only trying to scare him. I thought this article was very timely because the news happened today and they manage to get up on there website.The proximity was not local because this happened in chiago. And this artical was not very promonace because it didnt evolve any body famous and didnt show much revalnce.
on the jsonline.com main page there was a interesting article on frogs coming to the public muesuem.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/104042198.html
the lead: "They're all starring in the Milwaukee Public Museum's new show, "Frogs: A Chorus of Colors" opening Friday. It's a show where even frogophobes will find something to make them hoppy."
i thought this was a good lede becuase of how it was jokingly sucking you in. also its about crazy colored frogs so who wouldnt take a gander at this article. it also followed some concepts on the elements of good news. the timeliness of this event happening is in this up coming week at an exzibit at the public muesuem of milwaukee. this article is not so much relevant to most people but outdoor lovers may take this in account. the subject wasnt really prominent in how its about colored frogs. its very close in proximity in our own "backyard" of milwaukee. this article has some human interest becuase its scientific to understand how the frogs react to the outside environment in which they do not belong. lastly this article does not raise any conflict once so ever.
The Claim: Gargling With Salt Water Can Ease Cold Symptoms
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/health/28real.html?src=me&ref=general
This article had a good lead because it immediately appealed to the human interest: curing your cold during the cold/flu season. Proximity wasnt an issue because it wasnt exactly happening anywhere in particular, but i guess you could say its happening everywhere. It wasnt prominent because there werent any celebrities involved, but i suppose celebrities get sick too. It was consequential in that everyone gets colds, so it would be interesting to anyone.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/11/marines-sold-military-assault-weapons-to-la-gang-members-authorities-claim.html
ReplyDeleteThis article is about 4 US marines being arrested for selling weapons to LA gang members.
The lead:
"Four U.S. Marines have been arrested for allegedly selling rifles and assault weapons to gang members in Los Angeles."
I think this lead is pretty effective. It gives who, what they did, and what happened in one succinct sentence. Although the lead begins with a subject, I feel like the subject (that these are US MARINES!!) is so important in the story that it makes sense.
This article is really good in terms of proximity: this is the LA Times website, and the weapons were illegally sold to LA gang members.
It's also good in terms of timeliness, since the marines were arrested just yesterday.
For relevance, I would say that it's so-so. Gangs are always involved in the weapons trade and all kinds of illegal activity. This doesn't really impact anyone. It's not a need-to-know kind of story.
I think this article is slightly prominent, because it involves infamous LA gangs and the US Marines. However, the actual people involved weren't famous or important themselves.
The main wow-factor for this article is probably human interest (there is a lot of it). A lot of people would be interested to hear that members of the United States Marines could be helping gangs and promoting violence on the streets. I feel like this would really hit a lot of people, and give anti-military/anti-war people more reason to question military morals/activities/security. It's a hot topic.