86 Pregnant Teens!!!

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/01/14/teens-pregnant-menphis-high-school/

I chose this particular story because the fact that 86 girls were pregnant at one high school is ridiculous! I know that in the past sex education has been a topic of controversy, but I feel this proves the need for sex education in the schools.

The news values of this piece would be:

1. Impact: Many times teen girls who have babies are not at the maturity level needed to take care of that baby. This causes them to go on well fare which comes out of our tax dollars.

2. Novelty: It is very shocking for 86 girls to be pregnant in one school.

I feel that the lead worked because it captured my attention.

I was not left with any unanswered questions about this article. It did say that the school is making efforts to prevent this from being so common in the school.

Power House Movie "King's Speech" Wins Overall Cast

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2011/01/30/kings-speech-wins-overall-cast-sag-awards/

I chose this story because it may show the direction of where the votes for the Oscars are going to go.

  News Value.This is considered public interest and I would say immediacy seeing as the awards where last night.This will affect those with interest.

Lead is well done gave a good outline of what i was about to read.


It will have a follow up story when it comes to the next upcoming awards.

Murdoch's iPad newspaper The Daily to launch Feb. 2

http://money.cnn.com/2011/01/27/technology/ipad_the_daily/index.htm#TOP

I chose this story because we've talked a lot about the ipad and it's influence over media. We also talked about how newspapers, the tangible kind, are becoming less and less popular over time. This story is merely public interest, as with most technology stories. It affects only those people who own or will own an ipad, as well as people working at newspapers. Soon, after the release of the paper, we hope to see a follow up story on the effect of this paper on other papers and how well the paper actually sells.

Reminders!

Just a reminder to read over your classmates' blog posts from last week. We'll have an in-class quiz next week about those stories posted.

Be sure to review the news values on page 19 for these blog posts! Some of you said in the blog post that you didn't understand what I meant by "news values." They're listed on that page. I'll likely ask you to identify the news values in those stories posted on the blog.

Keep in mind that you'll do another blog for Wednesday, Feb. 2. This time, look for a story from a national TV news website, such as CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, etc.

If you blogged a story from one of those types of media last week, then look for a story from a national newspaper instead.

Got questions? Shoot 'em my way. You've also got a discussion board homework assignment DUE BY CLASSTIME MONDAY.

Happy weekend!

USDA Calls for Dramatic Change in School Lunches

http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/food/diet-nutrition/2011-01-12-schoollunch13_ST_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

I chose this story because the issue at hand is not as simple as one may think. While it is obvious that the United States should take steps to improve the health of its citizens, especially its children, many argue that there is a fine line between providing healthier options for children, and forcing it upon them.

The impact of this story is not necessarily universal, but it is far reaching. A great deal of Americans have families with children in public schools. The proposed rule will affect these families; and if the rule has its intended effect, then it will have a lasting impact on the nutritional lifestyle of the children. Proximity is also in effect, not because this rule was made nearby, but because of its universal nature, it will affect all the schools in the country.

This article simply states the facts of the case, and it does not delve too deeply into the other issues. Agriculture Secretary, Tom Vilsack did address the issue of the government regulating what people eat, saying that the intent is not to "dictate" what children eat, but simply help parents to give their children a chance to be as "healthy, happy, productive, and successful as God intended them to be." The article does not contain a positive or negative reaction from the parents, but the Department of Agriculture is asking for input at a public comment period ending April 13.

A possible follow up to this story could be about the input from the public in April.

Social networking leads to sex faster?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110125/od_nm/us_sex_survey_odd

My beat is Bizarre News so I figured this would be a great one to start with... Haha

I mean, what college student's mind isn't on sex anyway? And if its not on sex, is it on Facebook? Or texting that special guy or girl back? Probably. And if so, this story intrests you.

Most hormone-driven, 20-somethings probably would have clicked on this link first simply because it has the word 'sex' in it. It's immediately interesting to this age group- one reason why I picked it.

The main news value it displays is Novelty. It's something racy and intriguing and a little bit taboo. The other news value that could attract readers is Prominence. It doesn't deal with a famous person but it does deal with a famous site we all know very well- Facebook. Proximity is another possible news value in the story. It hits home; everyone with opposable thumbs has a cell phone.

I'm not exactly sure what quallifies as unanswered questions, or if this story has any. And follow up could just be a study on comparing the sex lives of induviduals without any form of social networking (if that person exists!).

Kayla Sloan

U.S. Roadside bomb casualties Skyrocket in Afghanistan

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/01/26/roadside-bomb-casualties-rise-afghanistan/#

I chose this particular article because very rarely do we actually have the numbers of deaths and injuries presented in this form. In 2010, more troops were killed and injured overseas than in any year since the attacks of 9/11. This article raises question as to "why now?" after all the years over there. To me, this has a lot of news value because my brother just got back from Afghanistan and still has friends over there as well as a number of my high school buddies merely halfway through their tour. The pentagon has ensured the safety of ther soldiers by sending over a significant amount of bomb detectors, sensors, un-manned recon units, etc. But what the article doesn't say that friends and family serving over there have is that in some instances, soldiers will be sent out driving along the roads "waiting" to be attacked as so to slowly pick off the high number of insurgents. A lot of times at the cost of our U.S. Soldiers..

Snow Showers from the Southern States to New England.

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/storms/winter/2011-01-26-storm26_ST_N.htm

As this story goes to show, some could feel as if Al Gore is as truthful about global warming as he was about inventing the internet. The weather conditions for the majority of the southern states have been more extreme than those of our generation have ever experienced. Cold weather has been an ongoing occurrence for most of the country and has been the contributing factor to the halt of travel. Also, there were several school closings today ranging from northern regions of our state, to areas of New Hampshire. I found this story relevant because the majority of the people who surround me are just as fed up with the climate as I am. Another valid point has to do with the school closings that are mentioned in this story because we ourselves were postponed due to ice and snow this morning. This story is just another significant sign that we are in the coldest part of the winter, and although no one wants to accept the fact, we still have about three more months of this to go.

I wanted to know if there was anything specific that The New York Times had on the Philippines because this is the country where I grew up in, and very surprised to here of an explosion that occured in the capitol city of Manila and the aftermath. The reporters gave straight out facts and got quotes from those who experienced the explosion and also from Philippine President Aquino who made a strong response to what looks like a terrorist attack. It looks like the news is updated from yesterday when I read it because I noticed the title of the story states that two were killed in the explosion, but yesterday in the story there were said to be four killed, and today it says there are five. The link is below:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/01/25/world/asia/AP-AS-Philippines-Bus-Explosion.html?_r=1&ref=asia

4 Prostitutes Found Dead

I chose this story because it really caught my eye. Murders are very common, but it is rare to hear of 4 prostitutes getting murdered. It is interesting what the 4 girls had in common too; each of the were advertised on Craiglist. I found this story very bizarre because it seems that the person doing the killing is a serial killer. In my opinion, these murders sound like the Craiglist Killer that surfaced a little over a year ago;however, its strange that the bodies the police found could have been in that location for as long as 2 years. Police do not have any strong leads towards to who the killer may be and are offering $5,000 reward for any information pertaining towards the murders.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/01/25/new.york.bodies/index.html

Large Scale Fire Damages 3 Homes

http://blog.al.com/live/2011/01/large-scale_fire_damages_3_hom.html



1) I chose this story because it was a tragedy, and as bad as it sounds, we find these types of stories interesting.
2) The news values that were used are: impact (on the owners of the houses and those worried about arson), immediacy 9just happened this morning at 3), and emotions (losing a house is tragic)
3) The lead worked because it summed up the entire incident in just a few sentences.
4) The two quetions that went left unanswered were 1, how did the fire start, and 2, if it was arson, are there any peices of evidence on who it was

my 1st blog ever!!! woohoo, i guess???

I chose this story because, really it was the 1st one I came to, but also I like dogs. As far as what news values were used, i'm not sure what you wanting here, but i'm going to guess they were after that shock value. When you read a piece like this, you think to yourself, "who would do this to an animal". I also think this is a good human intrest story about how the SPAC came in and saved the life of all those helpless dogs. I'm assuming the follow up story is going to be about the lawsuit she plans on filing against the SPCA.

http://www.tumblerridgenews.com/story.php?id=206305

`The King's Speech' usurps throne as Oscar leader

This story stood out to me because of the dramatic change in the Oscar race that it causes. The King's Speech, a historical drama about King George VI, seems to be a strange film to be leading in nominations over Golden Globe favorite The Social Network, a film more immediately relevant in today's Facebook-addicted culture.

The story is quite immediate, being published this morning following the Oscar nominations' announcement yesterday. It also includes prominence in that Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, and Helena Bonham Carter, all Oscar-nominated actors, have been nominated for awards for their performances in the film.

As for unanswered questions, the only thing left is to see how the Academy Awards ceremony plays out on February 27.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-12-15-gao-sex-offenders-schools_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

I chose this particular story because it shocked me that registered sex offenders are being hired to teach in public schools due to the fact that back ground checks are not being done when school officials hire new teachers. This article reports many instances when sex offenders were hired to teach in public schools, and because of this, students were put in danger while in school. Although this article addresses the problem, I was left wondering what actions are being done or being considered in order to prevent sex offenders from being hired in public schools in the future. Children need to feel safe in the classroom, and not have to worry about whether or not the teacher is going to harm them in some way.

Oscar Nominations

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/25/AR2011012502062.html

1. I chose this story because this past year has had a great amount of wonderfully written, directed and acted films. This year is great to look forward to watching because also so many films, directors and actors not nominate.  Also so many are competing against a larger number.  For example last year five films competed for best picture, this year it has doubled including Toy Story 3. When some films getting more nominations then most others over the years most going for eight or more like the Lord of the rings trilogy. “King’s Speech” is going for 12 while” True Grit” is going for ten while “Inception” and “The Social Network” going for at least seven apiece.  When it comes to entertainment culture it will be something to remember especially for those actually in it and those who did not get nominated. It will be interesting to watch seeing that so many films were nominated for a lot of awards. Compared to recent years and this kind of thing in entertainment probably won’t happen again anytime soon.

2. When it comes to the actual newsworthy. Since it is entertainment a lot of people into movies will definitely be interested. Of course those who watched the movie “The Social Network”, about facebook  I am sure a lot of people will watch it from that alone. With most of America absorbed into entertainment I would say if on a scale of one to five. It could be worth a max of three.

3. The Follow up story will definitely be of the winners.  Only thing would be possibly getting information on why some actors get snubbed and not picked for nods.  But then again these are always hard to get information on he she would have to ask every voter on that board

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/01/25/obama-offers-expansive-state-union-speech/
1. The reason I chose this story is because I feel like everyone should know how the State of the Union address last night and be informed about what our government is doing. One news value that was used was that of informing the people of how President Obama is promoting innovation and competition. Some questions that were answered were that of trying to reducing federal spending, abolishing cumbersome regulations, cutting the deficit and attempting to change the heath care law that he pushed to pass.