Reporter's Notebook

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Interview Excercise

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Excercise 5 Leads

City Beat

1. A restaurant located at 480 Parkside Drive was shut down by city health inspectors late yesterday afternoon. Its license was suspended in an act of health emergency, after inspectors found various faults with the upkeep of the restaurant. These faults include little pest control, poor cleanliness, and bad storage habits.
2. A settlement took place today over a lawsuit between one Marlene Holland and Colonial High School. The lawsuit charged the Board of Education with violating Ms. Holland’s freedom of religion by an assignment to dissect various animals. Her refusal to participate earned her a failing grade for the class. The lawsuit was settled when it was determined that the student could prove her religious background in court. Colonial High Assigned her a passing grade based on her other work in the class.
3. A scare arose in the city after an orthodontist, with about 750 current patients, announced three days ago that he was diagnosed with AIDS about three days ago. Said orthodontist, whom we shall choose to leave anonymous, shut down his practice and sent letters of apology to all of his patients. Because most of these patients were children, the city’s Department of Health has set up and emergency clinic to accommodate the sudden flux of parents wishing to know if their children might have the disease. The Health Department has released a public statement that it is very unlikely that anyone has caught the disease.
4. Career criminal arrested. Mark Johnsen was arrested at about 11 p.m. last night after leaving a house with stolen items. Neighbors of called police after seeing him enter the house. Johnsen confessed to breaking into about 300 homes over the last twelve months. He was released from prison about two years ago, after being convicted of rape, robbery, and kidnapping.
5. A Cessna 172 Skyhawk crashed on takeoff shortly after 4 p.m. yesterday afternoon. Investigations are underway. The plane was practicing touch-and-go landing under windy conditions. A pilot and three passengers were aboard the plane when the accident occurred. They sustained no serious injuries.

State Beat

1. Dispute arises over proposed legislation for newspaper editorials. State senator Neil Iacobi is drafting legislation that would require editorials to be signed by their authors. Executive director of the State Press Association, Tony DiLorento, believes the legislation is an “attempt at press-bashing”. Iacobi claims to already have 32 co-sponsors for the bill.
2. State Senator Karen Simmons proposed a new law in the senate today. It is a law that the Senator hopes will ban disposable diapers. She is expecting heavy opposition to the law, especially from day-cares and mothers, but claims that it will be worth the effort, the state is running out of room for landfills.
3. Concerns are raised about the increase in female and older inmates in the state prison system. The system was originally geared toward young men, and as such, does not have enough facilities for women. Additionally, women and older inmates require more medical care, which is in short supply in contrast with its increasing necessity.
4. Bad checks to receive harsher penalties. A new law was signed by the governor of South Carolina today that makes check-bouncers accountable for three times the value of the original check. They must also pay the service charges, court costs, and attorney fees. The law will go into effect on the first of next month.

Analyzing an Example of Multimedia Journalism

NPR is considered by many to be one of the final bastions of honest journalism in the U.S.A. One of the things that keeps them going is the correct use of multimedia facets in their articles. As an example, the article "Food As Punishment" discreetly uses differing forms of media.

The web page is setup with the sound file of the radio version of the story as a clickable link at the top of the page. Readers can choose to listen to this audio bite, which is just over four and a half minutes in length, or choose to scroll down and read the story on the page. The story is NOT a carbon copy of what is said in the radio program, though it shares many similarities, such as quotes from Sheriff Clarke on why food loaf makes for a good deterrent in prisons.

Between the audio link and the typed story, there is an artistic interpretation to represent the article. It is a cartoony depiction of a prisoner turning from some food concoction in disgust. A rat inhabiting the same cell is also cringing away from the mystery substance.

Unfortunately, while all of these story formats are well made, they are clearly separate entities. There is no smooth transition between them, and they do not complement each other, as should be done in a good piece of multimedia journalism. They are merely there to provide options; options that come off as redundant. The art piece is merely thrown in to add character and avoid having a bland article page. After all, a common rule of thumb in journalism is to have pictures for your stories.

Headlines, Blurbs, Leads

1. Baked Bads
• What city health inspectors found in the Kalani Bros. Bakery
• The city Health Department shut down Kalani Bros. Bakery last Friday when inspectors found cockroaches, mice droppings, and other health hazards. The bakery's license is temporarily suspended, and is pending to be permanently revoked. Health inspectors have given warnings to the large company in the past, with many of the problems remaining unresolved upon each inspection.
2. County Wants Higher Moving Fees to Reduce Impact
• County can't expand without newcomers paying impact fees
• County commissioners are pushing for impact fees to be put in place for residents moving into the area. The purpose of these fees is to ease to ease the financial strain placed on long time by newcomers who might not be able to fully secure their financial contributions to the community growth.
3. Legislatures Bring Apple to Schools
• New law that promotes health and debate in public schools
• A state law goes into effect next fall that removes the selling of junk food from all schools below the college level. The move sparks controversy from parents, principles, food distributors, and even students.
4. Bulletproof: As Ordained by the City
• Police officer survives random act of criminality, thanks to supplies mandatory by the city
• Thomas E. Richardson responded to an anonymous call last night. A suspicious person was reported behind the restaurant at 640 Aloma Avenue. When Richardson pulled up to the individual, he was hit by two .38 caliber rounds. He survived thanks to a bullet proof vest provided to all police officers by the city; free of charge.
5. Police Celebrate A Year of Reassurance
• Local officers of the law check on senior citizens' safety for a year
• Project Reassurance was enacted exactly a year ago to assist in the safety of the city's senior citizens. Yesterday, police celebrated the success of this program, as well as the three lives that it saved.
6. Eye for a Blind
• Lawsuit restricts cornea transplants from deceased individuals
• A two year old incident and subsequent lawsuit has resulted in a law that requires family permission for the corneas to be removed from a deceased individual. In the lawsuit, the victim was a Jane Doe when her corneas were removed. Later, when she was identified, her family filed the lawsuit, stating violation of rights.

Mass Communications Journalistic Leads

1. A group of students some two hundred fifty strong, protested this morning against an assistant professor's teaching demonstration. Denise Beall burned a small American flag last Friday during her "Communication Law course, in an attempt to spark debate in the class. The president of the university admonished the poor judgement of the assistant, but otherwise stated that further punishment was not necessary.
2. The prospect of the First Lady of the United States giving the graduation commencement address at Winthrop University has given rise to a debate of gender stereotypes. The graduating class has issued a petition, stating that the First Lady is recognized for her husband's achievements, which contradicts the idea that women should be recognized for their own achievements. The president of Winthrop will hold a conference on the issue late this Friday.
3. Linda Kasparocv, a licensed dietitian at Winthrop University, had found evidence to support the common college cliche of the "Freshman 15". Study finds that the sudden changes in lifestyle, coupled with massive stress, lead to the infamous weight gain of freshman college students.
4. The Winthrop Board of Regents voted down a potential ban on University investments in tobacco company stocks this morning. The vote occurred after a mildly controversial finding by a student paper investigation into the university stock investments.
5. Medical researchers at Winthrop University's student clinic have gained surprising results from abortion surveys on campus. According to data from both open and anonymous interviews, about 1 out of every 10 female students have undergone an abortion procedure.
6. Hospitalizations of Sigma Kappa Chi pledges has resulted in the arrest of five members of the same fraternity. The arrests and hospitalizations have been linked, by investigators, to hazing events. The events consisted "forms of physical and verbal punishment".