Lead writing

I believe that a delayed lead is the best. It allows the story to have more personality. "It’s official: We’ve got our Ben back. And, good Lord, what he had to put us through, and go through, to get here." The Boston Globe article's delayed lead tells very little of the actual story, but it draws you in. It even includes the reader when it says "we've". Its weakness is that it doesn't include much details. If someone was just quickly browsing and only wanted to learn the quick details and move on, this wouldn't do it for them.
A summary lead gives you all the details immediately, but it's a little boring. "Cardinal Keith O'Brien, Britain’s highest-ranking Catholic leader, said Monday he wouldn’t take part in the conclave to elect the next pope after being accused of improper conduct with priests — an unprecedented first head to roll in the mudslinging that has followed Pope Benedict XVI’s decision to resign." This tells all the basic information, but it doesn't draw the reader in or make it sound very interesting.

Facebook and Twitter as news sources?

Are Twitter and Facebook reliable sources of news? I say no.
For the amount of crap I see uploaded to both Facebook and Twitter I don't understand how anyone can consider it a news source.
I mean how reliable is a 160 character post even going to be? You can't get any details or anything in there anyways. Plus all the hashtags usually just make me discredit the user immediately.
I can see using Twitter or Facebook as a teaser or something, like something is upcoming and they mention it. Or maybe to be used to promote a video or link to an actual article. But, to call Twitter or Facebook actual news isn't right.
Actual news doesn't belong on a social networking site. I'm still not totally sold on the concept that news belongs on blogs either, but "when in Rome" I guess.

Boston living Center summary lead/delayed lead

Larry Kessler was recently hired as the Boston Living Center's new executive director.

After a few years of retirement, the long time Boston warrior against the AIDS and HIV viruses is back. "There's still more work to be done," said Larry Kessler.

Kessler is now executive director of Boston's Living Center.

Station fire soft lead

Even after 10 years, Walter Castle Jr. still has nightmares. "I was 30 seconds away from dying."

Castle was 29-years-old at the time of the fire and suffered third-degree burns to his lungs, throat, and bronchial tubes. He had been in counseling until 2009, but recently returned to counseling after the nightmares started. "It's just very rough."

The Warwick, RI nightclub fire happened February 20th, 2003. The 10th year anniversary is Wednesday. The memorial happened Sunday. Survivors and relatives came to pay their respects, some by bringing flowers, and others by crying and speaking of the trauma at their lost loved ones and experiences they had. 

The Station nightclub caught fire as rock band Great White's pyrotechnics ignited soundproofing packing foam.

Brainy Parrot summary lead

A 31-year-old African grey parrot named Alex, who became famous for learning to talk, died last week.

Alex's death was attributed to natural causes according to Dr. Irene Pepperberg, who worked with the bird for most of its life after the bird at a pet store. Dr. Pepperberg is a comparative pyschologist at Brandeis University and Harvard.

The bird rose to prominence after learning more than a hundred words, 

Does the reporter's opinion matter?

A reporter is supposed to keep their opinions out of a story and never use "I", "we", or "us". But, aren't there times when the reporter is an expert on the subject he is reporting one. Who else has followed or researched as much on the subject as the reporter has? If the reporter is supposed to have expert knowledge on the subject doesn't that make him qualified to speak on it? And, what about those situations where everyone knows what happened, but there just isn't enough evidence to convict on it?

A reporter is taught to research, interview, and dive into his story. But, at the same time he is supposed to keep himself out of it. Police use their opinions when investigating a crime. Reporters should be allowed to use theirs when reporting one. They have a voice to be heard and need to use it. While not every reporter is out there working for the good of the human race, every reporter's voice is still important. 

How can a reporter report on something cruel and terrible without using their own opinions?

Bias

How does one consider biases in a news story. People say the dislike reading biased news story, but is that really true? And can you truly have an unbiased news story?

The reason I say people probably do enjoy biased news stories is because they're usually biased from the readers side. Fox News is considered extremely biased, and it also has the highest fan base of any cable network. 

BBC News is considered extremely unbiased, but isn't every story still going to have a western bias with it? When reporting on a story in the Middle East, for example, wouldn't they tend to see it from a different perspective than the locals would? Does Al Qaeda consider itself a terrorist organization, or do they say freedom fighters? What about the Irish Republican Army (IRA)? Or, what about ethnocentric stories? If they don't understand the culture behind the story how can they report on it?

Just food for thought.

Gonzo Journalism

Gonzo Journalism was a type of reporting coined by Hunter S Thompson. It involves the reporter to invest himself heavily in the story. Including taking part in what the story is about instead of just being a fly on the wall. But, is this really a good technique.

I'm a huge fan of Hunter S Thompson, I've read 5 books by him and watched his documentary multiple times. He was what influenced me to start journalism. But, his methods don't always work well. If a reporter joins in on what he is reporting on, he is bound to miss certain important elements. The reporter is open to distraction more so than if he were just in the press box watching over the place.

Another thing is the story tends to become less about the actual story and more about the reporter. It becomes the reporters reaction and activities during the situation. And, while I find this incredibly interesting myself, others might be turned off by it or at the very least just consider it an opinion piece.

Other than opinion pieces, does anyone actually still use this form of journalism today?

Accident at Mill Hill Road

An accident happened Sunday evening on Mile Hill Road in Belmont, Massachusetts involving three local teenagers.

Jamie Peterson was driving his two friends in his white Mustang along Mile Hill Road around 9 o'clock, when he lost control of the vehicle and flipped the car onto the roof. Peterson, seventeen, was able to walk away from the accident, while the other passengers have been hospitalized.

"I thought the worst." Said Tom Carroll Jr. who was the first one on the scene. He had been driving in his pick-up truck behind the Mustang. He is also seventeen. "It's hard to see kids your age in something like this." Carroll lost sight of the Mustang around a curve and then found the car upside down.

We don't know the names of the other two female passengers. Police will not reveal the names at this time, only that the two passengers are female.

"I've never seen a car going so fast on this road." Said Josie M. Crandall, who lives at 27 Mile Hill Road. Crandall happened to look out her window at 9 PM, saw the accident and phoned the police. "It's really easy to lose control."

Two other local teenagers were involved in a fatal accident at the same spot on December 24, 2005. Mile Hill Road is a dirt road without any streetlights.

While Peterson managed to crawl out on his own, rescuers were forced to use the jaws of life to free the other two. It took 45 minutes to free the other passengers. One was taken to Memorial Hospital in Belmont in stable condition. The other was airlifted to Mass. General Hospital in Boston. A spokesperson from the hospital confirmed they were treating an accident victim for a brain injury, but wouldn't release the patient's name.

This weeks story

This weeks story was easy for me to find. I didn't have to work at all, I really lucked out on this one. I decided to just do one on the big snow storm. I figured it would be news because we got absolutely covered in snow. I really need to stop procrastinating on the stories though. I really need to get out there earlier and go searching for one. This time I got lucky, but every story isn't just going to come to me. And, even when they do come to me I really need to think them through and get interviews lined up and find good sources to use. I feel I have some good sources this time. I'm trying to interview someone from PSNH and the NH state climatologist. These are the type of sources I should look for because they are both trustworthy sources that dealt with the storm.

Adapting to Newswriting

I feel I am adapting slowly. This is my first semester of taking a 600 level course and I'm taking two at the same time. So, my time is still being balanced out.
Interviewing people is pretty scary. It takes guts to go up to a complete stranger and just start asking them questions. I'm actually a pretty shy person. If I don't know someone I rarely talk to them, but once I get to know someone I can't stop talking. For me just going up to a stranger is still a rather daunting task.
The style of writing I feel will be easy for me to do. I am used to writing short paragraphs and sentences that get right to the point. I guess that is from reading Hunter S Thompson so much. I just became accustomed to how he wrote and started subconsciously emulating him. In one class I found myself struggling to write long paragraphs for research papers.
Looking for stories is also pretty difficult. I keep trying to think what would people care about. I still want to look for the "so what?".

Cross-dressing talking wolf's attempted double homicide thwarted

Early this morning a cross-dressing talking wolf attempted to eat both Elisabeth "Little Red Riding Hood" and her sick grandmother alive in the grandmother's home. The home is located about a mile and a half away from the village. The wolf's plans were thwarted by a huntsmen that happened to be traveling by. The huntsmen killed the wolf and miraculously both victims emerged unharmed.
Little Red Riding Hood was on her way this morning to bring her sick grandmother some bread, wine, and butter. She met the wolf about half way to the grandmother's house. She reported that he inquired about where she was going and walked with her for a bit. The wolf then distracted Little Red Riding Hood and made his way to the grandmother's house and ate the grandmother before Little Red Riding Hood had arrived.
Upon arrival at the house Little Red Riding Hood said she "found the door open and felt afraid". She went into grandma's bedroom and whom she thought was her grandmother in bed.
The wolf then ate the poor girl too and went to sleep.
As this unfolded a huntsmen was walking by and heard the wolf's snoring and thought something was wrong with the grandmother. As he entered the scene he immediately knew what had happened and instead of shooting the beast he cut him open so as to not harm the victims.
"I've been looking for you all these years and this is how I find you," said the huntsmen when he saw the wolf.
Both victims emerged unharmed unharmed. The huntsmen skinned the wolf and put the pelt on his door.
Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother then enjoyed their meal and grandma cleaned the scene of the crime.
Investigations are still on going and no police were available for comment