Weekly News Comment #9

This week I read an article from the Huffington Post titled, “The Morality of a $15 Minimum.”

The lead in this article starts with a question and the following sentence talks about conservatives shooting down the idea of a higher minimum wage. This is somewhat eye catching, but it does not to a great job of giving the reader a completely accurate idea of what is to follow in the article.

The article is about the minimum wage being raised, but all of the positives about it.

I thought that this was an interesting article to read overall, and it gave numbers, statistics, and examples to allow the reader to connect with the topic.

The only issue with the facts it gave are that the author is very clearly for raising the minimum wage and turned the article more or less into a persuasive essay. The author, Robert Reich, is the author of the book, “Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few.” So his opinion on this is public, however, it is never mentioned in the body of the article who the author is, only under his name at the beginning.

 

Link to original article 

Weekly News Comment #8

This week, I read an article from The Huffington Post titled, “Why Cornell’s President Wants Students To Put Down Their Phones And Get Some Sleep.”

The headline originally caught my eye because, as a college student, I wanted to learn more about the President’s idea on the correlation between phones and the amount of sleep a student gets. It makes sense that getting enough sleep is important, but it was a topic I could relate to.

The lead says, “If Cornell University President Elizabeth Garrett hears someone say they get only three or four hours of sleep a night, she’s not impressed.” This was not a good summarization of what the article is about.

The first section talks about students at universities thinking of the person who gets the littlest amount of sleep as the “winner.” It talks a lot about different sayings regarding this on campuses and does not bring up anything about Cornell or its President. It then starts off on a new topic about sleep patterns being related to mental health.

Finally, in the last few paragraphs, they talk again about why Garrettt is making it her goal to combat these issues.  And in only one paragraph is it brought up that students should “unplug” from their phones and contact face-to-face instead.

Overall, I think that this was an interesting article and topic. Especially since it is something I can relate to in some ways. I think that the order of the information given should have been moved around to make the information that was said to be given in the headline and lead pop out better, instead of leaving it to the very end.

Link to original article 

Weekly News Comment #7

This week, I read an article from the Huffington Post titled, “Oklahoma Reportedly Used The Wrong Drug In A January Execution.” The sub head for this article was “After receiving the first drug in the lethal injection series, the man being executed said, “My body is on Fire.””

Overall, the headline and subhead is what got my attention on this story. When it says that the wrong drug was used, it made me want to know what was used and what happened. The quote given from the man being executed made the story seem more real. It made me want to know what was done about the drug mix up.

The lead is not very eye-catching, but it gives good, straight forward information and also links the reader to the original local newspaper article that the Huffington Post got its information from.

They start in the first body paragraph by stating what the mix up was. It then continues in following paragraphs to give supporting information on how the situation is being investigated.

Overall, the information was organized well and the article quickly got to the point.

 

Link to original article 

Weekly News Comment #6 – Service Dog Learned How To Save His Diabetic Owner’s Life

This week I read an article from the Huffington Post titled, “This Precious Service Dog Learned How To Save His Diabetic Owner’s Life.”

The headline alone personally made me want to continue reading. A service dog for diabetic patients is something I had never heard of before and immediately wanted to know more about how that situation works.

The subtitle, “Coach can smell when blood sugar levels have risen or dropped, before the symptoms even hit” already answers the question of how it works. However, the emotional appeal of this story can make the reader want to continue reading.

The lead has a very similar effect as the subtitle. It gives more detail into this particular story and girl. Again, with the emotional appeal and the last sentence of the lead (“Coach who, after nearly 2,000 hours of training, learned how to save Elle’s life”) makes the reader want to know more about this family.

The article is organized well and uses many quotes from the mother and daughter who own the service dog. Giving details as to how the dog notifies the family, and reasons why having the dog has made their lives easier and idea of the future brighter keeps the reader interested in the story.

 

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Weekly News Comment #5 – Brian Williams Returns To TV — But He’s Not Talking About Himself

This week I read an article from the Huffington Post regarding Brian Williams and his return to television with MSNBC.

This article did a really good job of briefly explaining Williams’ past and the controversy his career faced. It gave enough information so the reader knew what was being talked about, but not too much to the point where the article seemed to only be about old news. Then, it focused on his new job at MSNBC, what he will be doing there, and his first story on the Pope’s United States visit.

I thought the headline and lead worked very well. The headline left the reader wondering . . . not talking about himself? What is he talking about?

The lead summarized very well what was in the article. The only issue is that it was not overly intriguing to someone who may not care about television news or Williams’ story. It just summed up the who, what, when, why, how.

Overall, this was a very well-written, informational story. The author did a great job of being objective, especially on this subject matter of whether Williams was really in the wrong and if he should get another chance or not. It gave the information readers need without carrying the story on for pages.

Click here to read original article.

Weekly News Comment #4 – America’s Heartbeat and Our Stethoscope

This week I read an article titled, “America’s Heartbeat and Our Stethoscope.” This article was in response to the beauty pageant contestant who wore her nursing scrubs and stethoscope on stage during the talent portion to talk about her job as a nurse. Following this, the ladies on The View publicly made fun of this girl for doing so and questioned why she was wearing a “doctor’s stethoscope.”

The author used this article to inform readers and the public what doctors and nurses do by making it clear that nurses are very important in the medical field – thus calling a stethoscope a “doctor’s stethoscope” is incorrect.

This topic is definitely newsworthy and educating the public on a nurse’s intense job duties is important; however, this article did not explain the story enough. The headline is not going to mean a lot to anyone who has not yet read the story. The lead is intriguing, but it summarize what is in the rest of the article.

I personally agree with the author’s feelings on the matter and the points she made make sense. She did make it very clear that she was upset about the comments that were made. These feelings turned what she wrote more into a rant rather than a story. More information should have been given on what was said on The View and the consequences that came from their comments.

 

Link to original article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kateri-allard/joy-behar-nurses_b_8142516.html

Weekly News Comment #3 – Odds Are, Your Sport-Playing Child Isn’t Going Pro. Now What?

This week I read an article from the New York Times written by Meghan Moravick Walbert. Titled, “Odds Are, Your Sport-Playing Child Isn’t Going Pro. Now What?”, this article explains that 26% of parents of student athletes are depending on their child to go professional with their career, even though only less than 1% of players really make it.

High school sports of all kinds are known to require loads of time, commitment, and hard work. The number of people who say the work is not worth it for those who do not make it big is surprising.

As far as the front page of a paper or the nightly news broadcast goes, this story is not necessarily “newsworthy.” On the other hand, anyone who is, has been, or knows a hard-working, student athlete will be able to connect to this story and the point it is trying to prove.

The lead to this story is informational without giving away too much, and makes the reader want to continue by hinting at answers that will be provided within the text. The article itself is not something that is relevant to everyone, but is of much interest to the projected audience.

The breaking down of the tiny percentages of young athletes who get athletic scholarships, end up playing a sport professionally, and eventually make it big time is a harsh realization to face. The amount of time, work, and sweat that is put into the sport seems worth it when working towards said scholarship or dream of playing professionally; however, is it still worth it after accepting the reality of statistics and just playing for fun? Especially when that money, work, and time has the opportunity to be invested in something else.

 

link to original article: http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/09/08/odds-are-your-sport-playing-child-isnt-going-pro-now-what/?module=BlogPost-Title&version=Blog%20Main&contentCollection=U.S.&action=Click&pgtype=Blogs&region=Body

 

Weekly News Comment #2 – Why Students With Smallest Debts Have the Larger Problem

This week I read an article published by the New York Times titled, “Why Students With Smallest Debts Have the Larger Problem”. The article discusses the fact that most of the students who fall into default after graduation are those who borrowed less than $25,000. Eventually, it is brought up that those who borrowed more for their studies graduated with a higher paying job, making their loan payments more attainable. On the other side, students who did not finish their college education have a lower borrowed amount, but also a lower paying career. Solutions to the problem, such as switching the loan payment amount to being income-based or stretching the payback frame from 10 years to 25 years, is also discussed at the end of the article. 

The lead is short and to the point, mentioning that “student borrowers owe more than $1 trillion, and seven million borrowers are in default”, a statistic that quickly catches the eye of the reader. The topic of college tuition and student loans is something that connects to a large percentage of the population; however, that does not make everything about it newsworthy. The title and the lead are very intriguing with their bold statements and impressive statistics. Once you read further, the information is interesting, but hearing that students who went to graduate school paid more for their loans and are able to pay them back because their degree got them better paying jobs than those who dropped out with no degree is just sensible information rather than “news”. 

Maybe the newsworthy question should be, why is college tuition in the United States at a level where the majority of borrowers who do not have trouble paying back their loans are doctors and lawyers?

 

Link to original article: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/01/upshot/why-students-with-smallest-debts-need-the-greatest-help.html?ref=education

Weekly News Comment #1 – Is Journalism Obsolete?

In this article, author, Mathew Ingram, tells the truth behind Dave Winer’s statement “Journalism itself is becoming obsolete because now anyone can do it”. Going into further detail, journalism is not going away, but expanding. It is no longer just those who write for a paper or report for the local news, but anyone who has information on a story and communicates that information to an audience.

In the modern world, new gadgets and tools emerge every day and the fact that journalism is emerging and changing with us only makes sense. Social media has a huge influence on today’s people. While getting all of the information about a topic from social media alone can be dangerous, it is also a good place to get the raw, unedited truth and opinions. Plus, just because a user tweeted a new finding on a news story does not mean that a popular newspaper is not going to report on it as well, thus showing that journalism is expanding rather than going obsolete.

In a sense, this article somewhat argued with itself. The title being the question “Is Journalism as We Know it Becoming Obsolete?” was answered to be true by the author; however, the question asked at the beginning of the writing was “is journalism itself becoming obsolete?” Overall, they summarize that journalism is not going away, but changing and expanding, answering yes to the first question and no to the second question.

There is a lot of focus and detail on the positive side of journalism becoming something that can be done by almost anyone. Some insight on the negative effect these changes can and are going to have on current journalists could have been used to help the reader decide their opinion. While there is not a lot that can be done to stop the change, both sides should be fully represented.

Overall this article was interesting to read. It gave a lot of facts, opinions, and stories regarding the change. The topic is also very relevant to everyone, as journalism a big part of life whether the person be giving the information or receiving the information.

 

Link to original article: https://gigaom.com/2011/09/02/is-journalism-as-we-know-it-becoming-obsolete/