Journalist Ryan Prior reports that on Friday in Anchorage, Alaska, a high school swimmer was disqualified because of her swimsuit. She swam and won a heart during the meet, but an anonymous race official said her swimsuit shifted and showed too much of her rear. Since no one had made the disqualification before she swam in the meet, the “heavy-handed and unnecessary” disqualification was tossed out. The high schooler’s mother called it sexual harassment because the school-issued swimsuit only shifted because of the girl’s body type. The director of sports for the National Federation of State High School Associations brought out a diagram of “Appropriate and Inappropriate Female Suit Coverage” that the mother called outdated, representing a 1950’s swimsuit style and model.

The most interesting part of this article was the fact that it was chunked with titles, like you see in textbooks. Every time it introduced a new idea, like the mother believing it to be sexual harassment or the diagram being brought into the argument, it would have a centered title that introduced the idea. This made it easier to transition and understand the shift. Prior wrote a story about a girl in Alaska but because it involved a conflict that might be relatable for people all the nation, it was newsworthy. High schools deal with dress code problems everywhere, so I think that reporting on an event that not only tells a story but also offers the solution to that specific situation. 

Reporter Madeline Farber describes how a 12-year-old boy from the United Kingdom was jumping on his family’s trampoline one day when a metal coil from broke off and shot into his back. Jamie Quinan was quickly rushed to the hospital, finding out there that the coil was only centimeters away from his spine. With Jamie’s bravery, his parents are using this freak accident to advocate for trampoline safety everywhere. Farber points out that there were 94,000 ER injuries that were due to trampoline accidents in 2012. The American Academy of Pediatrics warns parents that children under six are most at risk for a trampoline injury. Jamie told Farber that he can still feel the coil in his spine, but he’s getting better and is relieved that it wasn’t worse.

To begin with, I noticed that the story covered a very bizarre topic. The article points out how common trampoline injuries are, but I have never personally heard of a metal coil popping off and impaling someone. Another thing I noticed FOXdo with this article was they used a lot of visuals, even though this story was very short and simple. It lacked background information but made that up with graphic images and pictures of the boy holding up the spring in a heroic manner. 

Journalist Nancy Gaarder explains that one of the five wells in Nebraska, Plattsmouth’s water plant, is once again operating at full speed. It supplies 7,000 people in the area with drinking water and since the historic flooding that occurred last March, people were having to watch their water usage and conserve as much as humanly possible. The city had people working 24/7 on getting the power plant up and running again and after three months, the city can pump 100,000 gallons more than it did before the flood. The city hopes to get two more wells up and working again, all while trying to find a long-term solution to the fixture of the water plants. 

Gaarder’s article is set up in a way that requires readers to understand the context of the flooding that occurred last spring. Though she does give the date and hints at the massive destruction it left, it does not go into any extra detail that would help readers understand the excitement and relief the article is trying to portray. The two things that really make this story newsworthy are the proximity and impact it has towards its readers. People who live in the Omaha Metro were greatly affected by the flood, so hearing of any accomplishments to recover from it allows hope to be redeemed. Nationally, it may not be the biggest story right now though, since it does only matter to the people in the area. The point of the story also impacts many people, around 7,000 people to be exact. The water plant reopening makes it so people who get water from the Plattsmouth Water Plant no longer have to closely watch how much water they use because it is back to functioning at a regular pace. It’s something that people would need to hear about in order to know whether or not they need to continue extreme conservation or not.