Zach Static

What Happens Off The Air

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Three Injured and One Dead After Accident Outside Sioux City

Moyer Quick of South Sioux City, Neb. was killed in a car accident on Highway 20, two miles east of Sioux City yesterday morning.

Around 11 a.m. Quick’s vehicle collided with a truck driven by Randy Radin. Both vehicles went into the ditch on the north side of Highway 20 where Quick’s vehicle rolled over.

An autopsy report indicates that Quick had a heart attack which may have caused the accident.

After the accident Radin and Quick’s passengers, his wife Dorothy and sister Maxine Stuerwald of Lawton, Iowa, were transported to Marian Health Center for their injuries. Radin remains in critical condition. Quick’s wife has been released from the hospital. Steuerwald is scheduled to be released.

The accident is still under investigation.

 

Updated 9/22/15

Iowa Highway Patrol Bans Hand-Held Radar Guns

The Iowa Highway patrol banned hand-held radar guns yesterday because of possible cancer risks.

The Iowa Highway patrol is shifting its method of checking people’s speed as they travel. The ban will pull 70 hand-held units from service. They will now focus on using radar units mounted outside the patrol car rather than hand-held units.

Recently, three officers from Cedar Rapids, IA filed for compensation claiming that use of the hand-held units caused them to develop cancer. A study is being conducted to determine if long term exposure to radiation emitted by these devices can be linked to cancer.

Spokesman Adam Berluti said, “The feeling here is to err on the side of caution until the more is known about the issue.”

This move is considered the first of its kind by a state agency.

Scheming Without Success

Before class Jenni Beaver and I were scheming. Jenni is a red haired Morningside Jr. of average height. Today she was wearing a gray jacket and up for a little fun. The target was none other than Taylor DeVary. DeVary had made the decision to take a nap in the lounge of the Mass Comm department. Our plan was to wake her with loud music. DeVary wouldn’t have been happy had our plan succeeded but unfortunately she had woken up just before we put our plan into action.

Welcome Kyle Kardell (Again)

On the campus of Morningside College students have returned to class. A young man named Kyle Kardell is among them. Kardell is a twenty year old Junior from Laurel, Nebraska studying Advertising and Corporate Communications. His class schedule for this semester includes Fundamentals of Journalism, Media Management, and Video Production. All students want to know what instructors are like before classes start but sometimes that isn’t always the case. When asked about Ross Fuglsang, the instructor for Fundamentals of Journalism, Kardell said Fuglsang is “fair and has no favorites but I’ve only had him for two days so I really shouldn’t judge.”

Outside of the classroom Kardell works for the Hard Rock in Sioux City as a bellman. He says that he really enjoys his job. For the past two years he was a football player but has decided not to pursue that activity this year. He claims to not really have any hobbies and isn’t a part of any campus organizations. He attributes this mostly to not having much time. Part of his free time, when it occurs, is spent watching his favorite television show, The Office. His personal favorite season is autumn.

Kyle Kardell is an autumn loving, twenty year old Junior at Morningside College and I wish him the best of luck in this semester.

 

 

Objectivity

One key skill for any reporter is to be objective. Objectivity is the ability to convey a story without placing the emotions and viewpoints of the reporter in the article they are writing. That means that the reporter must report both sides fairly without bias in their writing even though they might actually have a strong opinion. Interviews with both sides and reporting arguments made both ways is one way to remain objective. The use of adjectives can also be a pitfall for reporters who don’t intend to convey their standpoint on the topic as they can easily demonstrate their position. Remaining objective is important. To pass information to the intended audience effectively, being able to relate to all sides through objectivity is the best way. While the audience won’t agree with everything, they can usually relate to at least one of the arguments. Objectivity allows you to address a larger audience than an opinionated article. Objectivity is a tool that allows a reporter to address a larger audience and tell a story fairly which is invaluable for any reporter.

Uber’s New Recruits

Uber, a ride hailing service, has recently opened its Uber Advanced Technologies Center which is a joint effort with Carnegie Mellon University to research robotics and autonomous vehicles. Uber’s most recent staff acquisitions are Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek who have recently proven that modern cars can be hacked. In 2013 they managed to control a Ford and a Toyota through the diagnostic port but the requirement of having physical access to the vehicles caused auto makers to dismiss this as something of little concern. Now recently they have proven that they can gain remote access to vehicles through the internet and control various functions including brakes and steering. Last month Fiat Chrysler even recalled 1.4 million vehicles after Miller and Valasek found a method to control many functions of the cars electronics, and again brakes and steering, after hacking in through the internet hardware chip of the vehicle.

People believe they’re safe. Then people like Miller and Valasek come along, without the intention of helping develop better security, and prove how vulnerable we really are. Thankfully it was a couple of people with good intentions that discovered this flaw but the next time it may not be. These men will definitely be useful in developing technology for Uber and they will hopefully stay one step ahead of any hacker.

Source: Uber Hires Two Engineers Who Showed Cars Could Be Hacked

Is Journalism Obsolete?

Journalism, as we know it today, is dying. However, it is not dead. Journalism has changed in ways that couldn’t have even been imagined 30 years ago. The internet is causing everything to evolve and journalism is no exception. Social media has become the fastest way to spread news stories throughout the world, whether they are fact or fiction. The thing people need to figure out is how to discern what information is factual rather than believing in complete nonsense, but with the amount of information swirling about the web, the process is difficult. As Dave Winer said in the article “Is journalism as we know it becoming obsolete?“, anyone can be a journalist now. That just opens up the world to a whole new source of information though. People can be more direct with the information being gathered from the original source rather than having to trust professional journalists and other second hand sources. All they have to do is look. Any average person can gather information that is the same or of similar quality to that of a professional journalist. This gives them the ability to see the sources and determine for themselves what the news is. In short, professional journalism is coming to an end but journalism itself isn’t going to die any time soon.

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