tweet 2

spoke too soon: 3rd victim, James Park, 30, was killed 1:30 pm today after being thrown from rowboat. police closed all beaches 

tweet

two boys with cardboard shark fins do laps at local beach and cause utter panic for sunbathers #toosoon 

The Meeting

The shark that was blamed for the death of two young people was killed yesterday by a local fisherman. 

Chrissie Watson, 17, of Amity was found dead on the beach Monday morning after being mauled by the shark. That same day, Alex Kintner, 10, of Amity was swimming at Village Beach when he was violently pulled under off his inflatable raft and killed, also by the same shark. 

An older man with overgrown grey sideburns and a mustache, Ben Quint was eating potato chips at the town meeting on Monday night when he originally volunteered to catch the shark. Quint slayed the shark one mile south-southwest of Amity from his boat. Quint will receive a $3,000 reward for his brave efforts. 

After Quint brought the shark ashore, Matt Hooper, a marine biologist from Woods Hole, Mass., Oceanographic Institute inspected it. Hooper decided that it was a nurse shark. Nurse sharks are among the most brutal and dangerous of all sharks and have been responsible for hundreds of swimmers’ deaths along the East Coast of the United States.

The Amity Police Chief Martin Brody released a statement this morning confirming that the waters were safe once again in the town of Amity. The beaches have been reopened immediately just in time for the flood of visitors for the Fourth of July weekend.  

Brody wants to remind everyone that there will be shark spotters from the Coast Guard, the Marine Patrol, the Massachusetts State Police, the U.S. Navy, Homeland Security, the FBI and numerous municipal and county police agencies in the area. This is just a precaution, and "islanders and guests should not be alarmed," Brody said.

Shark Side Story

Recent shark attacks in Cape Cod have caused swimming anxiety up and down the coast of New England. Although it seems unlikely that the crowded beaches on the 18-mile coastline of New Hampshire could be in danger, sharks are more common in this area than one might think. 

The chilly water temperature of NH seems like an unappealing habitat for a shark, however that isn’t true. Just this past July, Wallis Sands State Beach closed for two days after a lifeguard spotted two 6-foot sharks. No one was injured, and despite the sighting, there have been no shark attacks since 1936.

Lobsterman and self-described shark expert Brad Laslett said that he has seen his “fair share of sharks” while out fishing. “They’re really not going to do anything,” Laslett said. “In fact, most of the time around here it’s a Basking or a Blue shark and they barely even eat fish.”

A Basking Shark is a docile, large fish that feeds only on plankton. They range from 20 to 26 feet in length and are often seem swimming in the area. The Blue Shark is the most commonly spotted shark on the seacoast of NH. They are six to 10 feet in length. Blue Sharks diet typically consist of invertebrates. 

Great White Sharks are one of the three species of sharks that are universally dangerous to people. They are the only type of shark that ever come within a few hundred mile vicinity of NH. Even that is unlikely for several reasons. This is because, said Tony LaCasse, spokesperson for the New England Aquarium, Great Whites primarily eat seals, and the seal population north of Cape Cod is sparse. Additionally, the ocean floor off the coast of New Hampshire is rocky, making for tough swimming and hunting for a shark.

In short, the likelihood of kids boogie-boarding at Hampton Beach getting napped up by the next Jaws is slim. 

week 10.3: alex

Alex Kintner, 10, of Mayfair Court, Amity was killed at 2 p.m. this afternoon. Kintner was swimming about 40’ off shore on a blow up raft when he was violently pulled under the water. 

Amity Village Police Department Police Chief Martin Brody said that Kintner was killed in what appears to be a vicious and unprovoked shark attack. Kintner’s body was not recovered.

Kintner was at the crowded Village Beach for the afternoon with his mother. His damaged raft floated ashore shortly after the incident with what appeared to be a large bite out of it. Marion Kintner, mother of the victim, was at the beach when the event occurred. 

Marion Kintner is being treated for shock at Amity General Hospital, where she is in fair condition. A brown Labrador retriever disappeared into the water as well after his owner was playing catch with him. Whether or not the two incidents are related, there have been no other injuries reported. 

According to a press release by Amity Police Chief Martin Brody, the incident with 17-year-old Chrissie Watson may possibly be linked to shark activities as well. The investigation with both tragic events is ongoing. 

Police Chief Martin Brody and Amity Mayor Larry Vaughn express the town’s deepest and most sincere condolences to the Kintner family. Vaughn and Brody adamantly stress that random acts of senseless violence, victimizing innocent, helpless citizens, do not happen in the city.

A special meeting will be held this evening at 6 p.m. at the Town Hall. It will be hosted by Mayor Larry Vaughn, Police Chief Martin Brody and the Amity Board of Selectmen. The agenda is as follows:

1. Pledge of Allegiance
2. Reading of the minutes of the previous meeting
3. Any old business
4. New business
1. Discussion of Chief Brody’s plan to close the beaches on July 4.
2. Kintner family reward of $3,000 for capture of perpetrators.
3. Offer by grizzled old fisherman Quint to hunt down the shark thought to be the vile perpetrator of this tragic incident.
5. Closing prayer

week 10.2: chrissie

Chrissie Watson, 17, of 23 Sharkstooth St., Amity, was found dead on the beach Monday morning. Watson was last seen alive on Sunday night leaving a beach party with Christopher P. Hoggenbottam III. The pair had decided to go swimming around 11 p.m. 

Amity Village Police Department have begun investigations. Hoggenbottam, 20, a sophomore at Trinity College, reported at 6 a.m. on Monday that Watson did not return from the water. After a brief search, Police Deputy Jay Hendricks located Watson’s mangled body on the shoreline.

Watson’s body had been severely mauled by an attack of unknown origin. Her body has been transported to the coroner’s office an autopsy.

Watson entered the water at a remote section of South Beach near the South Beach Shoal bell buoy. Police have learned from witnesses that both teenagers had been drinking and possibly smoking marijuana throughout the evening.

Ericka Dupervil, 20, was at the party and saw Watson and Hoggenbottam leave together. “[Watson] didn’t seem intoxicated at all,” Dupervil said. “I saw Hoggenbottam have a coupe of beers.”

Police Chief Martin Brody has been with the Amity Village Police Department about a year. There has never been a history of shark attacks “because I’ve never heard of one,” he said at a press conference this morning.

Although a shark attack has not been completely ruled out, the beaches will remain open. “We don’t know what it could have been,” Brody said. “It could have been a stalker in the dunes.”

Watson was a senior at Amity High School and was a member of the varsity swim team and a lifeguard at the Amity Island YMCA pool in Oak Bluffs. 

week 10.1

what is "news?" i know you asked us this at the beginning of the semester, and in my last blog post i want to take a few sentences to think and reflect on this.
i'm far from being a skilled journalist, that much i know it true. my knowledge and skills have certainly improved (or i hope they have). perhaps they aren't best exemplified in the rambling of this blog but i think i've definitely refined at least some aspects of my writing. 
i am completely hooked on this type of writing. i love being thrown into learning about something and having only a few days, sometimes a few hours, to process and comprehend this information into a way that makes sense. this occurs through research, interviews, reading, just thinking, and eventually writing. i have also learned a lot about my writing style - i need all of my information and (almost all of) my sources before i can write an article. i quickly found that just one persons opinion can (and probably will) change the entire structure and voice of the article. 
so back to the beginning. news - has it changed? how do i define it now? is it any different to me? have i been changed? i think my experience with this thing is still too immature for any bold statements like those. i have grown and developed an new appreciation of the definition of news - hows that for whishy-washy, vague and noncommittal?
to me, news is still:
True, current and important ongoings in a community, town, city, state, country and world, collected and exemplified in many mediums, including written word on a newspaper, blog, website, magazine, e-blast or spoken on the television or broadcasted over the radio.

i'm not sure if the definition will or could ever change, though. i am hoping my interpretation of "The News" grows with me.

french connection

Newswriting

Annah Todd

French Connection

11/23/2012

The sunny, quiet afternoon in New York was abruptly interrupted when five shots were fired from atop an apartment building. The occurrence triggered a series of events that ended in the deaths of four civilians. 

Pierre Jeantot, 38, of Nice, France is surmised of being assigned to assassinate New York City Police Detective Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle. Doyle works in the Narcotics Division and was investigating Jeantot’s suspected boss, a French drug kingpin. 

Jeantot entered the country on Nov. 4 after a flight from Paris, France. The NYPD reports that he was associated with a crime syndicate that had been laying the groundwork for a major heroin shipment from France to New York City. 

The events began while Isabelle Todd was walking down 57th avenue when the violent outbreak occurred. Todd, 14, was on her way to play a pickup soccer game. Todd goes this way every afternoon. According to Todd, Betty B. Badluck was walking with her granddaughter just a few hundred feet ahead of her. Todd remembers hearing the shots and “then suddenly she was on the ground,” Todd said of Badluck. 

“I was so confused,” Todd said. “I thought her [Badluck’s] legs had just given out or something. And then I saw Doyle running away and I thought he had shot her... I was so scared and disoriented.” 

Emma Stehli, 16, also saw the incident. Stehli lives in the apartment buildings that Jeantot shot from and was on her way out the door to go to meet her friends. Stehli said he saw Badluck fall and then two women ran over to help her. “Next thing I knew,” Stehli said, “I heard Doyle yell, ‘leave her alone there’s a sniper up there.’”

According to Stehli she heard five shots. “Doyle hid behind trees and then like, before I even knew it, he was against the apartment complex wall.” Stehli accounted that Doyle shuffled along the brick wall until he got to an open window where two boys peered out. “I couldn’t really hear,” Stehli said. “But it almost sounded like he was speaking Spanish.”

“I was scared for the guy!” Stehli said, “he went into a nearby door and that was the last I saw.”

After Jeantot unsuccessfully assassinated Doyle, the excitement moved on to the train station on 35th St. Jeantot got on the train and by the time Doyle had gotten there, the train had departed. Doyle heisted Emmet St. Onge’s red 1971 Pontiac LeMans. 

St. Onge, 17, was driving down the road when Doyle jumped out in front of him and demanded that St. Onge get out. “I mean, I was glad I could help out, I guess,” St. Onge said. “But he did total my car.”

Doyle sped off in St. Onge’s car, dodging vehicles and pedestrians and he chased the train under the elevated train tracks. However, onboard the train, Jeantot frantically tried to -_. Jeantot sprinted up to the conductor’s booth and went in. Isabel Huntington sitting just a few seats back, was an eye witness to the event. Huntington was supposed to get off at the next stop. Huntington said that after Jeantot went into the booth with the conductor and the train flew by her stop, she knew that something was wrong. 

“I was getting kind of anxious,” Huntington said. “I ride this train every morning and this had never happened before.” Roland Evans of Brooklyn, a 15-year veteran of the New York City Police Department knocked on the conductor’s booth. 

“Everyone was confused, I think,” Huntington said. “But everyone also seemed really distraught.” 

Jeantot opened the door of the booth and according to Huntington, commanded Evans not to come any closer.

“Evans kept trying to negotiate with him,” said Huntington. “And then Jeantot just whipped out a gun and shot him.” 

Meanwhile inside the booth was conductor Peter Howe, 27, of Queens. Howe died of a heart attack at the controls. Jeantot shot and killed Horatio C. Hornblower, 30 of White Plains.

“Everything was so out of control,” Huntington said. “I’ve never been more terrified in my entire life.”

The train did finally come to halt after it careened into another train parked at the 15th St. Station. 

Jack Callahan, 22, was walking to the stop to catch the train when he saw what had happened. 

“I was off to work when I saw Jeantot run out from the train and then I realized that my train was smushed into the back of another,” Callahan said. “And then I saw this wheezing, out-of-breath man [Doyle] sprint to the base of the stairs with a gun.”

Callahan said that he decided to step back at that point because he didn’t know what was going on, but witnessed Doyle shooting Jeantot and ending the chase.

“Jeantot seemed completely insane,” Callahan said. “Doyle pointed the gun at Jeantot and Jeantot turn to run back up to the platform and bam - Doyle just shot him right in the middle of his back.”

“It is always unfortunate when these incidents end in a loss of life,” the NYPD reported. “We would have preferred to see Jeantot prosecuted in the courts.” However, the NYPD praises Doyle for his bravery and quick thinking under very trying circumstances. This event, although unfortunate, will continue the thorough investigation into what appears to be a major smuggling operation. 

week 9.3

i had a surprisingly hard time with the article on the French Connection. typically, when i am writing about a movie or a book like this there is some creative lenience allowed. however, this was not true with this assignment because the movie was really just a segue for a "event." i had a difficult time thinking about a movie or plot like this but i appreciate the exercise. although my interviewees were confused about how i needed them to respond to my questions (as if they were IN the movie, i think i said this 28592753295 times), they eventually got it. 
as opposed to just a press release, which can be extraordinarily dry, watching an event unfold like that was much easier to write an article on. unrealistic, unfortunately, i know.

week 9.2

as these blog entries begin to wrap up, i have been thinking a lot about them. i like doing them a lot, don't get me wrong, but i love crossing things off my to - do list. but i think it's a good thing - as a result i have been thinking about newswriting and journalism and journalists and reporting and stories and ideas et cetera et cetera et cetera in all of my spare moments. i think it's great - it's kind of like my "news diet" (which, as a side note, i stuck religiously to over thanksgiving break when i had more than 25 minutes of free time a day). instead of reading whats going on around me locally or even worldwide, i am forced to see and pay attention to what is happening around me. i have to seek it out, strive for it. and not only that, i have to recognize if something would even be cut out for a news story. it's exciting, i feel like i'm constantly on the brink of discovering something. or perhaps, maybe not uncovering a breaking news story but something even better. inventing something - drawing two ideas together or learning about something. and that is what is so great about journalism - i get to learn and indulge on the habits of humankind and then turn around and educate others on it. 

week 9.1

as i believe i have mentioned before, my mother is a photographer. she teaches at UNH and Maine College of Art, but also works freelance. her specialty is architectural photography. interestingly enough, my father is a general contractor. my house is quaffed, to say the least, and i feel like my childhood took place in a museum. i have an architecture minor, but that aside, visuals fascinate me. i blame my parents entirely for this. i love fashion, commercials, beautiful people, photographs, youtube clips, sculptures, crown molding, bookcases, newspaper snippets... anything i find aesthetically pleasing gives me an insane rush. i think the amount that i obsess about how things look is way more than "normal" people, though. of course, i've been told my value on appearance is materialistic, et cetera but i really disagree. that said - i think the layout that a journalism piece is in is possibly more important than the actual writing. gasp - sorry. that is just my opinion; its possible that i'm wrong. but it means so much to me. a picture can change someones mind entirely. if the text that the article is written in isn't one i like (for example, comic sans, or trebuchet (sometimes helvetica is almost a turnoff)) i probably won't read it. am i being ignorant? probably. but it matters, and thats my only point. i think a journalist should be hyper aware of things like this. if your tweet isn't quippy or your article isn't appealing or the magazine doesn't publish interesting or compelling photographs, you are definitely loosing audience. 

week 8.3

i just endured my first black friday ever. though, i was not fortunate enough to be a shopper though (not sure if "fortunate" is the correct word here...). don't get me wrong, i love to shop. in fact, i think i even say in my blogger bio thing-y that i am a self proclaimed fashionista. anyways - i'm not one to buy just because i can; sales don't tempt me much unless it's something i want to buy anyways. typically i sleep through the black friday midnight madness and on the actual day (by day, i mean day light) my siblings and cousins and i usual spend the day together (we're all very close). i envision black friday i bit like mean girls when lindsay lohan turns into a lion or whatever and "attacks" her classmates... housewives  battling over toaster ovens and blenders and grannies snatching up the last of the ugly sweaters... any who. it wasn't really like that at all, actually. then again, i could have been in a haze because i was constantly reminding myself that i was being paid (you are being paid, you are being paid) but really, i kept that in the back of my mind all day. so i got to work (i will leave it unnamed in this) at 9:30 and stood around all day in skinny jeans (the day after thanksgiving - ludicrous, i agree) and heeled boots and a sweater. my feet hurt a ton after the first three hours and the door was constantly being opened and closed and it was arctic in the store anyways. basically we sell designer and high end jeans for men and women. we had a "sale" going on for black friday, but it wasn't really much of a sale ... it was still out of most people's price range. "sale" tricked a lot of people to come into the store so my fellow employees and i were hawking around the stacks and stacks of denim barking "can i help you with that?" desperately hoping they would say yes and stop ruining our neat stacks...

so, how do i write a new article about my experience(s) on black friday without it being too column-y... i have before run into small issues of "interest" one may call them. is there simply no way to write about something (other than an event) that i firsthand experienced? i've been thinking about this all day (when i wasn't thinking about getting paid, of course).

week 8.2

this is kind of related to the past two posts i've done, so that brings me to the next topic: is it really safe to write about things we hold near-and-dear to us? i desperately wanted to write an article about veganism and stuck to it. perhaps though, i should have abandoned ship when the red flags were going up about it not going so well. i think if it was something that i wasn't so obsessed with, i would have. instead, i was hell-bent on writing my stupid little piece and giving some attitude about my opinion. wrong? probably not terribly. but if it was about a topic i didn’t care much about, it probably would have been more objective. well, maybe not objective - i tried to walk that fine line carefully and i think i did a good job. however, would i have been quicker to dump the idea if it was something i was less concerned about. i think it's important that i pay more attention to when i need to remove my ego from my writing, it makes a huge difference in the quality. 

week 8.1

i'm a vegan and have been for almost three years. i don't do it directly for the animal rights, or the environmental aspect but for the selfish reason that i simply like the health benefits. last week, i attempted - BOLDLY - to construct an article out of two original, separate ideas and conjoin them. i failed miserably, but i kind of liked it. like i said, because i am a vegan, i have a lot of personal experience about that. it's generally widely known from books like the Omnivores Dilemma and movies like Food, Inc. that some of the environmental problems we are facing are human caused. specifically, from the food we eat - how it's grown and processed and shipped. so after reading and hearing from several, reputable sources that Sandy was caused by global warming, i figured it would be an exciting challenge to tie veganism and Sandy together.
alas, i failed miserably, like i said.
but, i liked it. i had to do a ton of research, which was surprisingly fun. I read a lot about Sandy and global warming, did calculations on CO2 emissions and read a lot about a vegan diet. i felt like a real journalist (bold statement, i know) - pulling things together and like, breaking a story, or something. granted, i sucked at it and it was for my college newswriting class but i guess i'll take what i can get

week 7.3

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/12/business/media/fox-newss-election-coverage-followed-journalistic-instincts.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytimes

one thing that i constantly perplexed by is how journalists add, or don't add their personal influence. it's definitely been a struggle for me at times this semester, and i am still working on strengthening that aspect of my writing. i suppose every journalist may at one point or another just want his or her own column but i guess thats wishful thinking huh? 
anyways, it blows me away when it's apparent. particularly like fox news and the presidential election. like, hello, now is not the time to fcuk around! i also find it interesting how an entire news network, particularly an enormous one like Fox, can be so biased. as the NYTimes article says; "Over many months, Fox lulled its conservative base with agitprop: that President Obama was a clear failure, that a majority of Americans saw Mr. Romney as a good alternative in hard times, and that polls showing otherwise were politically motivated and not to be believed."

the article continues: "But on Tuesday night, the people in charge of Fox News were confronted with a stark choice after it became clear that Mr. Romney had fallen short: was Fox, first and foremost, a place for advocacy or a place for news?

In this moment, at least, Fox chose news."

So obviously, when it comes down to it, Fox is still a news station. I worry about that though - it seems like the precedent is slowly being lowered and more and more outlets are filtering or amending their news so that when they report it, it inevitably sways the consumer.

week 7.2

consciously making decisions in my writing: i'm ecstatic about this. i just wrote my profile piece, as you know, and LOVED it. i enjoyed all the interviews and writing the piece. throughout my writing, i was making choices with words and information and quotes and structure and wow ! how cool. if feel like this piece really showed myself that i am growing as a writer and improving and its such an excellent feeling. i love taking knowledge and material that i have learned and being able to consciously apply it in my writing. i want to continue to improve, of course, but it is exciting to see some work pay off.

week 7.1

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

i love the law. i love writing, i love reading, i love journalism, but i really love the law. the constitution actually gets me excited. if the LSATs go better than the SATs did for me (i know, i know, "they're different") i will definitely attend law school after I complete my undergraduate at UNH.

so, i'm prettttty pumped for tomorrow. Greg Sullivan works in a field of law that I have no desire to work in, but it's combining two near-and-dear things (media, and the law) that i enjoy.

i would love to go into business or corporate law. i LOVE contracts (how lame is that?). but kind of like journalism, they follow a  layout, there are rules and the formula is specific. (journalism is obviously a lot more creative than outlining a lawsuit). 

i'm hoping to have the first amendment memorized, but i know i won't be able to recite it. the amendments are so cool - i am curios to see how he will relate the constitution / bill of rights / amendments to current day journalism. i bet the privacy amendment (4th) will be discussed, and probably strict scrutiny too. regardless, it will certainly be interesting.

week 6.3

i'm wondering where news is going to go next. it has spread from newspapers to glossy magazines back to newspapers to email blasts to websites to facebook statues to twitter tweets to snapshots on instagrams to ...? well, where ever it goes next, i love it. i absolutely love that journalists are embracing technology. they are not only journalists now, but also social media experts. i still feel like i don't know how to use twitter correctly, and 45-year-old's have like, 45k followers (not that age has anything to do with it...)

social media fascinates me and i figure that, since i am a journalism major and plan on going into that field, i should work on my market skills. because journalism isn't just about writing anymore (sad, in some ways - but that's a tangent), it's also about  selling your work and making it accessible. 

but where next? i almost wonder that since news is joining the social media race and becoming "sell-able", if its going to start competing against companies. like, product placement. obviously that wouldn't work in movies, but it could happen in anything streamed live. are we going to become that shut out from worldly happenings? i can sort of see it happening. yikes, i hope not. 

week 6.2

I'm still mulling over the problems I had written in my last post.
But to elaborate - are online magazines and newspapers actually successful?
I know that blogs are taking over the world, and everyone is focusing on their online presence - but really, is it working?
I noticed a funny thing: I have the New York Times set as my home page on my computer (it's supposed to make me work on my news consumption, but really it's just to make me look smarter). I click through it when something interesting catches my eye. However, if I am in a situation and the terrorist attacks in Libya come up, and I have no idea what the flip anyone is talking about, I just google it. I click the first link that pops up and read about it. I'll go to the second webpage down if I don't understand what the first one said, otherwise I call it a day. Unless I find it riveting, I probably won't look into it more.
It's obvious that college students don't read the news frequently. But what about "normal" grown ups? My parents do, but I think they are in a minority ?
But my parents don't just read whatever newspaper they happen upon - it's always the New York Times. They are devout readers of it. But, never have I heard either of my parents reference reading the New York Times online.
I wonder how newspaper and magazines are coping with the apparent disconnect between their "followers" and those who stumble upon their site for specific information. Is the disconnect as big of a deal as I think it is? It's almost like each company (newspaper or magazine) has to target two separate markets now.

week 6.1

This is painfully relevant to our class. Was Newsweek is a bit obsolete anyways? I can only picture if in the checkout line at the market or in the waiting room at the doctors - but even then I don't think I would pick it up to read it (People Magazine trumps everything - everything - in those situations).
But on the other hand, it was such an iconic magazine. I can visualize it perfectly and it was clearly popular at one point because of its broad national circulation. 
Which brings me to my point: how much time do magazines and newspapers spend on their "icon"?
As I am someone who is vain, conceited, narcissistic and obsessed with how things "look", I hope a lot. But I'm worried that it gets brushed off. I do social media for a local company, and on my fledgling meeting with the owner, I asked him to describe what he wanted his company to come off as. He listed a lot of things, but I picked up on five: quick, inexpensive, student-friendly, local-buisness oriented, fresh (food/ingredients), and fun. When it comes time to post on the facebook or twitter account, I keep those words in mind. Because those 5 words are the core of the company, in some ways - it's the goal. I pushed the owner to offer deals to the local high school. I also suggested that he embrace "greek week" and anyone in greek lettering (sweatshirt, t shirt, etc) would get 20% off. Actions speak louder than words, definitely.
But how does a magazine or newspaper do this?
The don't get the opportunity to interact personally with their readers on a daily basis like a small take-out restaurant.
This seems like an enormous challenge but I am curious how magazines/newspapers take into consideration their target audience (ASIDE from deciding which articles to publish, etc.).
And now, Newsweek will be strictly online.
I wonder how much traffic they will really receive?


http://money.cnn.com/2012/10/18/news/companies/newsweek-print-edition/index.html

in-class meeting coverage (incomplete)

Higher taxes and ruined Saturday mornings were of main concern when the Portsmouth School Board, during a meeting on Monday night, proposed to implement a new session on Saturday mornings to eliminate the need for in-house suspensions during the school day.

The policy, if instituted, would require students with disciplinary problems during the week to return to school for a special Saturday morning session. Tim Steele, a member of Portsmouth School Board, proposed the idea on Monday night at the meeting. 

The session would run from 8 a.m. until noon several weekends during the year and would be only for students on “the Saturday list” said Peggy Bacon, a parent present at the meeting. Bacon said that she is not going to force her son to go, “I just don’t think it’s going to make any difference.” 

Steele maintains that the new disciplinary measure is in an effort to reduce the number of in-house suspensions. In-house suspensions are given out automatically to students caught smoking inside or outside of Portsmouth High School. 

Smoking is not the only discipline problem at the school, but it is the worst. 

“The parents are going to pay for it - in higher taxes as well as in ruined Saturdays.”

The proposal was discussed for about 30 minutes before the board voted 5-3. One member abstained to table the issue until the next meeting on March 7. Steele was asked to return with figures on in-school detentions so far this year. 

week 5.3

So not only do I stink at making a habit of reading the news, I obviously don't deserve it for my lack of appreciation. In Malaysia, I just learned, the government owns and control all of the major newspapers. The only exception to this is when the government would grant permission - usually only to small publications. This changed today though, when according to the New York Times, the court "ruled that the right to freedom of expression includes the right to publish and is a fundamental liberty." According to the executive officer of the Center for Independent Journalism in Kuala Lumpur, described the decision as "very significant" because few permits for print newspapers have been given out recently. The Internet is relatively free and unregulated in Malaysia, and now the new court ruling will certainly aid the furthering of free-speech in the country. However, the government has one month to file a appeal against the decision if it so decides. This really struck me: "many Malaysians, particularly those in rural areas, still rely on print." What an interesting thought - if I had to read the newspaper to get information, and couldn't just scroll through my Twitter feed to cherry pick what I thought was interesting. I hope that this case changes the regulation of the newspaper industry in Malaysia and I hope this also motivates me to take advantage of what the first amendment gets me.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/03/world/asia/malaysian-court-rules-that-publishing-a-newspaper-is-a-basic-right.html?_r=0

week 5.2

So in my bold attempt to read the paper or view the news or listen to NPR and become a well (or, better) informed member of society, I figured I'd start with something that I found really, really interesting. I secretly wish I was a geek - technology fascinates me. Especially Apple. MacBook Air, iPad, iPhone - I can't get enough. So as I vacillate between keeping my perfectly fine iPhone 4, or paying $200 to get the newer, fancier iPhone 5, reading a review by the Times fit right in.
The verdict? I'm upgrading. They totally convinced me that I desperately need the extra two rows of icons on the home screen, the 0.3 inch thinner and lighter body, and double-the-speed processing, to name a few.
And as I write this, I'm realizing that maybe that's how it should be - maybe I need to view the newspaper as integrated into my life, as opposed to a stop-everything-and-read kind of thing. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/19/technology/personaltech/apples-iphone-5-scores-well-with-a-quibble-review.html?_r=1&ref=technology

week 5.1: it's not you, it's me...

My relationship with news is much like a crush. I really like the idea of him, I think about him a lot, I want to know more about him - but I'm terribly shy, under informed and feel that what he does and thinks about is far too mature for me. I don't really know him well enough to commit my feelings, and I'm a bit nervous about changing that because I don't want to be disappointed. 

The New York Times: my parents have been receiving and reading it since before I was born. They have the various sections that they each like (Thursday and Sunday are the two they argue the most over sharing). The business and technology sections are my fathers choices; my mother smittenly reads the style, art and the ‘New York’ sections. I asked my parents once, when I was significantly younger, why they read the Times, and every day? Why not Fosters? and every day? Anything important that happens would be posted on Twitter way before the Times arrives the next morning. My father scorns at Fosters for being “too local” - and really seems to believe that the Times is the creme de la creme. Whether or not that opinion is true or fair, I realized it’s not just the information they’re after. And I love that. For my dad, it’s walking down the driveway at 7:30 on a brisk, hazy Sunday morning to get the paper. It’s clipping out the highlights from fashion week in Milan and reading Mark Bitman’s caustic opinions that my mom devotes an hour or two after dinner to. They've moved way beyond a crush - it's not awkward or scary anymore. It's expected and down to a routine, they're in a long-term relationship and rely on each other.

That is what I want from my crush: I want him to be perfectly enlightened in an un-intimidating way. I want him to be supportive and open to what I believe, but also push me to think outside the box and my comfort zone. I want to fall totally head over heels in love with this idealistic and wonderful “thing” - but I honestly do not know how to even tell him I exist.

I’ve tried. I do like National Public Radio, but I can really only listen to it when I’m driving, and I rarely do that while in school. Every spare moment of my time feels devoted: class, homework, practicing 20- 30 minutes of yoga per day, running 3-miles a day, riding my horse when I have an extra hour, nannying/tutoring French 6 hours a week, and sleeping on top of that. Granted, having a busy schedule is not an excuse, if I wanted to change I would find a way. I make time to exercise every day because of the release it gives me from the stressors of school - reading the newspaper should be like that. I’ve heard that a habit takes 10 days to form, mine starts tomorrow. 30 minutes: just me and pages and pages of Times New Roman.

Technology hasn’t made seeking news out any easier. This is unfortunate because that means that it really is me that is the issue, not the medium I’ve been receiving it. Podcasts, iPhone, iPad, Safari, I think I’ve tried them all. It’s becoming more and more apparent that I really just need to make the effort to just do it. Print newspapers are dwindling, sadly. I don’t think it’s all bad though - it means that the industry is growing. Expanding and advancing and embracing the changes of the world we live in - it’s a beautiful thing, really. I’m very excited for it. 

uncompleted Amtrak story

Two Old Orchard Beach locals are heroes after saving an 80-year-old Quebec tourist from a speeding train a mere 30-seconds before the Amtrak Downeaster crossed where his car was stuck on the tracks.

James Laboke, 17, was on his daily 4-mile walk to his waitering job at the Eezy Breezy restaurant on East Grand Street when he spotted a 1987 pink Cadillac Seville on the train tracks. The man inside was elderly Francois Truffaut, who had falling unconscious. The idling car was locked and Laboke pounded on the windows to try to wake Truffaut. Laboke, who does not own a cell phone, knew time was short, so he quickly ran to the police station 100-meters away, where he alerted the police what had happened.

Janet Paradiso is the captain on the police force and was approximately a mile away when she received the call about the incident. She arrived at the train tracks at about 6:05 a.m. just to hear the approaching trains whistle. Desperate to help, she thought quickly and drove her cruiser into the back of Truffaut’s vehicle, pushing it off the tracks before the Amtrak Downeaster, on its way through from Portland, crossed the location where Truffaut had been only 30-seconds before.

“I knew there was no time. I had to do something,” Paradiso said later that day. Laboke continued on his way to work and punched in on time and made no mention of the incident. It was only until a reporter called the restaurant owner and Laboke’s boss, Charles Champaigne learned about the traumatic experience.

Laboke

Captain police officer Janet Paradiso drove her cruiser into a car that had stalled on the train tracks this morning in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. The driver was Francois Truffaut, a tourist from Quebec City, Canada. James Laboke, 17, was walking to work at the Eezy Breezy restaurant when he saw the 1987 pink Cadillac Seville idling on the tracks at 6 a.m. Laboke ran to the nearby police station after trying to open the locked vehicle to wake the unconscious man. Paradiso received the call and drove to the railroad crossing just in time to hear the trains whistle, and slammed her car into Truffaut’s vehicle, pushing it off the tracks. The Amtrak Downeaster on its way from Portland, Maine, passed the location about 30-seconds later. Laboke reported to work at time and made no mention of the traumatic incident, the owner of the restaurant said that “he’s just a great kid.”

4.3: notes / improving

notes to self, things i need to improve on (stat) after conference:

•paraphrasing - i need to focus on this primarily. use quotes only to capture emotions! otherwise, put their words into my own.

•breaking up quotes - it makes a paragraph well-rounded and weaves in the quotes better by not being so abrupt. it also makes it easier for the reader to follow. 

•don't try to find alternative verbs for "said" - it distracts the reader and can really ruin the "flow" of a story by throwing in random words that don't fit in with the style otherwise. 

4.1: different types of leads

Anecdotal lead
Used best when you have to use several profiles of people - like if you wrote a story about kindergarten classes, you could begin but exemplifying one of the students you interviewed. 
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/20/garden/jared-handelsman-and-portia-munson-make-their-own-museum-at-home.html

Delayed lead
I'm not sure if it would be ideal for a breaking news story but I think you could probably use this in almost every situation. This lead is cool to use because as the writer you can begin anywhere in the span of time - 2, 20, 200 years ago if it relates. Probably most seen when you're writing a more "profile-esque" story though.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/20/us/dont-ask-dont-tell-anniversary-passes-with-little-note.html
(I had a hard time finding an overt "delayed lead" - I supposed this would work?)

Direct Address lead
Ideally used if your audience is broad or the topic is easily related too.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/19/technology/personaltech/apples-iphone-5-scores-well-with-a-quibble-review.html

Personal lead
I think this edges on "creative" news writing, because you really aren't supposed to voice your opinion, et cetera. Likely seen used by a column writer or something written for a magazine.  http://theater.nytimes.com/2012/09/20/theater/reviews/job-at-the-flea-theater.html

4.2: challenges of locating a story

My group and I decided that our "beat" should be downtown. We definitely focused on the student aspect of it, though. I was originally thinking about how UNH and Durham interact, which is something I always find interesting.However, once we got going, I was greatly surprised at how enthusiastic people got once I started talking to them. I usually introduced myself, and said that I was in a Newswriting class, and wanted to do a story on X. They either agreed - or had another idea, which were always great to hear. I think this was very helpful in our search and I plan on trying that tact a bit more often to get some ideas going.
The most interesting news story I've been following lately is the Apple-Samsung lawsuit case. I adore Apple - I have a MacBook, and iPad and an iPhone - but I am angered by their behavior. Exactly as this article (below) discusses, what Apple has done is cripple a whole creative process. What if, for example, fashion designers took this tact? and Ralph Lauren sued J Crew for also producing sparkly cardigans with big buttons? It would completely change the industry. Maybe it's not as apparent in the technology industry as it would be with clothing design, but I think it gets at the same idea.
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/comment/miyoung-kim-can-samsung-stung-by-apple-lawsuit-change-from-being-a-fast-follower-to-quick-innovator-3217616.html

3.3

I don't think I feel like a journalist yet. I really want too, though. I am trying (learning, I suppose) to think about the world (and my various topics for articles) objectively and differently. I love the challenge of this type of writing. It forces me to cut out all of the BS fluff (that I secretly love) and get down to more of the nitty-gritty. It's very refreshing, honestly. Different than what I'm used to but I'm very eager to improve. I find laying the outline of a new story fairly easy. Unlike creative writing, there is a more formulaic way to go about it. Less options, which can be limiting I guess, but also so straightforward. I am surprised always at how much difficulty I have gathering information. I never know what is a better tact: Figure out my point/outline for the story before researching/interviewing (which seems wrong and artificial) OR "wing" the interviews with no real motive or point and write my article based on that. The latter seems more authentic but I feel that I need to find a better balance between the two. Again, I think that will come it's just not something I'm very skilled at yet. I'm curious how most journalists navigate this? How do they walk the line of not having an underlying motive/direction of their article but also not waste time with unrelated information while they figure it out?

3.2

I stole this idea from your post on the class blog to the other Newswriting class, I hope that's alright.
I thought your "News Diet" idea was really cool - so I decided that I am going to try it, too.
I want to go to law school, and at a seminar i attended about preparing for the LSAT, the speaker suggested that we read, or at least skim, the current news. ever since then, I changed my homepage to the new york times. every time I open my browser, I click through the headlines. what initially felt like homework of sorts, quickly changed to being enjoyable. a lot of the topics I find interesting and I (obviously) love to read.
however, this isn't always very thorough. my parents are avid new york times readers, so not only do they get the paper delivered 7 days a week, we also have the online subscription. i already try to spend some time on the app on my iphone walking to class but i definitely want to make it more routine.
one of my favorite memories is driving up to go skiing at Wildcat Mountain with my younger brother, listening to the early morning National Public Radio station in our Volvo wagon. i am a runner, and usually i listen to a pandora station of sorts but i switched over to listening to the NPR app as of this afternoon. I also downloaded Pulse, which allows a constant stream of news to be right there from multiple sources.
lastly, i am going to make a habit of picking up a copy of the new york times every time i am in ham smith (which is frequently) because i still love reading a paper-paper; the smell, how it feels, the ritual of it, etc.

3.1

I love finding story ideas. I walk around all day going to class, getting lunch, doing homework, seeing my friends, et cetera and I try to think of my life as differently as possible when I have to come up with a story idea. I treat it like a game almost, but I also find it really enjoyable to force myself to take such an objective or different view on my day-to-day, mundane activities. Because it is hard to find news on campus, if thats what you're looking for. So I try to mix it up and put an interesting spin on my life. In my opinion, it's a lot easier and more enjoyable to write about something you know.

Three people were injured on Tuesday evening after being in a horrific car accident on Mile Hill Road in Belmont, Mass. The white Mustang hit an embankment and flipped onto its roof, causing one victim to be airlifted to Massachusetts General Hospital.

The driver, Jamie Peterson, 17, of Elm Street was driving with two young, unidentified females; all were taken to Memorial Hospital in Belmont. Peterson managed to crawl out from the car without assistance but it took 45-minutes to free the two passengers from the crushed car.

Peterson and one of the females were reported to be in stable condition. A spokesperson from Mass General Hospital confirmed that there was an accident victim from a crash Tuesday night being treated there for a brain injury, but would not identify the patient.

At 9 p.m. that evening 17-year-old Tom Carroll, Jr. was driving behind the white car, when it suddenly accelerated around a curve. When Carroll rounded the corner in his pickup truck, the Mustang was on its roof. Carroll was the first on the scene and says that he “thought the worst. They were flying. It’s hard to see kids your age in something like this.”

Mile Hill Road has no street lights, which could impact the car losing control on the windy dirt road. However, Carroll believes that the driver was intoxicated and told the police that he saw three empty Budweiser beer cans on the ground under the car.

Josie M. Crandall, of 27 Mile Hill Road, says that she saw the accident after seeing the car driving north on the road, and called the police. “I’ve never seen a car going so fast on this road. It’s a dirt road, and it’s really easy to lose control.”

This isn't the first time an incident of this severity has happened: On Dec. 24, 2005, there was a fatal accident in this exact location involving two local teenagers. Hopefully these three young people will be able to walk away from the accident without any detrimental effects.

Tuesday morning, 1.5 mile into the woods, a girl was visiting her Grandma when a wolf ate them both. A nearby huntsman came to their rescue and was able to save the girl and her grandmother.

“That wolf has been pestering me for years now,” said the Huntsman, “I’m just so happy I was there at the right time.”

The young girl, Elisabeth, also known as Little Red Ridinghood because of the red, velvet, hooded cloak she dons, was lured off the trail by the devious wolf. The wolf was able to find her grandmother’s home, devoured the elderly woman and then dressed himself in her clothing to trick the girl once she arrived and consumed her too. The Huntsman arrived shortly thereafter, killed the resting wolf and then cut him open, to find the girl and her grandmother unharmed.

“They were both pretty shaken up, and poor Grandma looked exhausted.” The Huntsman said about the girl and Grandma’s immediate conditions. “They had all the fixings for a nice meal – bread, fresh butter and wine – even flowers! – so I think that cheered them up afterwards.”

Elisabeth and her mother had baked the bread and made the butter by hand the day prior for Elisabeth’s grandma who had fallen ill. Elisabeth had made the voyage to her Grandma’s house “hundreds of times” according to her emotional mother, and was going to deliver the treats.

Define: The News
It is true, current and important ongoings in a community, town, city, state, country and world, collected and exemplified in many mediums, including written word on a newspaper, blog, website, magazine, e-blast or spoken on the television or broadcasted over the radio.