JOU Articles: week 7

Article 1: Marie Osmond's Son Died Near Downtown L.A. Fashion Institute He Attended. Written by Rong-Gong Lin II of the LA Times on February 28, 2010.

After seeing more nutri-system commercials than is healthy for one person, seeing Marie Osmond's name in the news for something other than diet food immediately caught my interest. There were quite a lot of links to choose from that are covering this story, and after browsing a few, they all looked to be pretty small and basic at this point. Obviously there's not a lot of coverage on the subject yet, but whoever is working at newspapers on a sunday is definitely on top of the ball. I chose this article because I was able to find something I didn't like about it right away. Since I'm not an experienced editor or journalist in any way, I don't think I'm very good at identifying "mistakes". This isn't a mistake, really, but I thought the title for this story was really awful. I had to read it twice to understand it for sure because the phrasing is so awkward. Also, it's really not necessary to have so much in the title when only the first four words are good enough to grab someone's attention. Also, I didn't like how at the end the writer just stuck in a little blerb to remind everyone who the heck Marie Osmond is. I feel it detracts a little from the story, even if it's sorta necessary. I just think they could've included it more seamlessly into the article instead of just a big old eye-sore at the end. Also, I don't know if it's necessarily a requirement, but there was no contact information for the author in case you wanted to get in touch with them.

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Article 2: Unlikely Activist Who Got to the Tea Party Early. Written by Kate Zernike of the NY Times on February 27, 2010.

I was surprised to find that even though this article is from the NY Times, which I've generally come to know as being pretty reliable and newsworthy, it was disappointing to say the least. Since the article was about what is essentially a political party and its leader, I was surprised that there were no opinions from anyone who wasn't a supporter of the group or from the group themselves. It wasn't fair that the entire article painted a picture about this lovely conservative yet unconventional party leader-- it was extremely biased in my opinion. Heck, the article makes this girl look like some kind of hero, which is ridiculous. I was definitely pretty peeved by the time I finished reading, and that's not how I feel when reading good journalism. But then again, how the heck can I be a judge of what is a good article?

I'm trying to be more critical because I have a tendency to just accept all news at face value and accept them as being automatically true.

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Article 3: Cheating Rarely Draws Stiffest Punishments. Written by Nathan Crabbe of the Gainesville Sun on February 28, 2010.

Wow, and article from the gainesville sun that's actually longer than one page! I know length isn't everything, but I rarely see news online from this particular news outlet that is so in-depth. This was a very interesting and enlightening article, and I thought it was very fair. The title may suggest that the story you're about to read will be full of "cheating is bad" and "we need to crack down on those dangnabbit cheaters" messages, but Crabbe makes sure that alternate views are expressed, such as those of people who acknowledge that the punishment system is flawed and that it is virtually impossible to correct all rule-breakers. The sources were also very credible to the story. Instead of just using a sketchy anonymous source or talking to someone who doesn't really know what they're talking about, Crabbe specifically talks to the director of the student conduct office. If anyone knows anything about student cheating and disciplinary issues, it'd be that guy, right?

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Article 4: 'Game On!' for Vancouver Games Crown. Written by Dan Wetzel of Yahoo!Sports on February 27, 2010.

Sports news doesn't usually attract my attention at all, but hockey, especially Olympic hockey, sure is interesting. Wetzel has a great writing style that I really admire. He managed to inject a special kind of levity into a story that could have been boring and full of testosterone-boosted, posturing alpha males. He addressed the issue of whether amount of medals overall or "golds" overall is more winning, which I found extremely funny because I've discussed the same thing with my family. He was also really even-handed for both teams, which was nice. I mean, I'm all for America kicking Canada's butt, but each team got to have their say in this article. Wetzel is just celebrating the spirit of competition and representing one's country, and isn't that what the Olympics is all about?

On a side note, there was a point in the article that came across as a little vague. Wetzel throws out a random little statement claiming that "[the game] is predicted to be the most-watched hockey game ever on both sides of the border". Is this true? Who knows. Maybe. Wasn't the Miracle on Ice the most-watched game? What source is he basing this info on? Nothing. Therefore, he just should've left that out.

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