Headline Writing Assignment

Story 1- Juveniles admit to starting wildfire, face charges

This story concerns a wildfire that was started and caused 3.5 million dollars in damages. There was an investigation to who started the fire, but two juveniles admitted responsibility for starting the fire and will face charges in juvenile court. The names were not released because the young men are juveniles.

Story 2- Amendments to leash law rejected in City Council vote

This story concerns a City Council vote in regards to changes in a city leash law. There had been an upcry about loose dogs biting people around the city and nobody was being held responsible for the behavior of their pets. The new law would have given a maximum fine of $500 and five days in jail for dog owners whose dogs were loose and bit someone. A good point was made by John Simpson, one of the council members who said, "You don't stop dog biting by incarcerating the owners."

Boston Globe's Policy on Corrections

When searching the Boton Globe's online edition, I encountered the section on daily corrections. The Globe has a section of their site where they list corrections and also tell why each correction was necessary. The site also details why the mistake happened. There is no listed policy on corrections, but there is contact information given to allow readers to give input on mistakes and errors within the paper. The contact secion was as follows:

The Globe welcomes information about errors that call for corrections. Information may be sent to comments@globe.com or left in a telephone message at 617-929-8230.

Seems like its a common problem at the Globe which is rather surprising. For such a distinguished newspaper, you would think daily mistakes would be frowned upon?

Reign of Error - Mistakes are More Common then they Should be

In the article "Reign of Error" by Jack Shaffer, the author describes how poorly newspapers have been in correcting errors within their stories. Things such as names, ages and other important information are being reported incorrectly and an editor of the New York Times is calling the problem a 'cancer'. This is very surprising news to me because I would have thought mistakes on common information such as names would be very limited. I know when I write stories names and ages and hometowns are probably some of the easiest pieces of information to obtain.
It is argued that the availablility of corrections might cause the increase in reported corrections, but I go the other way and attribute it to negligence. I think many editors assume that names and other common information will be correct so they don't check that information as closely as grammar and AP style mistakes. Maybe it's time to take a step back and take a little more time to make sure the easy information is correct.

Westmoreland Foodland Evacuation Story in the Herald-Dispatch

On August 31, the Herald-Dispatch ran a story detailing the events that happened at the Westmoreland Foodland on Monday. Their were coins that were covered in a white substance and after employees came into contact with the coins, they were saying that they felt ill. The story had a questionable use of the word "approximately," when it stated that, "Apporximately five or six Foodland employees were decontaminated at the scene and transported to the hospital to treat their symptoms."
Just saying five or six employees would definitely have been sufficient. When the number is that low and the range is one number, approximately is not needed. If the the number of employees was 10-20, then maybe approximately could be used. It is important to be accurate and concise in journalism also. I don't think it would have been that difficult to find the exact number of employees, rather than saying five or six. If you can't come up with exact information, your credibility as a journalist will be in jeopardy.

Most Read Stories from Huntington's Herald-Dispatch

September 1:
1. School system removing swings- 5086 views
2. Carpenter knows Columbus- 4490 views
3. Holliday offers answers for Herd- 3667 views
4. MU has Pryor knowledge- 3239 views
5. Legg knows underdog, favorite role- 2903 views

Editing

I have very little editing experience. That one sentence alone pretty much wraps up how I feel about editing. I've always felt like my work needs to be edited by others, not me editing other people's work. I feel like this class will give me the opportunity to learn editing skills and that is something I desparately need.
I am looking forward to the opportunity of learning how to properly edit as well. I want to know what all the symbols mean and I want to be confident that the work I am producing is properly edited as well.

Jim Furyk DQ'd for Oversleeping?

There are many funny rules in sports. In football, you can't call two timeouts in a row, or else it is a 15 yard penalty. In soccer, you can't re-enter the game once you have been substituted by another player. In golf, if you oversleep, you are disqualified.
Jim Furyk found out about that last rule the hard way when he overslept for the pro-am portion of the Barclays, which disqualified him for the actual tournament, the first of the Fed-Ex Cup playoff events. He ended up being about ten minutes late, but that was enough according to the rules. Is this a fair punishment that fits the crime?
I feel like as a professional, you have a professional responsibility to look the part. Arriving sleepy eyed and late to a golf tournament is not professional behavior. Although Furyk could lose out on a lot due to his mistake, it is an actual rule and I'm sure he knew of the rule previously. Let's just hope he gets a new alarm clock before the next tournament.

Top News Stories of 2010

There have been a number of interesting, captivating and even sometimes controversial news stories so far in 2010. Here is a list of some of the stories that have dominated news coverage so far this year:

1. BP oil spill in the Gulf
2. Health care reform in Washington
3. Potential Mosque to be built on Ground Zero
4. Earthquake destroys much of Haiti
5. Arizona Immigration Laws
6. Israeli raid on Gaza flotilla
7. Toyota Recall
8. Obama expands offshore drilling
9. Washington D.C. legalizes gay marriage
10. Elena Kagan nominated to Supreme Court
11.