Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Libel

1. “Megan Fox is a man!” Headline on Weekly World News Web site

Not libelous. Megan Fox, as a celebrity, is not held to the same libel rights as an ordinary citizen.

2. “Up until the day he died, he was a brilliant writer. But the drugs made him a thief, a pimp and a liar,” said friend Karen Smith, who was with Johnson at the time of his death.

Not libelous. There is a quoted source, and Johnson is dead. It would be a different story if he were still alive.

3. “In my opinion, Kevin is a murdering rapist,” the prosecutor told the jury.

Not libelous. What was said is public knowledge since it was said in a court of law.

4. "In my opinion, he's a murdering rapist," the man said at the rally.

Libelous. There is no source listed. It could be the writer himself using a made-up source as a mouthpiece for his own opinion for all we know.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Ayman Mohyeldin Talk

Lede, Nut Graph:

Al-Jazeera English correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin spoke about his experiences covering the Egyptian revolution, and the importance of information through technology in a speech at Washington State University on Wednesday, March 31.

Mohyeldin spoke about the importance of the spread of information, and how it served as a catalyst for the revolution in Egypt. The role and sudden surge of popularity of Al-Jazeera English during the revolution was also discussed. Mohyeldin said while information was the catalyst, Al-Jazeera English served as a microphone for the people.

Questions:
- When was the first time you felt your life was threatened during your work?
- What similarities and differences do you see, comparing Al-Jazeera to American news networks, such as CNN, and Fox News?
- How did you get into journalism, in the first place? Why did you want to pursue this as a career?

Quotations:
- "It was a great privilege to have a front-row seat of a revolution."
- "The best kind of journalism begins on the streets with people who know, not parachute journalism, where we fly in big celebrity news correspondents, get them to interview people, then leave."

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Twitter Sources:

http://twitter.com/#!/redbox
http://twitter.com/#!/steam_games
http://twitter.com/#!/blockbuster

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Anecdotes and Evidence

"Social Media Monitoring of Athletes on the Rise"

Evidence: 

While colleges have long monitored their athletes’ comments, the rise of social media – and Twitter and Facebook in particular – have raised new concerns for major college sports programs.  Several universities have hired a private company to monitor the social media websites of their athletes.

"The Pac-10 conference does not have a policy for social media, but it allows individual universities to enact their own policies. At the University of Washington, head coaches set their own policies for social media, according to a UW source."

Anecdote:

“Guess What?” wrote Thomas, who has more than 13,000 Twitter followers. “It’s freaking snowing in this GHOST town man… Damn!”

It was a harmless comment, but by game time on Jan. 30, students at Washington State University had read the Tweet, and were ready to heckle the Husky point guard throughout the game. After the Cougars’ 87-80 win, several logged onto Twitter and sent messages back to Thomas.

 

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

News Trends Exercise

     WA food stamp increase: 27.7%
      National food stamp increase: 19.8%

1.) 13.1% increase WA population
      WA has grown faster than the USA.
      $58,081
      $52,029
       3.9% African-Americans, vs. 12.9% nationwide

2.) Whitman County Population:  42,689
      4.8% increase from 2000 - 2009
      44% in Whitman had Bachelor's Degree or higher
      $39,691 in 2008
      23.7% below poverty line in 2008

3.)
     a.) 2004:

Monday, March 7, 2011

Political Story Outline


Vincent Duerme
J305 – Section 2
Story 3: Political Story Outline
3/6/2011

I. THE BEGINNING
            - House Bill 1166 passed.
- The Bill “prohibits a person under the age of twenty-one from being charged or prosecuted for seeking medical assistance for someone experiencing alcohol poisoning.”

II. STRUCTURE AND BODY
-          Background of the Bill – History, Details, etc.
-          Timeline of bill – First readings, hearings, voting, etc.
-          Focus on why it’s relevant – WSU > college students > alcohol.

III. SUPPORTING MATERIALS
-          Quotes from House Representatives Liias, Goodman, Roberts.
-          Quotes from WSU students 21+ about the bill, since it’s relevant to them.
-     Supporting research, facts: Other states laws similar to this one.

IV. THE KICKER
-          Summarize, mention when it was passed, how many votes.
-          Quote

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Math Quiz

1.) $7,885
2.) 83% passed.
3.) Mean Salary   =  $67,500
     Median Salary = $40,000
     The Median Salary is more accurate.
4.) Both are right. One percent of five percent is 20%, a 20% increase.
5.) a.) -25%
     b.) 33%
6.) 10.7%
7.) Mean:   $790,600
     Median: $129,000
8.) 3 Slices each.
9.) Pullman:   .732%
     Spokane: .251%


10.) 150,000