Splitting my Lead – “Washington Nationals prospect Stephen Strasburg pitched five hitless innings against the Reading Phillies yesterday in Reading, Pa. His performance demonstrated that the 22 year-old star might be ready for the big time.
Numerals – Strasburg struck out ten and walked none.
Passive voice – The streets were filled with cyclists who were weaving between cars.
http://wtop.com/?sid=595567&nid=92 – “No Explosives Found On Plane”
I listened to a news story on WTOP online, about the plane bomb scare that happened today.
Aural Style – The reporter said “our area” – relating the story to us as the listener, making it more important to us even though the plane was headed to Denver and Las Vegas, and the incident happened near Denver, not near “our area”.
Aural Style – Present tense was used a lot, active voice. “arrived at” instead of “was arriving”
The radio station had its own reporter, but also interviewed a reporter from NBC, live, who had more knowledge on the situation – something you couldn’t do in print media.
Careful to call it a “disturbance” – terrorist/terrorism/terror act were not used once – good job reporting the news without causing mass public panic I thought.
A print journalist probably would have jumped at the lead of possible terror attack, because it would grab attention and keep readers interested past the first and second paragraphs.
Used numbers probably written in script as five 19 – not 5:19 p.m. – as a print journalist would.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/100330
This story is a diary of WrestleMania XXVI by Bill Simmons of ESPN.
The web package includes photos and links.
The photos are of wrestlers and the fans in attendance
The links are to multiple things; wrestling pages, youtube clips and to Simmons’ page on espn.com
One man is in custody while another is still at large after an attempted robbery near the McDonald’s at 3951 Pickett Road yesterday was foiled by a vintage pink Chanel Handbag.
Delia Moss, age 83, of Fairfax, fought off two men at gunpoint at 4 p.m. yesterday, according to police. Fairfax police arrested Josh Auerbach, age 40, of Annandale, but his accomplice fled the scene. Still at large is a man in his mid-30s, with a buzz cut, a short gray beard, and glasses.
Alcohol on college campuses has become a hazard to the education of the nation’s youth, with two recent deaths, one at LSU and one at MIT, both dying from alcohol poisoning.
Just this past weekend, three students from the Alpha Beta Zeta fraternity were admitted to the local hospital for alcohol poisoning after attending a party at the ABZ house, according to the university’s public relations office.
The three students taken to the hospital were: Press Martin, a junior; Al Amalek, a freshman and Rob Smith, a sophomore. Martin and Smith were released from the hospital on Monday, while Amalek is still there listed in critical condition.
University president Harvey Smithville had previously restated the policy banning alcohol from fraternity houses on campus or within campus environs.
“Any fraternity in which the members have alcohol will be immediately suspended,” said Smithville. “A second offense within a year will result in the banning of that fraternity for five years.”
Due to this policy and evidence gathered by an investigation of the fraternity by the University, president Smithville has decided to suspend the fraternity and all its activities on campus.
Interfraternity Council president Bart Addison who agreed with president Smithville and supported the policy is calling for leniency.
“I do not believe the entire fraternity should be held responsible for the actions of a few,” said Addison. “I am going to ask President Smithville to reconsider his suspension of the ABZs.”
This week I read an article by Sally Jenkins on the IOC of the Washington Post.
In the article, Jenkins talks about how the IOC is failing and needs to be overhauled and take responsibility.
She made a good point about how outrageous it is for the IOC to be looking down on the Canadian Women’s Hockey team for their actions after winning the Gold Medal, yet they practically turned a blind-eye when it came to the deadly dangerous Whistler Sliding Centre. Isn’t the whole point of the Olympics the “amateurism” of the sports? If you are going to have “amateur” spirit of the games – don’t get mad at the Canadian Women’s Hockey team for behaving like they would any other time.
Jenkins also points out the toll the Olympics takes on the host nation and the citizens. She recommends the IOC does something to stop the human rights concerns that are plaguing the Olympics.
I found the article to be a good read and intriguing considering some of the facts she points out about the 2014 games in Russia.
5.10
Alcohol on college campuses has become a hazard to the education of the nation’s youth.
Just this past weekend, three students from the Alpha Beta Zeta fraternity were admitted to the local hospital for alcohol poisoning after attending a party at the ABZ house, according to the university’s public relations office.
Since the majority of drinking on college campuses is done at fraternity parties University president Harvey Smithville had previously restated the policy banning alcohol from fraternity houses on campus or within campus environs.
“Any fraternity in which the members have alcohol will be immediately suspended,” said Smithville. “A second offense within a year will result in the banning of that fraternity for five years.”
Due to this policy and evidence gathered by an investigation of the fraternity by the University, president Smithville has decided to suspend the fraternity and all its activities on campus.
Interfraternity Council president Bart Addison who agreed with president Smithville and supported the policy is calling for leniency.
“I do not believe the entire fraternity should be held responsible for the actions of a few,” said Addison. “I am going to ask President Smithville to reconsider his suspension of the ABZs.”
The three students taken to the hospital were: Press Martin, a junior; Al Amalek, a freshman and Rob Smith, a sophomore. Martin and Smith were released from the hospital on Monday, while Amalek is still there listed in critical condition.
a) “Senior Alissa Kain scored 21 points and added 10 rebounds and six assists to lead Loudoun County to a 69-58 victory over Freedom-South Riding in the AA Dulles District final.” (story)
b) “As Maryland junior guard Cliff Tucker trotted off the floor amid the delirium of a Comcast Center crowd that was prematurely celebrating a victory Saturday over Georgia Tech, he figured there was no way Coach Gary Williams would draw up a play designed to end with the ball in his hands.” (story)
c) “There’s something about the authoritative wrong note that I’ve always really liked,” opined John Mayer at Verizon Center Saturday night. (story)
d) “With the record snowfall this winter, classrooms across the Washington area have spent weeks on hiatus.” (story)
I did not like this lead becase it is very bland. It does not tell me anything I don’t already know. Does not make me want to read more.