News is what somebody somewhere wants to suppress; all the rest is advertising. Lord Northcliffe, British publisher 1865-1922
Well, news is anything that's interesting, that relates to what's happening in the world, what's happening in areas of the culture that would be of interest to your audience. Kurt Loder, American journalist, b. 1945
Learning standard:I can cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
I can determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is particularly effective, analyzing how style and content contribute to the power and persuasiveness of the text.
Essential question: How does a journalist determine what is newsworthy?
Although I am not in class today, send me an e-mail, if you have a question.
In class or if you are absent, you are responsible for the following: 1. Open a word document 2. Please read the following article, noting specifically the 7 attributes that make something newsworthy. When you have finished, you will find 7 contemporary news articles. 3. Using the format below, write out the headline, say why the article is newsworthy (note that there may be more than one reason); then copy and paste some supporting evidence from the text to support your selection for why the article is news worthy.
This is due at the close of class on Thursday, October 22
Model: headline: author how news worthy: evidence:
What Makes Something Newsworthy?
Factors Journalists Use to Gauge How Big a Story Is By Tony Rogers
Over the years editors, reporters and journalism professors have come up with a list of factors or criteria that help journalists decide whether something is newsworthy or not. They can also help you decide HOW newsworthy something is. Generally, the more of the factors below that can be applied to your event or story, the more newsworthy it’s bound to be.
Impact or Consequences
Generally, the greater the impact a story has, the more newsworthy it is. Events that have on impact on your readers, that have real consequences for their lives, are bound to be newsworthy.
An obvious example would be the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In how many ways have all of our lives been affected by the events of that day? The greater the impact, the bigger the story.
Conflict
If you look closely at the stories that make news in any given day, chances are most of them will have some element of conflict. Whether it’s a dispute over banning books at a local school board meeting, bickering over budget legislation in Congress, or the ultimate conflict – war – conflict is almost always newsworthy.
Conflict is newsworthy because as human beings we’re naturally interested in conflict. Think of any book you’ve ever read or movie you’ve ever watched – they all had some type of conflict. Without conflict, there would be no literature or drama. Conflict is what propels the human drama.
Imagine two city council meetings. At the first, the council passes its annual budget unanimously with little or no argument. In the second, there is violent disagreement. Some council members want the budget to provide more city services, while others want a bare-bones budget with tax cuts. The two sides are entrenched in their positions and in the city council chambers the conflict erupts into a full-scale shouting match,
Which story is more interesting? The second, of course. Why? Conflict. Conflict is so interesting to us as humans that it can even make an otherwise dull-sounding story – the passage of a city budget – into something utterly gripping. And the ultimate conflict – war – is always a huge story.
Loss of Life/Property Destruction
There’s an old saying in the news business: If it bleeds, it leads. What that means is that any story involving loss of human life – from a fire to a shooting to a terrorist attack - is bound to be newsworthy. Likewise, nearly any story that involves property destruction on a large enough scale – a house fire is a good example - is also bound to be news.
Many stories have both loss of life and property destruction – think of the house fire in which several people perish. Obviously loss of human life is more important than property destruction, so write the story that way.
Proximity
Proximity has to do with how close an event is geographically is to your readers or viewers. A house fire with several people injured might be big news in your hometown newspaper, but chances are no one will care in the next town over. Likewise, wildfires in California usually make the national news, but clearly they’re a much bigger story for those directly affected.
Prominence
Are the people involved in your story famous or prominent? If so, the story becomes more newsworthy. For example, if an average person is injured in a car crash, chances are that won’t even make the local news. But if the president of the United States is hurt in a car crash, it makes headlines around the world.
Prominence can apply to politicians, movie stars, star athletes, CEOs – anyone who’s in the public eye. But it doesn't have to mean someone who’s famous worldwide. The mayor of your town probably isn't famous, even locally. But he or she is prominent in your town, which means any story involving him or her is likely to be more newsworthy. Prominence can apply on a local, national or international level.
Timeliness
In the news business we tend to focus on what’s happening this day, this hour, this minute. So events that are happening now are often more newsworthy than those that happened, say, a week ago.
Another factor that relates to timeliness is currency. This involves stories that may not have just happened but instead have an ongoing interest to your audience. For example, the rise and fall in gas prices is something that’s been happening for several years, but it’s a story that’s still relevant to your readers, so it has currency.
Novelty
Another old saying in the news business goes, “When a dog bites a man, no one cares. When the man bites back – now that’s a news story.” The idea, of course, is that any deviation from the normal, expected course of events is something novel, and thus newsworthy
Article 1
Philippines battered as Typhoon Koppu barrels in
David Shukman
More than 15,000 people have had to evacuate their homes, with more expected in the coming days.
"I must emphasise that this is just the start. People must remain alert while we try to pick up the pieces in areas already hit," said Alexander Pama, head of the government's main disaster agency, quoted by AFP.
A teenage boy was killed and four other people injured in Manila, when a tree toppled onto houses.
More than 15,000 people have had to evacuate their homes, with more expected in the coming days.
"I must emphasise that this is just the start. People must remain alert while we try to pick up the pieces in areas already hit," said Alexander Pama, head of the government's main disaster agency, quoted by AFP.
A teenage boy was killed and four other people injured in Manila, when a tree toppled onto houses.
A powerful typhoon is battering the northern Philippines, with at least one person dead, several missing and thousands forced to flee their homes.
Typhoon Koppu made landfall near the town of Casiguran on the island of Luzon on Sunday morning, bringing winds of close to 200km/h (124mph).
The vast weather system toppled trees and power lines, triggering floods and landslides.
Koppu has since weakened but officials fear further flooding.
With the typhoon moving slowly, heavy rain is likely to fall in the same areas for several days.
More than 15,000 people have had to evacuate their homes, with more expected in the coming days.
"I must emphasise that this is just the start. People must remain alert while we try to pick up the pieces in areas already hit," said Alexander Pama, head of the government's main disaster agency, quoted by AFP.
A teenage boy was killed and four other people injured in Manila, when a tree toppled onto houses.
Rescuers saw two bodies floating in floodwater in northern Nueva Ecija, one of the worst-hit states, but it has not been confirmed if they died because of the typhoon.
Flights and ferry services in the north have been cancelled and some bus services in mountain areas suspended due to the threat of landslides.
On Friday, President Benigno Aquino made a televised warning, the first time he had done so since Super Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, which killed more than 6,300 people.
Article 2
Paris climate summit: Major oil producers back 'effective' deal
By Matt McGrath
Shell, one of the signatories of the declaration, met protests as it attempted to drill in the Arctic
The leaders of 10 of the world's biggest oil companies have offered their qualified support for a new global treaty on climate change.
The producers of 20% of the world's oil and gas say they share the ambition to limit warming to 2C.
They promise to work to reduce the greenhouse gas intensity of the global energy mix.
But green groups were dismissive, saying that "arsonists don't make good firefighters".
The Oil and Gas Climate Initiative represents major producers including BP, Shell, Saudi Aramco and Total among others.
In their declaration they call for an "effective climate change agreement" at Cop21 - the 21st UN conference on climate change, which takes place in Paris at the end of November, when 196 countries will attempt to reach a new deal.
"Our shared ambition is for a 2C future," the 10 chief executive officers said in a statement which acknowledges that the existing trend of the world's net greenhouse gas emissions is not consistent with this aim.
"It is a challenge for the whole of society. We are committed to playing our part. Over the coming years we will collectively strengthen our actions and investments to contribute to reducing the greenhouse gas intensity of the global energy mix
The oil and gas industry leaders agreed to support an "effective" climate agreement
The companies say they will attempt to make their own production operations more efficient and say that over the past 10 years they have already reduced their emissions by 20%.
They promise to promote natural gas as a better option than coal and invest in carbon capture and storage as well as renewable energy.
"Sometimes in all these discussions you have the impression that all fossil fuels are the bad guys. But the bad guys are part of the solution," Total's CEO Patrick Pouyanne told a gas and electricity summit in Paris earlier this week.
"Whatever people think, we still need fossil fuels. We need to make advocacy for gas. We need to explain to our policy makers that gas has to be encouraged," he told news agencies.
However the group of 10 does not include major US oil companies such as Exxon and Chevron.
Environmental campaigners were quick to pour scorn on the oil and gas producers' initiative, saying it would do little to aid the decarbonisation of the global economy.
"The oil companies behind this announcement have spent years lobbying to undermine effective climate action, each and every one of them has a business plan that would lead to dangerous global temperature rises, yet suddenly they expect us all to see them as the solution, not the problem," said Charlie Kronick from Greenpeace.
"The world should thank them for their offer of advice but politely turn it down. Arsonists don't make good firefighters."
Climate negotiators reassemble in Bonn next week in an effort to advance a new global deal. They will have their first opportunity to respond to a slimmed down draft that is expected to be the basis of the Paris agreement.
Article 3
Apple patent case: Wisconsin university wins huge damages
David Lee
A US jury has ordered technology giant Apple to pay more than $234m (£152m) in damages for patent infringement.
The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, the patent licensing arm of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the verdict was important to guard its inventions from unauthorised use.
The jury had earlier decided that Apple incorporated patented microchip technology into some iPhones and iPads without permission.
Apple said it would appeal.
The company declined to comment further.
The amount was less than the foundation had claimed. It had originally sought as much as $862m.
The sum was lower in part because the judge ruled that Apple had not wilfully infringed the patent.
University of Wisconsin-Madison computer sciences professor Gurindar Sohi, one of the inventors of the microchip technology - designed to boost the performance of computer processors - was in the federal court in Madison, Wisconsin, for the decision.
"For Dr Sohi, I hope you felt that your invention was vindicated,'' US District Judge William Conley said.
Carl Gulbrandsen, managing director of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, said: "This is a case where the hard work of our university researchers and the integrity of patenting and licensing discoveries has prevailed.
"The jury recognised the seminal computer processing work that took place on our campus.''
The case relates to use of the technology in the iPhone 5s, 6 and 6 Plus - but an additional lawsuit making the same claim against Apple's newest models, the 6S and 6S Plus, has also been filed.
The University of Wisconsin sued Intel over the same patent in 2008. That case was settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.
Despite recent well-publicised truces between some big tech firms, fierce patent battles are still being fought in courts globally.
A judge recently threw out claims by graphic card specialist Nvidia that Samsung and others had infringed three of its patents.
Apple's annual revenue in 2014 was $182bn.
Article 4
Grateful Dead star Phil Lesh has bladder cancer
Will Gompertz
Lesh said they refunds for the postponed shows would also be available.
Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh is being treated for bladder cancer in the US.
The guitarist made the announcement on the website for his restaurant in San Rafael, California.
He said he was diagnosed earlier this month and has been treated at a clinic in Arizona, where he will have surgery to remove his tumours.
The illness means Lesh has had to postpone his 24 and 25 October Phil & Friends shows with Chris Robinson.
The gigs with the former Black Crowes frontman were scheduled to take place at Lesh's restaurant, Terrapin Crossroads.
Lesh, 75, wrote: "I am very fortunate to have the pathology reports show that the tumours are all non-aggressive, and that there is no indication that they have spread."
Fans gathered in their thousands to say goodbye to the band during their 50th anniversary tour earlier this year.
He added that the postponed shows would be rescheduled "as soon as we can".
Lesh, one of the founding members of the Grateful Dead, was diagnosed with prostrate cancer in 2006 but underwent surgery and made a full recovery.
The psychedelic band, which formed in 1965, split 30 years later following the death of frontman Jerry Garcia.
Lesh was with them throughout - and also joined the group's other surviving members for a reunion tour of the US in 2003.
The Grateful Dead performed their final shows in July this year, which also coincided with the 50th anniversary of the band's formation.
The gigs took place at Chicago's Soldier Field, which was also where Garcia's final show took place in 1995.
Article 5
Jeb Bush: Trump's 9/11 comments prove he's an 'actor' in candidate's clothes
by Tom McCarthy
Jeb Bush gritted his teeth and
threw a series of punches atDonald Trumpon
Sunday, saying his rival for the Republican presidential nomination was an
“actor” who was not serious about running for the White House and whose remarks
about the 9/11 attacks undercut his “credibility” as commander-in-chief.
True to form, Trump hit back immediately, razzing Bush on Twitter even as the former Florida governor continued to talk on television.
In a pre-taped interview with Fox News Sunday,
Trump also said that had he been president, “there’s a good chance” the 11
September hijackers “would not have been in our country”.
All but one of the 19 men who hijacked planes
and flew them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in
Pennsylvania entered the country legally on business or tourist visas. One
entered on a student visa.
After months of influential Republicans spoiling
for a fight against Trump, led by Bush, Bush attacked directly. He took issue
with Trump’s contention that Bush’s brother, George W Bush, had not kept the
country safe as president, citing the 9/11 attacks.
“Does anybody actually blame my brother for
what happened on 9/11?” Bush said on CNN’s State of the Union. “They’re totally
marginal ... It calls into question Mr Trump’s credibility as
commander-in-chief.”
For days, Trump had taunted Bush on Twitter
and in interviews, at one point calling him “pathetic for saying nothing
happened during your brother’s term when the World Trade Center was attacked
and came down”.
That aggression, the Bush team apparently
decided at the weekend, would not stand. Bush disseminated a new web video on
Saturday entitled “Judgement” [sic], which uses a whimsical clarinet soundtrack
and interview lowlights to portray Trump as a clownish figure not suited to the
grave responsibilities of the presidency.
Article 6
Schumer urges testing, disclosure of Halloween makeup
Created: 10/18/2015 9:49 AM WHEC.com By: Ali Stewart
Sen. Charles Schumer is calling for federal authorities to routinely test and require full disclosure of components in Halloween makeup.
The New York Democrat says novelty makeup and face paint are often made in China and can contain metals that could pose a danger to children wearing them.
According to Schumer, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics found all 10 face paints it tested contained lead and six contained nickel, cobalt and/or chromium.
Lead is banned from makeup in Canada and Europe, but not in the U.S.,
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration doesn't conduct routine testing of novelty cosmetics and needs to do more to enforce required disclosures of ingredients.
He says parents should check what glitter, lipstick and other cosmetics go on their children's faces this Halloween.
Lamar Odom, an NBA and reality TV star, was found unconscious Tuesday in a Nevada brothel, the apparent victim, says the local sheriff, of a combination of cocaine and "10 sexual performance enhancer supplements."
While there are still many details we don't know at this point, this tragic incident put a spotlight on America's lucrative supplement industry.
Odom's highs and lows are well-documented through the distorted lens of the Kardashian media industrial complex, and this latest low will probably be no different. The report of what happened to him seems almost like a scene from a Quentin Tarantino film. According to some accounts, a swarm of bordello prostitutes attempted to revive their client and call 911, only to see him unable to fit into the air ambulance chopper to Las Vegas.
But let's put aside the salacious details. Men should pay attention to what happened to Odom. They make easy targets for the supplement industry.
All manufacturers need do is deploy an enticing lingo and packaging to get us to pop these mystery pills. The names are cringe-worthy in the full light of day, where they're rarely unwrapped. Herbal Vigor Quick Fix, O.M.G., Arize, Eyeful and Weekend Warrior are among the more printable brands to earn recent FDA warnings.
Men are turning to products that often falsely claim to be "all natural" in order to gain supernatural powers in bed, or so we think.
An estimated 567 men go to the emergency room every year for complications related to over-the-counter, poorly regulated sexual enhancement products, according to a New England Journal of Medicine report published this week. That report doesn't try to estimate the number of dead on arrival cases, because of the complexities of analyzing cause of death reports around the country.
As for Odom, he may now be suffering from an anoxic brain injury. That's when the whole brain is not getting enough well-oxygenated blood flow to survive. This is my current analysis based on the reported details so far, which include him being found unresponsive and having apparently vomited. He's still comatose over 48 hours later, according to reports. Unnamed "sources" featured by E! and NBC claim that Odom has suffered "at least one stroke."
Without further detail, such language could mean there's an area of selectively more oxygen-deprived brain as part of an overall anoxic injury, or a separate event occurred, such as a spasm of an artery. It's also possible a clot traveled to the brain from the heart, which may have been prone to forming a clot because of poor blood flow related to an abnormal rhythm (another side effect of some drugs and drug combinations).
A likely scenario would involve a cardiac arrest induced by the cocaine, and/or any number of toxic metabolic effects from the unknown sexual supplement he took. The combination of these various compounds may be at fault, and we do not know as yet about other medications he may have been taking, or any other medical conditions he may have.
Sometimes these "sexual enhancer" supplements are adulterated with pharmaceuticals not listed on the label in order to skirt the regulations that do exist. In a number of cases the FDA has found that they contain the active compound in Viagra, sildenafil, which can suddenly drop the blood pressure and provoke seizure as known side effects, and which can be deadly in combination with some other prescribed drugs. Experiencing sildenafil's worse side effects would be more expected in the case of an overdose or it being adulterated, which is likely in the case of these supplements.
Supplements make their way into brothels, head shops and convenience stores without having to pass through rigorous safety testing like other drugs. Men who want to imagine themselves transforming into a vigorous Greek god would be better off picturing a little guinea pig. Even if the potions feature new concoctions never before on the market, the FDA is powerless to demand safety testing first. The agency only takes action when problems arise after the fact.
I hope Odom is getting world-class care and that his wife Khloe Kardashian and his physicians see eye to eye. These situations can sometimes become as dramatic as a television series, even without the involvement of TV stars. It's key that everyone involved keeps Odom's best interests, prior expressed wishes and long-term prognosis paramount.
As for the rest of us, there's a thing or two we can learn from celebrity illnesses and injuries. Stay away from sketchy supplements, and talk to your doctor before experimenting on yourself.
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