By Sarah H. Lynch
Time
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1821697,00.html
Ok, I really couldn't help myself with this one. It was the title that caught my eye. It turns out this article is on an ongoing survey published in PLoS magazine, a journal of the Public Library of Science, done by the World Trade Organization that found that Americans like smoking the reefer. The sugvey found that way more Americans than any other country admitted to using marijuana and cocaine at some point in their lives.
Lynch leads off her article by commenting on the irony of the Netherlands having leinant drug laws, yet much less reported marijuna use. She then weaves into talking about the survey. This would be the nutgraph, I suppose.
Lynch goes over the main details of the survey pulling out the highlight that we all really want to hear (like Americans also tend to try drugs at an earlier age too), and she also goes over the limitations of the survey, like how it only asks if someone has tried a drug and so the findings really can't be implenented into the U.S's drug policy as it doesn't exactly paint the most accurate picture of drug use and abuse in the U.S. today.
She ends her article by just summing up some main points and giving more information on when more information will be reversed. In typical inverted pyramid style, Lynch put all those little important details that aren't quite as interesting at the bottom.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Donors Asked To Give for Two
By Matthew Mosk
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/10/AR2008071002813.html?hpid=topnews
The first round of election madness is finally over, and the question is now who is going to pay for it all?
This article is pretty much straight news story style. Mosk's lead is straightforward stating that maybe, just maybe, Obama's fundraising might be lagging behind what it once was.
Obama and former Clinton supporters are now asking for two donations: one for Obama's campaign and one to cover the costs left behind by Clinton.
Mosk interviews the usuals: members of Obama's campaign and former member's of Clinton's campaign of all different levels and places to get the facts. The tone for Mr. Obama's fundraising seems to be pretty upbeat, the big Clinton donators are going to give to Obama; they're still going to support the democratic party.
Mosk finishes with a quote from MediaTech Capital partner and Obama fundraiser, Lindsay Gardner giving her opinion that the friction between the two canidate's big donators is minimal.
So there we go: crisis mostly averted.
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/10/AR2008071002813.html?hpid=topnews
The first round of election madness is finally over, and the question is now who is going to pay for it all?
This article is pretty much straight news story style. Mosk's lead is straightforward stating that maybe, just maybe, Obama's fundraising might be lagging behind what it once was.
Obama and former Clinton supporters are now asking for two donations: one for Obama's campaign and one to cover the costs left behind by Clinton.
Mosk interviews the usuals: members of Obama's campaign and former member's of Clinton's campaign of all different levels and places to get the facts. The tone for Mr. Obama's fundraising seems to be pretty upbeat, the big Clinton donators are going to give to Obama; they're still going to support the democratic party.
Mosk finishes with a quote from MediaTech Capital partner and Obama fundraiser, Lindsay Gardner giving her opinion that the friction between the two canidate's big donators is minimal.
So there we go: crisis mostly averted.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Governor plans to boost economy with eco-friendly jobs
By Harry Esteve
The Oregonian
http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1215487536291830.xml&coll=7&thispage=1
For an article that appears to be a straight news story from the title, Esteve actually throws in a pretty catchy lead relating Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski's new plan for Oregon's economy to a scene in Dustin Hoffman's famous film The Graduate.
It really catches your attention as does the rest of the article. Esteve does an excellent job giving the details of Kulongoski's plan while also presenting the other side of the story i.e. the Republicans. Esteve also gives enough background to issues so someone like me, who is sadly pretty ignorant of Oregon politics, can understand what he is also talking about. I also detected a slight left bias in Esteve's reporting, which could be another reason why I particularly enjoyed it.
The article ends on an upbeat note with a quote from the Governor about how wonderful Oregon is. It sums up everything pretty nicely: Governor loves his state and wants to save the forest and so on and so forth
The Oregonian
http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1215487536291830.xml&coll=7&thispage=1
For an article that appears to be a straight news story from the title, Esteve actually throws in a pretty catchy lead relating Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski's new plan for Oregon's economy to a scene in Dustin Hoffman's famous film The Graduate.
It really catches your attention as does the rest of the article. Esteve does an excellent job giving the details of Kulongoski's plan while also presenting the other side of the story i.e. the Republicans. Esteve also gives enough background to issues so someone like me, who is sadly pretty ignorant of Oregon politics, can understand what he is also talking about. I also detected a slight left bias in Esteve's reporting, which could be another reason why I particularly enjoyed it.
The article ends on an upbeat note with a quote from the Governor about how wonderful Oregon is. It sums up everything pretty nicely: Governor loves his state and wants to save the forest and so on and so forth
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Dad charged with murder in bride's 'honor killing'
CNN.com
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/07/08/honor.killing/index.html
This story was very newsy and just gave straight facts. In fact, it's so newsy that CNN doesn't even list the writer (as least as far as I could see). The lead is in the straight news style and just sums up the main points of the story.
It just goes on to elaborate on the details of the murder, and gives several facts on "honor killings." It ends with a statement from the dean of multicultural affairs at Columbia University on the need for human rights campaigns not just in the U.S. but across the world.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/07/08/honor.killing/index.html
This story was very newsy and just gave straight facts. In fact, it's so newsy that CNN doesn't even list the writer (as least as far as I could see). The lead is in the straight news style and just sums up the main points of the story.
It just goes on to elaborate on the details of the murder, and gives several facts on "honor killings." It ends with a statement from the dean of multicultural affairs at Columbia University on the need for human rights campaigns not just in the U.S. but across the world.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Nurses Step Up Efforts to Protect Against Attacks
By David Tuller
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/08/health/08nurses.html?8dpc=&_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1215485170-bUPSdh2paAscbStf83ayhg
Tuller's lead to his articles on the dangers of nursing is a story of a psychiatric nurse whose young son asked once asked her seriously if she was in danger at work. This lead is definitely to grab the reader's attention and draw them into article that turns out to be very statistic-orientated from that point forwards.
Tuller definitely does his research looking at studies of physical violence against nurses from several different states. But the article is a little too dry, and it would have been more effective for Tuller to tell more stories similar to the one he had in his lead to allow readers to understand better what all of his carefully selected statistics are saying: nursing is dangerous.
For example, one study he cites a 2006 survey by the Emergency Nurses Association who reported that 86 percent of nurses had experienced violence in the past three years and "a fifth" said they encounter it frequently. Well, how exactly is "violence" or "frequently" defined in this survey because the terms could vary significantly.
Tuller ends his article by quoting a psychiatric and emergency room nurse who gives a potential reason for violence against nurses. This sums up the article nicely because it gives a reason, rather than just a number, that nurses, who are there to help, end up become the focal point for violence from patients.
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/08/health/08nurses.html?8dpc=&_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1215485170-bUPSdh2paAscbStf83ayhg
Tuller's lead to his articles on the dangers of nursing is a story of a psychiatric nurse whose young son asked once asked her seriously if she was in danger at work. This lead is definitely to grab the reader's attention and draw them into article that turns out to be very statistic-orientated from that point forwards.
Tuller definitely does his research looking at studies of physical violence against nurses from several different states. But the article is a little too dry, and it would have been more effective for Tuller to tell more stories similar to the one he had in his lead to allow readers to understand better what all of his carefully selected statistics are saying: nursing is dangerous.
For example, one study he cites a 2006 survey by the Emergency Nurses Association who reported that 86 percent of nurses had experienced violence in the past three years and "a fifth" said they encounter it frequently. Well, how exactly is "violence" or "frequently" defined in this survey because the terms could vary significantly.
Tuller ends his article by quoting a psychiatric and emergency room nurse who gives a potential reason for violence against nurses. This sums up the article nicely because it gives a reason, rather than just a number, that nurses, who are there to help, end up become the focal point for violence from patients.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Hands Free Cellphone Use While Driving Won't Make Roads Safer, Studies Show. Why? Brain Overload
By Melissa Healy
Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-cells30-2008jun30,0,3192911.story
This story is about the new California law taking effect that bans the use of handheld cellphones.
Healy's lead is extremely effective. She talks about the use of cellphones in pop culture and how prevailent they are in society today. This really caught my attention because it's true though I have never really though about it.
Healy only briefly goes over the new law then proceeds, for the rest of the article, to talk about various studies that have looked at distractions while driving.
Her article is well-researched, and she gives many examples of studies that have found that talking to someone else while driving is very distracting, even if the driver has his hands free.
I found this article to be very informative and scary as I have been guilty of talking on my cell phone while driving many times.
I believe her article was especially effective because we have all read articles on the study that says talking and driving are dangerous. But Healy has found many studies to back this point up, some that even claim talking and driving is worse than drunk driving!
Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-cells30-2008jun30,0,3192911.story
This story is about the new California law taking effect that bans the use of handheld cellphones.
Healy's lead is extremely effective. She talks about the use of cellphones in pop culture and how prevailent they are in society today. This really caught my attention because it's true though I have never really though about it.
Healy only briefly goes over the new law then proceeds, for the rest of the article, to talk about various studies that have looked at distractions while driving.
Her article is well-researched, and she gives many examples of studies that have found that talking to someone else while driving is very distracting, even if the driver has his hands free.
I found this article to be very informative and scary as I have been guilty of talking on my cell phone while driving many times.
I believe her article was especially effective because we have all read articles on the study that says talking and driving are dangerous. But Healy has found many studies to back this point up, some that even claim talking and driving is worse than drunk driving!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
A Sleuth of Fake College Degrees
The Register Guard
http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/dt.cms.support.viewStory.cls?cid=119578&sid=4&fid=1
This story is a profile piece about Alan Contreras, who is employed by the Office of Degree Authorization for the State of Oregon. His job is to verify college degrees and to track companies who hand out fake degrees.
Bolt begins his story with the line "Alan Contreras considers himself an accidental expert." It was this lead and the title of the article that grabbed my attention. As a college student, I was aware that you were able to buy a fake degree, but I did not realize that it was easy to pass one by an employer and that there was an entire department working for the State of Oregon to stop them.
Bolt also shows that Contreras is much more than just his job. He goes on to describe some of his other jobs and hobbies and really allows the reader to grasp a full image of this man and how he got started working for the Office of Degree Authorization.
It's an overall short profile piece but well-written nonetheless.
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