Quotation 1

Martin Goldsmith, general manager of the local public radio station is seeking $100,000 as this year’s fund-raising goal. The money will be for programming efforts which each year about $130,000 is spent on buying programs per year, and the costs are increasing. This funding will help the audience get what they want to hear.

Quotation 2

Marilyn Wall, president of the locally owned Walls Tire Co., describes this year as being good for the company and her employees. She announced that orders were up 20 percent from last year, and recalled many of the employees that they had to lay off in the past years.  Wall also commented that the work force has been expanded by 20 new jobs in various parts of the factory.

Quotation 3

Marsha Moss, director of the local symphony orchestra described her enjoyment of playing to an appreciative audience not full of critics. She felt that the audience enjoyed the program and appreciated the long hours they had put into preparing for the concert.

Quotation 6

Laura Stewart, president of Stewart Advertising Agency describes the healthy city business climate. She comments that by growing every year her company’s gross revenues have increased by 20 percent from last year and this is the third time this growth has been accomplished. With most business from local clients, about 25 percent is from out-of-town clients. She is positive about the local economy.

In my Comm372, Sports and the Media, class we had a guest speaker, Steve Gardner, who came in and spoke about his job as a blogger.

Gardner graduated from James Madison University and has had many job in the newspaper industry, but the job he currently works is at USA Today and he is a professional blogger. Gardner not only spoke about his job of maintaining the USA Today’s MLB fantasy baseball site but also spoke about  the many important things to remember when being a blogger and the newspaper industry.

Gardner described how newspapers are most commonly have two challenges. The first  how to cover all the news, and the second, how to figure out what their readers want. An interesting perspective was how he said that, “everyone’s territory is being protected”. He was referring to when writing a blog you must be careful to give credit and to not violate any copyright laws. His example was currently USA Today  has journalists  in Vancouver, Canada covering the 2010 Olympics. The problem that USA Today is facing is that NBC has permission to cover the Olympics, so USA Today must be extremely careful in the coverage that they post on their site to not violate any contracts set up.

While on the subject of blog writing he described what he does to keep viewers reading his blog. He stressed the importance of writing to your audience and to interact back with them. He said that he does his best to answer questions that a blogger leaves and to comment on other posts from viewers. He gave some very good points on making a blog fun and having people enjoy reading the blog.

Not only  did Gardner talk about his blog and the website but he spoke on the different financial difficulities that the newspaper indusrty is experiencing. He spoke on the cut backs that different papers had to make to their staff, and how the budgets are slowly getting smaller and smaller for writers. Something that I found interesting was the furlough that USA Today requires their writers to take furlough. The furlough that writers take at USA Today is unpaid and they are not allowed to do any work relating to USA Today. They cannot even check their work e-mail.  Gardner confessed that having this time off is not as enjoyable as one might think, because the newspaper indusrty is so competitive he feels behind when he returns to work.  Steve Gardner had a very unique perspective on blogging and the news indusrty.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user the PhotoZoo .

After a meal at a long, dark ,wood table that was set for three lies a padded bill fold cover. The light is muted and shines down on the table giving a soft reflection.  A small salt and pepper shaker stands next to a small bowl with a tiny spoon. Two water glasses empty and one half full, have only a few fingerprints and lip prints, appearing as the sunlight illuminates the clear glass.   The three folded napkins laying on the table all have a unique square shape, as if to be folded by three different people.

The windows are frosted and there hangs two green wreaths with sunlight upon them. The chandelier that has crystals hanging down from different points along the long slim shape.  The different shapes of the crystals add a unique look to the angular shape of the base that has lights inlaid. The muted brown color of the chairs compliments the muted towns of brown on the walls with the off white trim around the three windows. Only a few crumbs are left on the clean table that lies in the corner.

Like thousands of people this week in the DC area, I lost power. Surprisingly for me I found it enjoyable and finally had no excuse not to read and relax. I began by catching up on my Vanity Fair subscription, starting with the October 2009 issue. I came across the article POST MODERN by Michael Wolff. This article gave a lot of insight into the family history of the Post. The article was a different perspective of the Graham family and the Post. The article is worth reading if you have a continued interest in reading about the Post.

I was able to link in the article but if you have trouble go to: http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2009/10/wolff200910

1. comprises

2. A.D. 33

3. Czar

4. QE2

5. Court-martials is incorrect

6. International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers

7. Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps  (NROTC for references after)

8. liberal

9. pour

10. Atlanta, Georgia

The story,  Weatherman’s Big Moment, was posted online, February 8th, from where I live in Baltimore, Maryland. The online weather report is very unique, however, not unique in content. If the report was written and read as newspaper article then it would seem ordinary and like everything else. However this story was reported by anenthustaic reporter who took on a different way of reporting.

The reporter does an excellent job of delivering the news in an exciting way by yelling and putting some energy behind the news! The information presented was the same as other stations, but someone finally reported the way we were all thinking, this is a massive storm! The weatherman is also really funny by how expressive he is considering he is talking about weather.

1. The news values of what the audiences would be interested in revolve around a common theme in these three articles, crime. The first article has the age of the women being sentenced, and the second article has the idea that there was a mass grave created by a mob family. The last story has the fear that a normal teenager who is believed to be a “nice guy” would commit those actions.

2. Story 1:

Who: Faye Copeland What: Sentenced to murder When: Crime committed in the past. Currently waiting for sentencing by Judge. Where: Chillicothe,Mo Why:Murdering five men. How: Murder

Story 2:

Who:FBI, the mob, and Twardy What: Digging up a suspected mob grave and sentencing for crimes When: Monday  more arrests were made Where: New York Why: Crimes were committed and the FBI is looking for evidence How: The mob murdered people with the help of others.

Story 3:

Who: Elie Dean What: Held classmates and teacher hostage When: Around 11:10a.m. until 7:30p.m. Where: Central High School Why: He was upset about his recent suspensions How: Held the class at gunpoint

3. Personal sources and interviewing  were used in these stories.

4. Story 1: David Miller- With the record of the trial and the statements to the press is where I suspect he got his information.

Story2: Officials, U.S. Attorney Stanley A. Twardy Jr.- The commemnts made were to the press in response of public interest I suspect.

Story 3: Sgt. Martin Jenkins, Amanda Garr- I think these statements were also made in response to public interest and was reported to the press.

5. In story 1, I would want my reporter to double check that Copeland would be the oldest person on death row. I would also have the reporter double check the allegations made towards Copeland’s husband.  Story 2, the second paragraph suggests that there is a possible fourth body, I would want to double check that lead. I think that might be a way to generate more interest. Story 3, the number of students held hostage should be confirmed. Overall I think that the stories seem to be reported with accuracy.

This past summer I worked as an intern for a Senator on Capitol Hill and  was able to attend many hearings and budget meetings. I found the hearings on NASA and defense to be particularly interesting so I scheduled my days to go to those meetings. I learned some very interesting and surprising information while attending those meetings and I have found that information to be relevant to today’s top news stories. I was surprised to learn in the summer that NASA was suffering from lack of funding and China was dominating the global community world wide in space technology and exploration.  With the recent budget set by the Whitehouse, I fear that the United States dominace in space technology will soon be over and we will be left in the dust of nations like China and Russia. It was hard to find articles that were not totally one sided however the article White House Confirms Course Change for NASA does a good job in explaining the financial aspects of the budget.

“It’s Complicated” stars Meryl Streep who is struggling to form her own self-identity being a divorced woman with grown up children and a complicated love life. The movie was hilarious and the supporting characters did an excellent job portraying their roles. Four stars.

There was never any doubt in Hannah future that she would  become a known jazz singer who was recognized around the world.

Midville is  a fairly small place with a small town atmosphere that offers a lot of safety and security to those who live there raising families.

Erin could not see any point in continuing to pay tuition to a college where she was not receiving the best education or getting her money’s worth.

Most of February, Laura stayed cooped up in her room and tried to fight off  a  debilitating cold.