Time Magazine's Person of the Year

It really is Mark Zuckerberg's year. Facebook has reached half a billion users, a blockbuster movie with lots of Oscar buzz came out-much to the dismay of Zuckerberg and now the very news publication thats writing about him has named the young billionaire as their Person of the Year. Past winners have included presidents, world leaders, media moguls, national heroes, and Hitler. With 1 in 10 people now using the social media application, Facebook and its founder has gotten a lot of attention. The Social Network came out and brought up a lot of questions of integrity and motives behind starting the website. This article is newsworthy just by the sheer importance and power behind each person selected. This will definitely not be the last news coverage of Zuckerberg. As Facebook grows, his private life will become more and more of public interest and knowledge.

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2036683_2037183_2037185-2,00.html

And now for something completely different

Enjoy this alternative means of communicating a Christmas tradition. And by all means, laugh out loud.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCFCeJTEzNU

AP Stylebook help

If you are on Twitter, you might want to follow APStylebook and note the following:

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WikiLeaks...

WikiLeaks has, until a few days ago, remained as a foreign topic to me. Suddenly, everyone here in Malaysia is talking about it when a leaked cable revealed that a sodomy charge (against a former deputy Prime Minister) was discussed between the Australian and Singaporean intelligence agencies. The Singaporean officials told their Australian counterparts that the ex-PM had indeed been guilty based on their "technical intelligence". Not only that, the senior officials at the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs were also found to have bad-mouthed Malaysia. For instance, they had said:

• there was a "distinct possibility of racial conflict" which might cause ethnic Chinese to "flee" and "overwhelm Singapore"
• the current PM is in a "tight spot"
• Malaysia was in a "confused and dangerous" state due to "its incompetent politicians"

The news has made politicians from both sides jumped. Many demanded explanation from our neighbour, and the Foreign Minister has sent a protest note to its counterpart, who clarified that the leaks did not tally with their records. "One purported meeting did not even take place," he said.

The incident has caught both Malaysia and Singapore in an embarrassed situation as it would affect the bilateral ties between the two neighbours. One of the officials who was reported to have made the scathing remarks was expected to lead a delegation to Malaysia next week. I guess people are waiting to see what will he say when he arrives.

I do not understand why a local daily used a lot of anonymous sources when reporting on the issue. It quoted "Malaysian officials" who wanted explanation from Singapore. There were also a couple who said that the government should not have sent the protest note as the information was based on leakages and not the act of a government. The quotes were good, but I couldn't help doubting the stories' credibility.

Compared to these news stories, I would rather read one that quoted the politicians on security concerns. At least I know that real people are behind the quotes.

A story of survival with fun at the same time!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/15/nyregion/15kitchen.html?hpw

This is a story of a bunch of people from different work-fields getting together in a rented kitchen in New York who are food-entrepreneurs now after being laid-off.

The piece provided relevant details like the rent and entrepreneurs backgrounds and their view about their new profession. It served as an amazing advertisement for these businesses as well. Loved the use of the verb cratered as in "economy cratered."

I understand the article is about this new form of making money through rented kitchen for these laid-off people. But I would have liked to hear from a customer who expressed whether or not they knew if what they were ordering was made in a facility where Indian, Mexican, middle-eastern etc is all made in one space or do customers only come across the website interface.

Also, the writer hinted at the dynamics between different chefs as to how they ordered common supplies to avail of discounts and how they acted as taste-testers for each others. I would have liked an elaboration on the cultural aspect of it: how these chefs from different cultures are experiencing different food cultures and otherwise being in the same space.

Moreover, I wanted to know if these people want to stick with this system of using rented kitchen for long for whatever reasons or do they want to establish their own space in the near future because of any inconveniences etc.

Nevertheless, a well-done story of human survival in face of adversity..sounds cliche?..add a never-ending demand commodity--food-- and cultural element to it. interesting!

How to lose a reader in one paragraph

It can be easy! Just start with a run-on sentence.

Here's Elisabeth Bumiller's into to her New York Times article about a report on the Afghanistan war.

"As President Obama prepares to release a review of American strategy in Afghanistan that will claim progress in the nine-year-old war there, two new classified intelligence reports offer a more negative assessment and say there is a limited chance of success unless Pakistan hunts down insurgents operating from havens on its Afghan border."

I understand her desire to cram as much information as possible, but I lost my train of thought about halfway through. Worse yet, she backloads the intro, saving the article's point for the end of the run-on.

I think it would have been more effective had Bumiller kicked off the intro by diving right into the report. She could still have juxtaposed it with President Obama's review and it would have been more organized and readable.

Just for laughs: "I want to work for the New York Times!"

This is quite funny despite the mundane voices. The student aspired to be a journalist but didn't plan to start from the bottom. He dreamed of joining the New York Times right after graduation and no matter how the journalist tried to tell him it's not going to be as rosy as he had imagined, he just refused to listen! The best quote from him was, "You are very bitter. Journalism needs people who are fired up about the important work of communicating the news of the day with the people. I want to be in the newsroom bantering with my colleagues about the important things we are writing about."

Consistent coverage as opposed to good coverage

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/the_big_picture/2010/12/ronni-chasen-a-victim-of-lurid-hollywood-conspiracy-theories.html

OK, here's my final post on the Ronni Chasen murder, and it's from the LA Times. The link above is to an opinion piece that puts the Chasen murder in the realm of the deaths of John F. Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe and Sal Mineo. Sorry to say this, but only in LA.

Is this supposed to be a suitable substitute for news? Interpretative reporting is to be lauded, and pattern recognition often requires higher thought, but this story doesn't fit into either category.

Neutral Reporting?

Below is a link to the most racist thing I have seen on TV for a while. It's about the debate on the Dream Act.

http://video.foxnews.com/v/4454859/dream-act-lives-on/

The Link is to clip from Fox. You will see that in the clip the reporter and the House Representative are talking in neutral terms. But then about half way in they bring in images of illegal immigrants jumping over the border.

Now, this would almost be OK if you're talking about immigration in general or border security. However, it has no relevance to the Dream Act. The Dream Act refers to immigrants who came here as minors.

Notice also that they only interview a Republican representative. Then the reporter asks a few relevant questions with counter points of view, but she almost asks those questions with a note of disgust.

I think the left wing media is just as guilty of this sort of reporting as the right. What is scary about it is how it just sneaks past you sometimes. You may be watching the news over a bowl of cereal and these images reach the mind in an almost subliminal manner.

Interesting Twist on Healthcare Issue

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/12/nyregion/12medicaid.html?pagewanted=1&ref=nyregion&src=me

The story is about the practice of spousal refusal, a way for people to escape health care costs of their sick spouses. The interesting aspect of the story is that the journalist didn't introduce the concept the way someone would ordinarily expect. She introduced a person, attaching a human face to the idea of "spousal refusal". A hard-working immigrant couple is the face of spousal refusal. What would originally seem like a story reporting how people are abusing and scamming the government, the piece is a little more complex. Turns out that rich people don't use spousal refusal to cheat the system as much as regular hard-working people. Now caught in having to pay back the state, many people are in a predicament.

The paradox created by the journalist is most striking in transitioning from the title of the article to the first sentence of the story. From the title, its seems as though the story is going to be about awful and unethical people scamming the government and usurping taxpayer dollars. But the first sentence starts with a completely different story...

Full Wallets, but using Health Option for Poor

AFTER immigrating to New York City from China in the 1970s, Z. Y. Tung and his wife worked hard — he as a bank manager, she as a public school secretary — lived frugally and saved every penny they could for the next generation.

unlikely, absurd and effective

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/12/technology/12birds.html?src=me&ref=general

Angry Birds, Flocking to Cellphones Everywhere

Even the title is pretty absurd! The story is about a cellphone game that has gotten really popular. The quotes in combination with the random collection of anecdotes about crazy and ridiculous things people are doing on behalf of the game, make the story incredibly entertaining.

Lead:

It sounds like a tough sell: a game that involves catapulting birds at elaborate fortresses constructed by evil pigs.

It's an effective delayed lead. The journalist went right for the kill by capturing the most ridiculous aspect of the whole story in the first sentence.

Parenthesis Use in an Effective Way:

Rovio says people around the world rack up 200 million minutes of game play each day. (Put another way, that is 16 human-years of bird-throwing every hour.)

The inclusion of this aside makes the previous sentence all the more interesting. Translation of facts in the terms what a reader can swallow is an effective way to use parenthesis. The journalist could have just said the figure in the parenthesis and dropped the previous line completely, but this setup is more effective in catching the reader off guard.

Larger Theme:

“There’s no more formula,” said James L. McQuivey, an analyst at Forrester Research who studies digital entertainment. “It doesn’t matter where it starts: a ringtone, a video game, book. It has a shot at the big time.”

The story seems to have a general underlying message and its actually pretty inspiring. The journalist draws attention to the fact that this ridiculous cell phone game means that anyone can be successful --- YOU and ME can make it big too, if Angry Birds can.

Humor:

My favorite anecdote was the one where a woman spent 80 hours crafting a two tiered Angry Birds cake for her son's birthday, which he won't let anyone cut. Pictures of the cake circulated on social media.

I also really enjoyed the ending quote of the article where a professor postulates that Rovio's success is because they made the birds angry, rather than happy. The ending subtely frames the story by pointing to the original sentence of the whole article, which is that there is no real explanation for why Angry Birds got so popular.

One more on Upper Crust...

Is all fair in love and war...and business?

Jordan Tobins: shrewd businessman or despicable human being? Perhaps the two are not mutually exclusive.

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/12/05/a_driven_young_man_and_the_chain_he_made/?page=1

Upper Crust Empire in Jeopardy

I'm becoming obsessed with this story about Jordan Tobins and the Upper Crust lawsuit. I find the coverage interesting, in both content and form. I have found the follow-up articles more palatable than the longer one I posted from last week, but still slightly skewed.

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/12/10/attorney_general_reportedly_to_probe_pizza_chain/?camp=obinsite

A high-impact story, but structure?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/11/world/europe/11nobel.html?hp

A hard-to-believe story in this age about how a country can be so opposed to democracy.

I saw a differently structured story in the afternoon which did not contain Liu speaking about his wife. Understandable in digital media. But in terms of structure, this story could have been better organized. Although the lede is a typical hard-news opening, I was jarred by Liu speaking about getting strength in prison from his wife interrupted by Obama's take on the incarceration back to the fact that Ullmann (a Norwegian actress) read Liu's sentence appeal -- a hint of which was given higher in the story--As if to get in Obama's important views somewhere in the story and to force-fit an end to the story with a quote from Liu:

"He tells how he is sustained by his wife’s love — “the sunlight that leaps over high walls and penetrates the iron bars of my prison window, stroking every inch of my skin, warming every cell of my body, allowing me to keep peace, openness and brightness in my heart.” He went on to say,“Even if I were crushed into powder, I would still use my ashes to embrace you.”

President Obama, who won the peace prize last year, issued a statement saying Mr. Liu was “far more deserving of this award than I was,” and calling for his release “as soon as possible.”

In city hall, the audience was moved by Ms. Ullmann’s solemn reading of Mr. Liu’s words.

“Freedom of expression is the foundation of human rights, the source of humanity, and the mother of truth,” Mr. Liu’s statement said. As for “China’s endless literary inquisitions,” he said: “I hope I will be the last victim.”

Another story befitting festive times!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/11/nyregion/11bigcity.html?hp

This is a story about gift-wrapping and decoration with an immigration angle to it (we were discussing in last class).

What strikes me is development of characters (Theresa and Mariangela) and their relationship that comes out very clearly. Mariangela comes across as this hungry-for- respect woman who is very wary of how her image is being portrayed to outsiders. Angry that her elder sister asks her to get coffee but still sticking to work in her sibling's business.

Talking about confirming from other sources, this story is about the two sisters with quotes from only two of them! Yet entertaining if not educating.

When what we don't know figures prominently in the story

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/10/nyregion/10canada.html?nl=nyregion&emc=ura1

In the ying and yang of journalism and public relations, there is a lot of compelling information that never reaches the reporter. And wise reporters never get it in their heads that they have the whole story, because it is very likely they don't.

Such is the case in the story above concerning Mayor Bloomberg's choice of Cathleen Black as chancellor. The mayor was repeatedly assailed because he chose someone with no professional education background and someone who was not a minority candidate. Turns out, Black wasn't Bloomberg's first choice.

In the public-relations world, "back"-story information such as this is usually shielded for a lot of reasons. Interestingly, though, after a vote, this type of information deliberately is brought into the conversation, usually through a planned "leak."

Food review

This is a food review of a French restaurant I came across in a local daily today. It didn't talk much on the food, but focus on the restaurant background and its owners. The names of the dishes were only mentioned in the very last paragraph. Even so, I enjoyed the story and felt like visiting the restaurant to meet the duo! I like how the writer described the interview she had with the owners:

Chatting over glasses of wine about all things edible, from the progression of cheesecakes at Frangipani to the best Italian restaurant in Luxembourg, where Bauer was born and raised, they were all about creating good food and enjoying it.

The story's here.

Better editing needed?

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/12/09/as_youth_homelessness_rises_group_seeks_to_give_shelter/?page=1

This story, on today's Globe front page, is about the growing population of homeless young adults, 18 to 24 years of age, who have placed out of foster care due to their age. I think it is badly written, and I would like to know what others think. Is it a problem with my ability to focus, or is this reporter all over the place?

The article of perhaps 1,000 words flits between vignettes of three individuals, three nonprofit organizations that serve this population, and statistics from local, state and federal sources. It might not feel like "flitting" if every sentence did not start a new paragraph. (I am exaggerating, but only slightly.)

The subject of growth in homelessness these young people is a serious one. I wish this article had been written in a more coherent and compelling way, and not as if it were trying to model Attention Deficit Disorder. If I were to try to remember the three critical facts an hour from now (or even five minutes ago) I could not.

The Untimely Death of Elizabeth Edwards

Elizabeth Edwards's battle with cancer has been no secret and her unfortunate and untimely death made headlines on practically every news outlet. I think her story is a captivating tale and will be written about as an ongoing narrative because her life had so many public highs and lows. She was a key campaign figure when her husband John Edwards ran for Vice President in 2004 and was always very respected by her peers. She was a lawyer, teacher, Gay Rights Supporter, Health Care Reform Advocate and mother. She endured tragedy and humiliation with the death of her son and her husband's very public affair with his videographer Rielle Hunter and subsequent love child and long term battle with cancer but as she writes in her book remained "resilliant". This article talks about those moments that marked her life and introduced us to her private life in a very revealing public manner.

The article really focuses on her life, talent, and enduring strenght. In future stories I expect there will be a lot of talk about her public life and how much she sacraficed and endured from her husband who turned out to be nothing like she or the public thought he was like.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/08/us/08edwards.html?_r=1&ref=us

 

 

Upper Crust Under Fire

This story is from Sunday's front page of the Boston Globe. It's a longer, much more in-depth exposé of the story I had envisioned writing for my final project.

I don't disagree with the perspective, but it does seem a wee bit unbalanced. I want to hear more from the owners, who may be remaining mum (and wisely so?) in the midst of a lawsuit.

Overall, I liked the story, but some of the information seems taken for granted to underscore the writer's pro-worker angle.

For example, I find this passage questionable:

"Meanwhile, in dusty Marilac, some fear a reliable source of income used to build farms and businesses and houses will vanish. Others say the village will be better off without the pizza money and the sacrifices it requires."

Who says that? Where is Abelson getting this information? It is a bold, yet vaguely attributed, claim. I think a direct quote would give it much more credibility.

LA Times where are you?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/05/us/05publicist.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Yeah, I am back on the Ronni Chasen murder.

Above is a comprehensive story from the New York Times that is revealing not so much in the investigation, but in the makeup of Ms. Chasen.

In addition, The Hollywood Reporter has been doing excellent day-to-day coverage.

In my opinion, this should be the LA Times' story, but its coverage has been pretty beige, often relying on AP reporting. I'm sure if I knew the back story in the newsroom, this would all make sense. But as a regular reader, I just don't understand.

similar storyline to mine!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/01/world/europe/01iht-letter.html

Co-incidentally my final paper for the class hinges on how ambitions and personality-types of women create obstacles for them to engage in a relationship. Although my story is based in Harvard Business School, it reflects the same attitude of "men like girly girls and not alpha females"

Julian Assange, the man behind WikiLeaks

I watched this video on Ted.com months ago and thought at that time, "hmmmm, this is going to be big once it hits the mainstream media." Little did I know. In the midst of the recent WikiLeaks news coverage, I thought I would revisit the Ted interview. The two provide an interesting juxtaposition; at the same time, though, he appeared somewhat misanthropic to me in his Ted talk.

Another story about a tree!

Although this time about a fake Christmas tree!
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/01/us/01wreaths.html?_r=1&hpw

It's interesting to read about the history of petty child-like scuffles between the two competitors amidst stories of terror, murder, politics all over the newspaper. Some stories like these are per se interesting, limiting the role of a hooking lede and earth-shattering quotes. This one provides good context although I found the kicker to be inconsistent. Suddenly the writer talks about smell of the product when the entire story about patent is over its looks. Also I would have liked a quote from a customer as after all it all boils down to business.