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.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
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.
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.
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.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
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:
Parenthesis Use in an Effective Way:
Larger Theme:
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.
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
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
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/12/10/attorney_general_reportedly_to_probe_pizza_chain/?camp=obinsite
Friday, December 10, 2010
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.”
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.”
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