kimmymoss

For our snowpocalypse assignment, I decided it would be most convenient to visit washingtonpost.com to find a worthy article.  And wow, all I can say is the Post is definitely having a riot over there!  Amidst headlines such as “Here we go. Again.” and “S’now joke: Another major storm coming,” I came across what I found to be a uniquely personal touch on the local blizzard conditions.  The article, titled “Pizzamaker braves snow to deliver on Super Bowl Sunday,”  written by Staff Writer Christian Davenport, appeared online today.  Basically it talks about how Todd Wiss, owner of Radius Pizza in Mount Pleasant, went out on his own in dangerous road conditions to deliver pizzas on Super Bowl Sunday when his delivery drivers’ cars were stuck in the snow.  Why?  As Wiss put it, “It’s not what I went to culinary school for, but the bank doesn’t care that it snowed.”  The article can be found at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/07/AR2010020702972.html.

Davenport presented this storm news in a way that was interesting because he chose to highlight a presumably average citizen display something heroic.  In this case, it was sharing the story of a basic pizza restaurant owner exemplifying great commitment to his business in a time of adversity.  The news values of this piece included the bizarre or unusual and currency.  It pertained to the bizzare or unusual because not very often — correction, EVER — do we hear about pizza OWNERS taking on the delivery role of their lower end employees.  In terms of currency, considering the blizzard that hit the Northern Virginia area is still greatly affecting its inhabitants, the topic of this article is certainly current enough to write about.  Overall, I would definitely say that it succeeded in making me interested in a familar story.

Last week I came across an interesting column by Sally Jenkins:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/01/AR2010020102067.html.  

This article talked about a controversial pro-life ad played during the Super Bowl featuring University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow.  Essentially, the ad unsurprisingly drew some controversy from pro-choice organizations, considering Tebow is a relatively well-know face, and therefore could potentially have impacted the way millions of people view abortion.

But I didn’t post about this article just to say that I disagree with those who felt the ad should not have been run.

I share it because I think it highlights a future NFL player that will be highly successful with his professional career because he is such an incredibly genuine guy.  And I really enjoyed how Jenkins, a column writer, was able to address a touchy subject and still strongly support her argument.

I really enjoy reading editorials because I think they encourage the reader to take some sort of stand on the issue being addressed… to CARE about what’s going on in the world!  Of course, news articles that just serve to inform us are necessary.  But at the end of the day, I enjoy reading about something that’s going to make me want to talk about what I just read with someone else and have some sort of interesting discussion. 

For me, Sally Jenkins’ column did just that.

4.2 News Values I

“Jury Recommends Death for 69-Year-Old Grandmother”

1.  The most prominent news values present in this story is the bizarre/unusual and conflict, given the story talks about a trial.

2.   WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY AND HOW…

WHO: Faye Copeland, 69-year-old grandmother

WHAT: Copeland has been recommended by a jury to be sentenced to death for the murder.

WHEN: The recommendation was made Tuesday night. No date is given for when the crime occured, but the bodies of those Copeland allegedly killed occured last year.

WHERE: The trial was held in the Lingston County Circuit Court in Chillicothe, Mo.

WHY: Copeland was sentenced to death for the murders of four transient farm workers whose bodies were found buried in northwestern Missouri last year.

HOW: She was sentenced by a jury of 12 people in the Lingston County Circuit Court.

3. Records are the most used type of sources of information used in this story.

4. The only directly quoted and attributed source in this article is Copeland’s attorney, public defender David Miller.  His quotes are mostly paraphrased, so it is not clear if the writer personally interviewed this source or not.  However, it is possible that the writer picked up this information at some sort of press conference or news release record, considering that the issue at stake relates to a trial.  As a result, it seems most likely that anyone who wrote a story on this issue may have had access to a press conference.  Not to mention, it is a bit unlikely that the writer may have had direct access to speaking with any any of the jury members or attorneys from the trial.

5. In terms of accuracy, this article does not appear to contain inaccurate information, but given there is only one directly attributed source, it’s certainly possible that some information was either a) presented from a biased perspective or b) left out… which inadvertently would also suggest a slanted angle.  If I were the editor, I would question the point about where Miller “argued that Faye Copeland was dominated by her 74-year-old husband” because it is not directly quoted by Miller and the writer could be jumping to conclusions.  I would want the writer to double-check the accuracy of all the allegations made by Miller.  I’d also ask the writer to try and get more information about the judge’s involvement in the whole matter.