1) Using passive voice instead of active voice, and past tense instead of present tense
Ex: Fourth-grade school teacher Lyndra Kristle of Midville was acquitted of child abuse today.
2) Numbers
Ex: Strasburg struck out ten and walked none.
3) dashes between two or more words
Ex: 22 year old star
Could send the news release to Blogs@americantowns.com, where it could be featured on this Repton Community website: http://www.americantowns.com/ct/fairfield/news/an-invitation-to-our-fairfield-community-blog-on-91134
This blog is about unemployment statistics; since the addition of the plant would raise unemployment rates in Repton, Alabama, they may be interested. http://unemploymentadvice.blogspot.com/
This is a blog about food/restaurants in Alabama:
The radio news story that I listened to was found in an audio archive on wtop’s website. It was entitled, “April’s Hot Weather.” This is an actuality story because it included a participant in the story, Gilberto. The newscaster is airing the story from “Bethesda’s Finest Diner” and starts the story by saying that our brains might be scrambled later like the scrambled eggs on Gilberto’s grill. She talks about the current weather and expected weather for the Spring. All of her sentences are short and precise. Her references to time included “today” and was always near the main verb. These are both aspects of the aural writing style. It was different from how a print journalist would have written the story because the “humanizing” aspect of broadcast journalism was highlighted. The speakers sounded relaxed and engaging to the listeners, discussing how “we” are going to feel the heat this spring. You can find this audio clip at this address: April’s Hot Weather
The Web Package I found was on People magazine’s website; it consists of a text article about Sandra Bullock’s struggle after the revelation that her husband, Jesse James, had been having affairs over the course of their marriage, and her decision whether or not to divorce him. There is a link embedded in the article in the lead where Sandra Bullock’s name appears. When you click that link you are led to another page with a list of any other articles related to Sandra and her husband. There are also two more links further down in the article; one is a link to a series of photos of Sandra and Jesse during their marriage. The other is a link to a series of photos entitled, “Scandalized! Famous Other Women,” a montag of pictures of mistresses from the most talked-about scandals. This was probably my favorite part of the web package; everybody loves to read about a scandal, and when that scandal is a famous person having an affair, we all want to put a face to the name. These pictures allowed me to do that. At the end of the article is one more element of this web package-a video. It is a video depicting Sandra Bullock’s changing looks over the years. This was probably the element I never would have clicked on unless I was doing this assignment. I just didn’t really think it was that interesting. I can see photos of Sandra Bullock in probably ten other places on the people magazine website, so I just didn’t think a video was necessary. Below are the web addresses of the things I talked about.
Text article with video at the bottom:
After clicking on Link to Other Sandra articles:
1. Was Moss injured in the attempted robbery?
2. Is the robber still at large considered to be armed or dangerous?
3. If they had gotten away with the purse, what would have been stolen? How much money, sentimental value did the purse have, exc.?
4. Were there any witnesses to the incident?
5. Is this McDonalds in an area that crimes like this are common?
One of two armed robbers is still at large after attempting to rob an elderly woman, who fought back vehemently, of her purse outside a McDonald’s on Pickett Road yesterday at 4 p.m.
Josh Auerbach, age 40, of Annandale, was arrested after pointing a handgun at Fairfax resident Delia Moss, age 83, while his partner tried to steal her handbag. Sergeant D’Andre Shields of the Fairfax Police Department said that Moss swung her purse at the robber’s hand and knocked the gun into the bushes. The second robber was not apprehended and is described as a white male wearing a pink sweater, in his mid-30s with a buzz cut, short gray beard and glasses.
Three students from Alpha Beta Zeta fraternity were admitted Sunday morning to the local hospital for alcohol poisoning. The students were said to have been at a party at the ABZ house.
Press Martin, a junior in engineering from Shethar, New Hampshire, and Rob Smith, a sophmore in business from here in town, were released from the hospital on Monday morning. Al Amalek, a freshman majoring in liberal arts from Nashville, TN, is still there and listed as in critical condition.
The university issued the statement: “Our initial investigation indicates that these young men were at a party in the ABZ house. A number of witnessed say alcohol was being consumed by them. Based on that we are suspending the fraterntiy and all its activity on campus.” We have not decided how long the suspension will last.”
People are getting more concerned with drinking at fraternity parties these days. Recently a couple of students, one at LSU and one at MIT, have died from alcohol poisoning. Two weeks ago, University president Harvey Smithville restated policy banning alcohol from fraternity houses located on campus property or within campus environs. “Any fraternity in which the members have alcohol will be immediately suspended,” Smithville said.
Jan Mize, from the university’s public relations department, said that usually a suspension like this one that comes from these circumstances is for about a year. The university is thinking of increasing its police patrols of fraternity houses on the weekends due to incidents such as this one.
Three students from Alpha Beta Zeta fraternity, said to have been at a party at ABZ house, were admitted Sunday morning to the local hospital for alcohol poisoning.
Press Martin, a junior in engineering from Shethar, New Hampshire, and Rob Smith, a sophomore in business from here in town, were released from the hospital Monday morning. Al Amalek, a freshman majoring in liberal arts from Nashville, TN, is still there and listed as in critical condition.
The university issued a statement stating that their investigation lead to a number of witnesses saying that the boys were consuming alcohol at an ABZ party and as a result they are suspending the fraternity and all its activity on campus. “We have not decided how long the suspension will last,” the university said.
Recently a couple of students, one at LSU and one at MIT, have died from alcohol poisoning. Two weeks ago, University president Harvey Smithville restated policy banning alcohol from fraternity houses located on campus property or within campus environs. “Any fraternity in which the members have alcohol will be immediately suspended,” Smithville said.
Interfraternity Council president Bart Addison says that he is shocked that this incident has occurred, however, he does not think it is fair to punish the entire university for the actions of a few. “I am going to ask President Smithville to reconsider his suspension of the ABZ’s,” Addison said.
The university is thinking of increasing its police patrols of fraternity houses on the weekends due to incidents such as this one.
I watched a news story on CNN tonight about a Sea World trainer who was killed today, Wednesday, afternoon during a show by one of their killer whales. Dawn Brancheau, 40 years old and identified by a Sea World spokesperson as one of their most experienced trainers, was in the whale holding area about 2 p.m. when “she apparently slipped or fell into the tank and was fatally injured by one of the whales.” This was the statement released by the sheriff’s spokesperson, Jim Soloman. However, a different story was told by an eyewitness who says that Brancheau did not fall, instead that the whale approached the glass side of the 35-foot-deep tank at Shamu Stadium, jumped up and grabbed the trainer by the waist, and shaking her violently. Brancheau’s cause of death was drowning. The killer whale, who goes by the name Tillikum, is 11,000 pounds and 22 feet long. Interestingly enough, this isn’t the first time Tillikum has been involved with the injury of a Sea World trainer. In 1999, Tillikum was blamed for the death of a 27-year-old man whose body was found floating on his back in a tank at SeaWorld, the apparent victim of a whale’s “horseplay,” authorities said then.
This discrepancy in the two stories is what I found most intriguing in this media story. Also, I think that it is terrible that this happened in front of a live audience.
Lawsuit
Ellis Mastron, of 313 Journey Road, charged Amburn’s Produce Market with negligence in a suit filed today in the Circuit court for $100,000.
The suit says that on April 1 of this year, Mastron slipped and broke her hip when she walked through green beans that were left (negligently) on the floor of the market. Mastron claims that she, “suffered permanent bodily and mental injuries, incurred medical expenses and lost income.”