Lede 4 - The state representative of Maryland sponsored a bill that worsens identify theft penalties due to rising complaints in Towson.
Lede 5 - The Towson school district received $1.2 million in grant money for its at-risk youth program.
2/26/09
2/25/09
Lede practice 2.0
Lede 4 - The state representative of Maryland sponsored a bill that worsens identify theft due to rising complaints in Towson.
Lede 5 - The Towson school district is receiving $1.2 million in grant money for its at-risk youth program.
Lede 5 - The Towson school district is receiving $1.2 million in grant money for its at-risk youth program.
2/19/09
Lede practice
Lede 1 - On Thursday afternoon at a busy intersection, a three-vehicle accident injured Roger Datolli, the husband of the current mayor.
Lede 2 - Council members Sandra Gandolf and Alice Cycler proposed a renovation of the downtown historic district at their regular meeting.
Lede 3 - A Senate plan to build a nuclear storage site in the Nevada desert will lead to waste, the head of the Department of Energy said.
2/9/09
The five most common grammar problems
Problem 1 - Punctuation
This is one of the most common problems in grammar. People only use punctuation when it feels good and nothing else. If adding punctuation can not be justified by a rule, then it is not needed. All sentences that abuse punctuation are complex. They must be remodeled as such.
Example - I wanted to get to bed, but my father had other ideas.
Problem 2 - Subject and Verb Agreement
The subject and verb must always be in agreement. If the subject is "The pencil", then the verb must be plural, as in "flies". The resulting sentence will end up being "The pencil flies into the trashcan". The opposite applies if the subject is plural. In that case, the verb must be singular.
Incorrect - The apple fall at my feet.
Correct - The apple falls at my feet OR the apples fell at my feet.
Problem 3 - Correct Use of Pronouns
The original use of pronouns is to cut down on mindless repetitions. Collective subjects are treated as singular subjects. As a result, they must have their correct counterparts.
Example - The Pencil Corporation likes firing people.
Problem 4 - Sentence structure
Two categories that cause major problems among students are faulty parallelism and modifier placement. All lists must be in parallel form. In the area of modifiers, the modifying clauses must be closest to their modifiers.
Example 1 - The lurker likes eating pizza, carving turkeys and finding subliminal messages.
Example 2 - The strap flew off after I finished carrying the bookbag.
Problem 5 - Word Usage
The correct word must be used for the correct situation. A sentence can easily be taken in another direction if the wrong word is used.
Example - I decided to lay on the sofa/I decided to lie on the sofa.
This is one of the most common problems in grammar. People only use punctuation when it feels good and nothing else. If adding punctuation can not be justified by a rule, then it is not needed. All sentences that abuse punctuation are complex. They must be remodeled as such.
Example - I wanted to get to bed, but my father had other ideas.
Problem 2 - Subject and Verb Agreement
The subject and verb must always be in agreement. If the subject is "The pencil", then the verb must be plural, as in "flies". The resulting sentence will end up being "The pencil flies into the trashcan". The opposite applies if the subject is plural. In that case, the verb must be singular.
Incorrect - The apple fall at my feet.
Correct - The apple falls at my feet OR the apples fell at my feet.
Problem 3 - Correct Use of Pronouns
The original use of pronouns is to cut down on mindless repetitions. Collective subjects are treated as singular subjects. As a result, they must have their correct counterparts.
Example - The Pencil Corporation likes firing people.
Problem 4 - Sentence structure
Two categories that cause major problems among students are faulty parallelism and modifier placement. All lists must be in parallel form. In the area of modifiers, the modifying clauses must be closest to their modifiers.
Example 1 - The lurker likes eating pizza, carving turkeys and finding subliminal messages.
Example 2 - The strap flew off after I finished carrying the bookbag.
Problem 5 - Word Usage
The correct word must be used for the correct situation. A sentence can easily be taken in another direction if the wrong word is used.
Example - I decided to lay on the sofa/I decided to lie on the sofa.
2/5/09
Summary ledes
Summary lede - the opening of a news story whether print or online. There are 4 main characteristics of these ledes.
Main characteristics
Be specific - use the interesting parts of the story
No backing in - no clauses before the subject
Be concise - focus on one point only, no excessive verbiage
Active voice - grab the audience
Examples
After weeks of debate, Congress is giving consumers four more months to prepare for the upcoming transition from analog to digital television broadcasting. [Baltimore Sun] [http://www.baltimoresun.com/technology/bal-digitaltv0204,0,6271893.story]
This particular lede is concise. The focus is only on the extension of the DTV changeover and nothing else. It gives the audience without converters another chance to hook up their television sets.
Macy's, one of the nation's largest department stores, said Monday that it would cut 7,000 jobs, or 4 percent of its work force, making it the latest retailer to streamline operations. [New York Times, February 3 2009 edition, Business Day section]
The major information from the article is successfully combined into a bite-size piece. It serves as another depiction of how the economic downturn is still producing casualties.
When a medical helicopter crashed near Chicago in October, killing three adults and a baby, it was more than a tragedy. It was part of a trend. [New York Times, February 3 2009 edition, Business Day section]
This one has the abuse of active voice and provokes the reader to wonder about this trend. I was reminded of the Medevac crash that occurred back in September.
Main characteristics
Be specific - use the interesting parts of the story
No backing in - no clauses before the subject
Be concise - focus on one point only, no excessive verbiage
Active voice - grab the audience
Examples
After weeks of debate, Congress is giving consumers four more months to prepare for the upcoming transition from analog to digital television broadcasting. [Baltimore Sun] [http://www.baltimoresun.com/technology/bal-digitaltv0204,0,6271893.story]
This particular lede is concise. The focus is only on the extension of the DTV changeover and nothing else. It gives the audience without converters another chance to hook up their television sets.
Macy's, one of the nation's largest department stores, said Monday that it would cut 7,000 jobs, or 4 percent of its work force, making it the latest retailer to streamline operations. [New York Times, February 3 2009 edition, Business Day section]
The major information from the article is successfully combined into a bite-size piece. It serves as another depiction of how the economic downturn is still producing casualties.
When a medical helicopter crashed near Chicago in October, killing three adults and a baby, it was more than a tragedy. It was part of a trend. [New York Times, February 3 2009 edition, Business Day section]
This one has the abuse of active voice and provokes the reader to wonder about this trend. I was reminded of the Medevac crash that occurred back in September.
2/2/09
Response to chapter 14 questions
Question 1
Rule number 1 - Absolutely no plagiarism
This rule is overly emphasized in schools everywhere. With the economy in dire straits, all journalists must resist the temptation to take short cuts. Even in this day, people still ignore this rule and hope to slide by the incompetence of their editors. Like in school, doing this will cost a person his or her job.
Rule number 2 - Sacrifice is evil
The exchange of quality for being the first to the source is not good. The added publicity resulting from this is all fine, but when the choice to make edits is passed over, then their priorities are crooked. Planning is a necessity during this particular time. The importance of accuracy will never be overstated in this field.
Rule number 3 - Know background information on sources before pursuing
The chance of someone giving out misinformation is too great to risk on anonymous sources. This includes those who withhold their individual names for security reasons. Avoiding this could possibly result in loss of job security as well as the job itself.
Question number 2 - Since the advent of the internet, being objective has been a hassle. Personal biases must be pushed aside before going into any field of journalism. If a casual observer can tell right off the bat that coverage of an event was biased, then the failure lies with the networks. The opposite applies as well. Without being objective, people can be swayed to believe anything the media puts out. Anything that the media puts out as villainy, the public will be expected to follow.
Question number 3 - The newspaper does make some attempts to be transparent. For the stories that are used, conflicting accounts are seen. A liberal usage of direct quotes is used to avoid any hints of plagiarism. There is also an online edition for additional comments. However, the elimination of biases needs improvement.
Rule number 1 - Absolutely no plagiarism
This rule is overly emphasized in schools everywhere. With the economy in dire straits, all journalists must resist the temptation to take short cuts. Even in this day, people still ignore this rule and hope to slide by the incompetence of their editors. Like in school, doing this will cost a person his or her job.
Rule number 2 - Sacrifice is evil
The exchange of quality for being the first to the source is not good. The added publicity resulting from this is all fine, but when the choice to make edits is passed over, then their priorities are crooked. Planning is a necessity during this particular time. The importance of accuracy will never be overstated in this field.
Rule number 3 - Know background information on sources before pursuing
The chance of someone giving out misinformation is too great to risk on anonymous sources. This includes those who withhold their individual names for security reasons. Avoiding this could possibly result in loss of job security as well as the job itself.
Question number 2 - Since the advent of the internet, being objective has been a hassle. Personal biases must be pushed aside before going into any field of journalism. If a casual observer can tell right off the bat that coverage of an event was biased, then the failure lies with the networks. The opposite applies as well. Without being objective, people can be swayed to believe anything the media puts out. Anything that the media puts out as villainy, the public will be expected to follow.
Question number 3 - The newspaper does make some attempts to be transparent. For the stories that are used, conflicting accounts are seen. A liberal usage of direct quotes is used to avoid any hints of plagiarism. There is also an online edition for additional comments. However, the elimination of biases needs improvement.
2/1/09
Introduction
My name is Ashley Oliver. I was born [and still raised] in Baltimore, Maryland. I am currently a junior at Towson University. I had graduated from Baltimore Polytechnic Institute back in 2006 and initially started my collegiate career at Columbia Union College. I transferred here in April of 2008 due to external issues. This blog is a shelf of all things relating to my field. My current major is Pre-Mass Communication for the time being. I hope to see it change to Mass Communication by the end of the semester.
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