Strat5: News Judgment

For this exercise, I will be comparing my favorite print newspaper The Independent Florida Alligator, and my favorite online news source ESPN.com. I like the Alligator because it reminds me of my first days here at UF when everything was so surreal and I was still in disbelief about being in college. I also like it because I feel like I know what’s going on around campus with every flip of the page. As for ESPN.com, sports is my first love. And now that their Web site has stories paired up with video content, it’s hard moving onto another Web site. 

Their new judgments are very similar as in all new organizations with an obvious hierarchy of importance. The Alligator does a great job of choosing one or two important stories to run on the cover. It also publishes a wacky story at the bottom of every page which is a big hit with readers, because you don’t have to go far for a great read. For human interest stories and events that are not as important find their way on the inside with no problem. ESPN.com flag and adjacent list of important headlines gives me all the news I need at one glance. If I choose to watch video or read more, I can just click away. And when you do view more content, similar content is also a click away which makes visiting ESPN.com such a pleasure. 

As for differences, addressing audiences is the most obvious as the Alligator addresses the Gainesville and UF communities while ESPN caters for sports all over the world. ESPN has also created Web sites for certain US markets like New York, Boston and Dallas/Fort Worth to cater to smaller audiences. These new ventures are creating localized content for readers in these areas of the country and also giving readers more options on where to get their news from.

Strat41: Headlines

Up and down season continues for Florida by Pat Dooley, Gainesville Sun

Turbulent is simply the definition of up and down. But I think its usage truly provides the notion that the UF men’s basketball season is struggling with consistency.

I would change this to: Turbulent season continues for Florida

Gun goes off in Walmart; man arrested by Cindy Swirko, Gainesville Sun

The story is about a gun going off accidentally in Walmart. No one was injured and that should be addressed more so than the owner being arrested.

I would change this to: Accidental gunshot in Walmart; no one injured

Gators not intimidated by Vols by Matt Watts, Independent Florida Alligator

Just this simple distinction makes it clear on which set of Gators we are talking about. I think the biggest problem with college sports headlines is that you can never tell which sport is being discussed because team names are always used most of the time.

I would change this to: Gators not intimidated by Lady Vols

Case Study 2

After discussing the Tucson shooting incident, Team Ace devised a plan in the event something like an evacuation of a UF football game because of a bomb threat would happen. 

First off, getting reporters to the scene is most important. But getting reporters to a scene that is crowded with people trying to evacuate because they think their lives are in danger will be a hassle. This is where your sports reporters come in handy and move from the sports section to the front page.  

There are so many questions that need to be addressed first so getting info from city officials and police officers for those in attendance would be the first step. Answering questions like: What are the evacuation procedures? Where is there a safe haven for people to evacuate to? Any chances this happens in any other building on campus? These are all important things to know immediately, and that could be posted online or via Twitter to keep people informed.

Addressing more important questions like the bomb threat itself can be answered when things settle down. Either going to the Gainesville or University Police Departments for answers help here. Was the threat traced back to any suspects? Was it traced at all? What is this person’s history, background and motive? And for our readers’ piece of mind, what is going to be done in the future this happens again? These are questions that should be answered on the front page. 

More importantly, I think readers would want to know that the plans set forth by law enforcement and city officials worked. Was there a step in the plan of attack that could be improved? What improvements are going to be made so that things work more smoothly?

Several angles can be taken to cover this event to the maximum extent. And having the right number of reporters in the right places and the right times can make this feasible.

Case Study 1

There are so many questions to ask the reporter and the editor in this situation. No matter how slow of a news day it might have been, this is not material that a reputable publication should publish. And why are the owners not identified? Are they even a couple? In addition, publishing a story with so many flaws doesn’t help the situation either. The eagle never “satisfied its hunger” with the dog, it snatched it away. I have no idea what “damnendest” means and the husband’s reaction is hilarious to say the least.

The story could have been more respectable with some more comments from those involved. Witnesses gave reports about the situation so why not add some comments from them? Some comments from the woman owner would have helped even more.  Maybe she was in a bad state so the reporter didn’t ask more, but it’s a dog, not a family member. I’m sure she could have provided some quotes other than the grammatically incorrect, “Oh, my God.” As for the husband, knowing why he could care less about the dog is the real story here. He must have detested that dog if he’s grinning and thrusting his hands.

            Besides the flaws in the story, the issue of not identifying the couple is most important because for all the reader knows, this story could just be made up. Sure you have a gas station attendant’s name, but even if he is a gas station attendant, he could be someone you know who would agree to witnessing the event. The story simply lacks credibility.

Strat2

Police find gun and 27 pounds of marijuana in car

·         Who are the people affected?

o   Quite frankly, we don’t know who is affected by this story because more details about those involved are not stated. We don’t know where these people reside in Gainesville, if they do, which is most important point missing because residents around that area might have their lives at risk.

·         How are people affected or how might they be affected?

o   Not knowing where the driver and backseat passenger are doesn’t give readers piece of mind knowing that they are living in safe areas. Although we know the backseat driver was detained, we don’t know anything about the driver – not even his name. This person is still out there, most likely continuing what he’s been doing.

·         Why are you writing this?

o   Because we don’t know if Frazier was a student at any institution in the Gainesville area, this story is important to the Alligator’s audience because he is around the same age as the majority of readers. This could have been someone’s classmate, neighbor, friend, or random sketch they met at a house party. You just never know.

·         Who are the bureaucrats?

o   The police officers.

·         What are the key questions?

o   The key questions here are those above. Where has Frazier been living since he got into this country? What about the driver? What is the driver’s name? Were they both students, and if not, why are they here? Some other questions: How long have they been doing this?

·         What research must you do?

o   Maybe the reporter in this case could not get all the info she needed from the police report alone, and had to run the story without such details. But more time and a follow-up with the answers would give the opportunity to talk to the police more about the situation. Also see if these two have anyone who are willing to answer questions about them. The real issue here is that we just don’t know who these guys are and our safety is at risk because of it.

·         Where can you go?

o   To the police station. The car should have been impounded and maybe the authorities there could answer some questions that could lead to more valuable information. And definitely where they lived to find out if security is up to par for other residents.

·         What are you missing?

o   What is this story not missing is the real question here. Time and resources were probably an issue with this story.

·         How can you be creative?

o   Because this story is about marijuana possession, being creative and not taking a hard-news lead can make this story inappropriate very easily. I’d play it safe.

·         What is your vision?

o   Because of the fact that so many questions are unanswered, holding onto it would not have hurt until they were all answered. I understand the urgency in wanting to publish this, but it does the public no good with so many things unsaid.

Dropbox

Here is a link to the folder containing the file named Breske, which is a story pasted into a Microsoft Word document.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/18328503/Breske.docx

Who am i?

I am Safid Deen and I am a journalism major in my last year at UF. I can be reached at safid828@gmail.com.

·         I am originally from Flushing, NY, but now residing in Pembroke Pines, FL.

·         I came to the University of Florida because of the school’s reputation. Being a few hours away from home made the decision easier, too.

·         I’m taking this course because I have an interest in editing and design. I feel that being just a writer is not good enough in the journalism field and it’s to my advantage to diversify myself.

·         I’m a big sports fan so anything involving playing, watching and reading about sports interest me, particularly basketball. I am also a sneakerhead, which entails my collecting of Air Jordan sneakers.

·         Something interesting about me – My mother gave birth to me on her birthday. I’m still not sure if this was her favorite or least favorite birthday.

·         I am the first male in my family to attend a university.

·         I would rate my knowledge of grammar, punctuation and AP Style at a 7.5.

·         As for InDesign and Photoshop, I’m definitely below a 5. Using those programs every day makes them easier to use, which is something I should plan on doing more.

·         One online skill I think I’m highly proficient at is social networking. Knowing how to use platforms like Facebook and Twitter also involves evoking responses from others like comments and retweets, which I see often because I’m that cool of a guy.

·         I get most of the news I care about via Twitter. I follow a lot of sports columnists who break news like Kit Kat bars. Gimme a break, gimme a break… get it? That was a bad joke.

·         I recently re-read Rick Bragg’s Somebody Told Me. He has a way with words that I could only dream of reproducing. I’m also waiting patiently for my shipment of Decoded by Jay-Z. He’s my favorite artist and I’ve heard a lot of great things about the book so far.

·         As for career goals, I’m really not sure but I have general ideas of where I might want to be. My ultimate dream job would be either covering basketball for ESPN if I stick with journalism or being a brand manager for Nike if I pursue a master’s in business administration.

·         I read most of my content online so I’m always visiting ESPN and Yahoo! Sports. Kix In The City is an online sneaker magazine that I also like to keep up on, and I browse over to the New York Times here and there. Glad I now have them all in one place with Google Reader!

·         My favorite Web site is nikeid.com because it allows you to customize any Nike sneaker in any variation of colors or materials. Might sound boring to some but it’s a lot of fun to see what shoes can look like when you experiment with different color combinations.

·         I do blog when I can, via a Wordpress blog at safiddeen.wordpress.com. My take on sports. Enough said.

·         I’m currently working as a sports copy editor for The Independent Florida Alligator. As for other media-related internships and jobs, I’m still hunting.

·         I do have an updated resume.