News Story #2

Tourists robbed at gunpoint in Saint Mary’s Cathedral parking lot.

WeiMing Chen, 28, and his wife, Li Lu, 30 had been with their tour group that morning. They left the group at about 10 a.m. and walked to the cathedral's lower parking lot, where they were taking pictures. According to Sgt. Lawrence Price of the San Francisco police department

A man approached them. After he approached them, the thief waved a pistol around. Then he demanded their money. Chen handed over his money, about $100. However, the thief wanted more. Chen gave him his Visa card. He also gave him their passports, camera and airline tickets.

Chen described the assailant as being about 18 years old. The victims later said he was wearing a black jacket and cap.

According to Sgt. Lawrence Price of the San Francisco police department, the suspect took off running and they are in the process of searching for the suspect.

Nobody knows if the couple was able to make their 1 p.m. flight back to Taipei. The whole tour group, about 30 employees of a Taiwan airline, were scheduled to leave then.

News Story #1

News Story #1

San Jose firefighters rescue man from burning home.

Firefighters rescued an unconscious and severely burned Robert Kent from the floor of the kitchen in his single-story home yesterday. Kent is in his 50s and is retired.

According to San Jose fire Captain Rob Piper, the fire started in the kitchen and spread to the attic and smoke engulfed the whole house.

Kent’s Home was not equipped with a smoke detector and the cause of the fire is now under investigation. The fire was reported around 3p.m., according to piper.

A nursing supervisor at Valley Medical Center in San Jose says that Kent is in grave condition after having over 50 percent of his body suffering with second and third degree burns.

AP Style Exercise #2 (E-H)

· ( JOUR 61 – AP Style Exercise #2 (E-H)

1) To ensure the accuracy of the news story, Sarah Jones checked with her source. For Jones, this is an everyday practice, not the exception.

2) As the two boys argues over who should get the last piece of pizza, both seemed equally hungry. Clearly, they had forgotten their earlier decision to forgo having seconds.

3) He suspected his neighbor was selling drugs, so he called the FBI. His neighbor, however, cried foul at the accusation.

4) She grew up on the Great Plains, near Alliance, Neb., where the winters are long and harsh and the living is hand to mouth.

5) Her car was sideswiped by a hit-and-run driver on Route 1A this morning. She wasn’t really injured, but the impact sent the contents of her purse helter-skelter.

2

Top News #4

Obama rejects McCain's call to postpone first presidential debate

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_10547592?nclick_check=1

In the article Obama rejects McCain’s call to postpone first presidential debate, found on the Mercury News website, the author Beth Fouhy from the Associated Press stated that Sen. John McCain wanted to postpone the first set of three presidential debates that are to start of Friday because congress had not yet reached a decision on the $700 billion dollar bailout proposal. McCain wanted to start the debates after legislature made a decision. However Sen. Barack Obama said “it's more important than ever” that the country take heed from its next president, stating that the next leader of America should be able to multitask.

In the article there is talk about showing bipartisanship, however there seems to be different views on the $700 billion dollar bailout. Sen. John McCain wants to make the bailout his main priority because the aftermath can either help or destroy the American economy. On the other hand, Sen. Barack Obama sees the problem and wants to address the bailout in the debates, seemingly putting down McCain by questioning his multitasking skills.

The issues that arise in this article will affect (impact) every single person in America (proximity) because the next president of the U.S. will need to be able to handle the pickle the Bush administration put our nation under. Both of the presidential candidates are trying so hard to gain the support of all the American people. However with the $700 billion dollar bailout raises just another tier of complications to the already staggering economy and with the bailout and Wall St. falling under and the mass references to the next greatest fall since The Great Depression (currency and timeliness). When both senators went to meet with the president, there were accusations that Obama was screaming and being irate (conflict).

Leads Exercise # 5

Immediate and Delayed Identification Leads

Fact Set #1: Pipe fitter

Immediate:

Duane La Chance, A pipe fitter, suffered third-degree burns while installing new pipes on the roof of the Springfield Municipal Power Plant.

Delayed:

An employee of Gross Engineers suffered third-degree burns at 3 p.m. yesterday while working on the roof of Springfield Municipal Power Plant.
Duane La Chance, 55, was listed in severe condition Wednesday evening in the intensive care unit at Springfield Hospital after he accidentally touched a power line carrying 15,000 volts with a piece of angle iron.

Fact Set #2: Car accident

Immediate:

Two teens in get into a striking accident, one-tenth of a mile north of Blue Ridge Road.

Delayed:

James W. Cunning, 20, and Wayne Clay, 19, were in a car accident on U.S. 63 just one-tenth of a mile north of Blue Ridge Road at 11:45 today, according to an officer in the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department.

Cunning was driving south on U.S. 63 in a 2005 Ford Focus. Clay apparently crossed the center line and struck the vehicle that Cunning was driving. Cunning is in satisfactory condition at Springfield Hospital

Lead Exercise #4

Smoking Wheels
For each of the following sets of facts, write the lead and second paragraph of a hard news story:

40 passengers evacuated from a Wisconsin Airport

A landing tower employee witnessed the smoke near the wheels of the Northwest Airlines jet, Flight 428, at the LaCrosse, Wisconsin Municipal Airport today, subsequently following a flight from Minneapolis.

Missing Boy

From the following set of facts, write the first two paragraphs of a news story:

A 7-year-old boy missing for three years was found in Brick Township, New Jersey Monday night. A neighbor recognized the child’s picture, when it was shown after the movie Adam: the Song Continues and then called the police.

The police then arrested the boy’s mother, Ellen Lynn Conner, 27. She is in the process of facing charges of kidnapping as well as interference with a custody warrant.

JOUR 61 – AP Style Exercise #1 (A-D)

JOUR 61 – AP Style Exercise #1 (A-D)

(contains 15 errors)

A) The new head of the Journalism Department, Dr. Deborah Dunwoody, Ph.D., recently bought a house at Six Riverside Drive in San Mateo, a lovely city in the San Francisco bay area. (4)

1. Journalism Department should be lower cased

2. There should be no period after Ph.D

3. Drive should be abbreviated to Dr.

4. bay area should be capitalized, Bay Area

B) “What kind of person would break-in to my apartment and rob my brand new thongs,” she asked her friend. (3)

1. break-in should not have the hyphen, break into.

2. rob should be either be steal.

3. The person in quotations is asking a question, there should be a question mark at the end of the sentence, before the close quotations.

C) The instructor asked her students to read chapter six in the text, and to pay close attention to the section on the great depression, which began in the late 1920’s and continued through the 30’s. (5)

1. chapter six should be, Chapter 6.

2. great depression should be capitalized. Great Depression

3. There should be a period, instead of a comma after the Great Depression.

4. 1920’s should not have the apostrophe before the s, 1920s.

5. 30’s should be written out fully as 1930, with no apostrophe before the s, 1930s.

D) Sarah Smith has not let partial blindness or wheelchair confinement stop her from living life to the fullest. In spite of her handicaps, she volunteers at a local senior center and enjoys going for strolls (she calls them “rolls”) with her friends. (3)

1. After Sarah Smith there should be a comma.

2. Instead of “In spite of” despite is shorter and more to the point.

3. the phrase in the parenthesis can either be replaced by commas or two

dashes, which are more effective.

i.e.

Despite her handicaps, she volunteers at a local senior center and enjoys going for strolls, which she calls “rolls,” with her friends.