Weekly Response 8

1. One of the things I found most interesting in this chunk of the book was the part about writing in threes - I agree, it has a certain rhythm - four examples is a boring list, two isn't enough proof when you're explaining something.  Three is the perfect number for this sort of thing.  I also agreed with what he had to say about using natural sound in stories as a way to get people to pay attention.  As a news viewer, I am often preoccupied with something else, like eating breakfast, when the news is on, and natural sound makes me look up because I'm not so certain of what's happening when it isn't being told to me by the reporter directly.

2. Pianist loses fingers in snow blower, lives to play - Jan. 21, 2013

3. There is natural sound at the very beginning of the story as a pianist performs at the festival while people clap. There is a little bit of natural sound of Jim stepping through the crunchy snow as he describes what happened to his fingers. The next occurrence is the sound of cars driving by in front of the hospital Jim went to after his fingers were cut off. After that is the sound of a snowblower at work.

4. The first shot I really like is the close-up of the fingers of the players at the festival, the camera a little below the height of the keys. I also like the mid-shot of a man snowblowing with the report from Jim's injury interposed over it. I like the extreme close up of Jim playing with his right hand bandaged - showing off the technical skills he still has in abundance. Finally, the close-up shot of the mallets inside of the piano moving as he plays is really interesting.

5. Injured pianist plays on

6. One thing that Boyd Huppert does well in this story is use interesting soundbites, interspersing them throughout to recapture the attention of viewers. I particularly liked the one where Jim tells the nicknames he's come up with for each finger stub. It humanizes the story as well as adding a little humor to it. He also uses natural sound very effectively in this story, allowing the piano to speak for itself throughout, which shows Jim's triumphant return to playing piano much better than just saying that Jim returned triumphantly to playing piano - like the cliche "a picture is worth a thousand words."

Weekly Response 7

1. One of the top stories was that of the new pope being elected and that whole process.  It has only recently become a major story, but when Pope Francis was finally chosen, the first three stories of the night were all related to his being elected in some way. This is news that may go down in history for a long time, so it's considered really important. Another story that seems to come up again and again is the weather.  It isn't the most interesting, but it has an immediate effect on peoples' lives and continues to be news for that reason.

2. Timing: 314111312112  Avg:1.75
Proximity: 122322121231  Avg:1.83
Significance: 233235444423  Avg: 3.25
Oddity: 445554553344  Avg: 4.25
Human Interest: 556443235555  Avg: 4.33
Prominence: 661666666666  Avg: 5.58

3.  One thing that I found in all this data that I thought was interesting was the importance score I gave to prominence as a factor of the newsworthiness of the story I chose each week.  In the numbers above, you can see that prominence got the highest score every time but one, and that one time it was ranked first.  This week, prominence scored very low numbers (though that isn't included in this data) and was significant once again since many of the stories this week were about the new pope - a very prominent person.  It seems to be the one factor that has such extremes - either very important or totally inapplicable to the story, which I though was interesting to see.  I also thought it was interesting that human interest got such a high score - I think maybe those types of stories usually come on later in the newscast, which is why it seems like a less important factor than it actually is.

Analysis of a News Source 7.2

Basics: 10p on Wednesday, Mar. 13, KARE 11, with anchors Julie Nelson and Randy Shaver

Story 1: New pope takes office; international; Boua Xiong, plus anchors

Story 2: Twin Cities catholics celebrate new pope; local; Jay Olstad

Story 3: People in Vatican City celebrate pope; international; Marco Della Cava (USA Today)

Newsworthiness

Story focus statement: Man finds way to amass arsenal

Prominence: The pope one of the most recognizable figures in the world, so he’s pretty prominent.

Significance: The pope has a great influence on the lives of many people, especially the 1.2 billion catholics, if indirectly.

Timing: The pope was finally picked today, so timing-wise, the story is extremely relevant.

Oddity/Uniqueness: Popes aren’t selected very often, and this choice was thought to be particularly unusual, so this factor matters.

Human interest: This probably makes some people really happy – that seems to be the main attitude of people in the story.

Proximity: This factor doesn’t really apply, since the pope was selected in Vatican City, which is nowhere near here.

Analysis of a News Source 7.1

Basics: 10p on Tuesday, Mar. 12, KARE 11, with anchors Julie Nelson and Randy Shaver

Story 1: Gay marriage bill proposed at capitol; local; Scott Seroka

Story 2: Cardinals still choosing next pope; international; Rena Sarigianopoulos

Story 3: Library shooter awaiting sentencing; local/crime; Randy Shaver

Newsworthiness

Story focus statement: Cardinals still choosing next pope

Prominence: The pope is one of the most influential people alive – he’s pretty prominent.

Significance: The pope is pretty significant to Christians, so this affects the lives of 1.2 billion people, if indirectly.

Timing: The cardinals are debating who the next pope will be right now, so timing is very relevant.

Oddity/Uniqueness: It isn’t very often that a new pope is chosen, so this factor influences the newsworthiness.

Human interest: This doesn’t inspire that many feelings.  This factor isn’t very important.

Proximity: This doesn’t apply, since the pope is chosen in Vatican City, far away.

Analysis of a News Source 6.2

Basics: 10p on Tuesday, Mar. 5, KARE 11, with anchors Julie Nelson and Randy Shaver

Story 1: Snow is moving away; weather; Belinda Jensen

Story 2: Airport well prepared for snow; weather/local; Janel Klein

Story 3: Teen charged in girlfriend’s death; local/crime; Julie Nelson

Newsworthiness

Story focus statement: Teen charged in girlfriend’s death

Proximity: This happened in the metro area, so proximity is one of the more important factors in newsworthiness.

Timing: Anna Hurd’s body was found in a park only a few days ago, so the story is pretty recent, and the charges against her boyfriend are new, so this is an important factor.

Significance: Though this doesn’t directly affect many people, a murder in the community is pretty significant.

Oddity/Uniqueness: Finding a girl dead in a park early in the morning is pretty unusual, and her boyfriend being charged adds to the oddity of the story.

Human interest: This story is pretty sad – a teen girl murdered in a park – so appeals to people’s emotions in that way.

Prominence: Nobody famous was involved, so this doesn’t apply.

Analysis of a News Source 6.1

Basics: 10p on Monday, Mar. 4, KARE 11, with anchors Julie Nelson and Randy Shaver

Story 1: More snow coming overnight; weather; Belinda Jensen

Story 2: Snow will slow morning traffic; weather/local; Boyd Huppert

Story 3: Man videotaped boys in locker room; local/crime; Randy Shaver

Newsworthiness

Story focus statement: Man videotaped boys in locker room

Timing: The man was accused of taping naked boys in the locker room at the YMCA only a few days ago, so the story is still pretty new

Significance: Child pornography is an awful thing, and since he was caught preying on boys, it’s pretty significant.

Proximity: This happened in the metro area, so proximity is an important factor in the newsworthiness of the story.

Oddity/Uniqueness: This story is somewhat unusual – you expect your kids to be safe in the changing room at the YMCA – so this factor matters to the newsworthiness of the story.

Human interest: I guess this would appeal to the emotions of disgust and anger at this man, but this isn’t a major factor.

Prominence: No celebrities were involved, so this doesn’t really apply.

Analysis of a News Source 5.2

Basics: 10p on Wednesday, Feb. 27, KARE 11, with anchors Julie Nelson and Randy Shaver

Story 1: Students assaulted at bus stops; local; Jay Olstad

Story 2: Teen dead after hitting bus; local; Randy Shaver

Story 3: Deadline for charges is tomorrow; local/crime; Jana Shortal

Newsworthiness

Story focus statement: Deadline for charges is tomorrow

Timing: Kira Travino disappeared on Friday, so this is still very relevant, and since her husband must be charged with her murder or let go by tomorrow, timing is a pretty important factor.

Proximity: The couple lived in the metro area and Kira worked at the Mall of America, so proximity is important to the relevance of this story.

Oddity/Uniqueness: This story isn’t that unusual, but the circumstances, like finding her car in a far corner of the mall and the husband being held make it a little odd.

Significance: A missing woman is considered important, especially when her husband is suspected of murdering her, but it doesn’t have much of a direct impact on the community.

Human interest: This story definitely appeals to sadness over a pretty young woman who was possibly killed by her husband, and concern that she’s still missing.

Prominence: No celebrities are involved, so this factor doesn’t really apply.