Final project - blog

Christmas Woes

Low-income families and single mothers struggle to make ends meet in a season when most forget that it's better to give than to receive.

By Kylee Morris [kylee.morris@colorado.edu]

Even Santa's struggling to make ends meet.

Results of an annual survey on holiday spending by the Consumer Federation of America show that consumers with low incomes plan to spend less this holiday season then last year’s.

The financial crisis has caused a downturn in the economy. Consumers now worry about rising debts instead of piles of presents.

This year, 55 percent of consumers promised to reduce spending as least “somewhat,” with 27 percent of all respondents saying they planned to spend “much less than last year.”

Single moms seem to suffer the most.

“I'm going to do what my mother did,” said single mom Kelly Kubiak. “She would take us to inexpensive stores and buy us a lot of small inexpensive items so we always had a lot of gifts to open.”

According to Parent Dish, this year parents told their children to scale down on their Christmas wishes. Most parents happily forgo presents in order to provide their kids with the gifts they want.

“I guess we should all be lucky to have anything at all,” said Cindy Tiemann, single mom.

According to data from the Federal Reserve, consumer debt continues to rise with the ratio of debt payments to income approaching its highest level ever.

A staggering 16.3 percent of children in the U.S. under 18 live in poverty. Single-mothers head 26.4 percent of families below the poverty threshold.

“This year and every holiday season we make sure needy families Christmases are a little brighter,” said Elizabeth Freedman, Emergency Financial Assistance Association employee.

Freedman said this year parents should look at Christmas as a learning experience to teach their children that it is better to give than to receive.

Mother and adjunct professor of women’s studies at St. Leo University, Susan Papas, agrees. “That is a good way to learn about money and tackle the current economic crisis without taking the fun out of Christmas,” she said.

Is Sarah Palin the ultimate hockey mom?

The Vice Presidential candidate identified herself with this particular group of women. But, do local hockey moms identify with her? We interviewed local hockey moms at the Promenade Ice Centre in Westminster to find out more.

By: Kylee Morris [mailto: kylee.morris@colorado.edu]

Sarah Palin has made history as the first female vice presidential candidate on the Republican ticket.

Palin quickly became known as an enthusiastic "hockey mom" who was not afraid to take on the "good old boys" of politics.

Hockey moms have become increasingly popular because of Palin’s statements. An increasing number of hockey moms have been associated with the vice presidential candidate.

USA Hockey reports the number of hockey players under 20 at 347,061. This provides an estimate of the number of hockey moms in the U.S.

Hockey mom Victoria Fleming says Sarah Palin is her hero.

"As a hockey mom she knows well what it means to be self-sacrificial," said Fleming. "She upholds the same family values that myself as well as my family uphold."

Huddled under orange and black blankets, local hockey moms spent Saturday afternoon sitting on bleachers watching their children play. They discussed why they think Palin has what it takes to be a great vice president.

"She is looking out for the moms and the regular people of the world," said Ashley Baker.

The women agreed with Palin's famous canine joke.

"I agree with hockey moms being like pit-bulls," said Michelle Lewis. "We are protective over our kids and we get very personal with it."

No matter the outcome of the election, these moms will always be able to relate with Palin, even outside of the political arena.

Broadcast News Blog

Local news sucks. It is always the same: one female anchor and one male anchor with some box next to his or her head. Television is potentially the most creative medium in the world. It is all about manipulating pictures, sound and music. Graphics and great writing can make for amazing storytelling. It saddens me that the best we can come up with is a guy at a desk with a box over his shoulder. The content in the local Denver news is poor at best. The Fox 31 News at 9 had such a lack of content that they were pulling BORING prefab packages of the national wire just to fill their time slots. Local cable news clearly offers is another choice of news for viewers, its not flashy or slick and source are not cited clearly, but maybe that is what some people like.

National news, like 60 Minutes, offers another avenue of news for viewers seeking more in-depth coverage. An average story on local television is, at the most, three minutes. In shows like 60 Minutes, the story segments run an average of fifteen minutes per story. The content is clear, well thought out and the sources are cited clearly because they have more time. If the national news is the NFL then local news looks like a D2 school football game where no one knows what is going on.

Mike Huckabee's show, Huckabee, on Fox News focuses on specific stories and interviews with people of prominence. Every where you turn local and cable news are focusing mainly on the upcoming election. Tonight on Huckabee's show, actor Richard Dreyfuss and comedian/ TV show host Bill Maher discussed issues relating to the upcoming election. No sources were cited, because it is an interview based talk show. Huckabee's show is on Fox News which is known for being a conservative network and Mike Huckabee is a Republican, which makes for an interesting show when both guests are Democrats. However both sides were represented clearly.My final thoughts are, the internet is my favorite way to receive news. It is fast, easy and no one annoys you.

Summarize the story.
How many sources were presented?
If a controversy was cited, were the two sides equally represented?

November 2, 2008
Fox 31 News at 9pm
News starts off with the Barack Obama’s Campaign speech in Pueblo; CO. Small businesses owners are feeling the effects of the Obama campaign. The campaign calls the speech its “closing arguments” on tax cuts. Several small businesses were shut down because of the speech. Small business owners were in an outrage after being shut down. The store owners were compensated with free VIP tickets to the rally. Sources include various shop owners.
Next, the reporter discussed Obama’s aunt, who an illegal immigrant is living in a Boston public housing facility. Sources cited include: Senator Obama and the Associated Press. Both sides of the story were presented.
McCain rally- You Decide 2008-in Virginia.
McCain presented his economic plan at the rally. Reporter states McCain will be in NYC tonight. Sarah Palin back in Colorado on Monday. No sources.
Mitt Romney was interviewed at a Colorado rally.
Colorado Most Wanted
Denver gunman shot three people in Stapleton. Three separate incidents. The most recent shooting occurred. The suspect‘s description was given on a graphic. Sources included: neighborhood residents, female Denver deputy, victims of the shooting gave their descriptions of the suspect. No controversy.
Denver YG30 Bandit; A bank robber still on the loose.
Updated: A murder was caught in Kansas. He was arrested for carjacking and killing a Colorado man.
Fatal Fires:
Lafayette Motel fire, neighbors pulled out a man caught inside. The fire is under investigation. No sources cited.
Barn fire; four horse barn caught on fire, horses were pulled out from inside the burning barn. Police expect no foul-play. Sources cited: police officer, no controversy.
Mitt Romney comes to Colorado to speak on the half of McCain. Romney says polls are very close because voters are not comfortable with Obama. Reporter brings up race and tries to get Romney to bring up the race issue. One source cited: Romney.
Election Night coverage piece-internal advertisement
Across America segment: Police officer shot and killed in St Louis.
Two North Texas earthquakes, No sources
Naked voting in Pasco County Florida, head of the nudist colony cited. No controversy.
Daylight savings time; firefighters cited, No controversy.
Weather
Leap program starts, Low Energy Assistance Program. No sources, no controversy.
Flu shot given at the Denver International Airport. Organizers cited and travelers interviewed. Location: Denver Health Clinic. No controversy.
F ox Alert-Aurora-pedestrian accident a woman and her child were taken to hospital. The woman was also pregnant. No sources, no controversy.

Teacher pay increases in New York City. Teacher in the package is Dylan Prime. Prime and other NYC teachers will receive a $2000 bonus is they improve test scores.The Department of Education is for it however the National Educational is not for . Both presidential candidates are for it. A National story that is very controversial.


NATIONAL:

60 Minutes - CBS - 11/1
Good editing,

650,000 reserves were called to duty since 9/11

USERA Law, states that soldiers that return from duty must get their original jobs back and receive the same pay. Thousands of guards and reserves are penalized and don’t have their jobs when they get back from active duty.
Interviewed 3 army members who lost their jobs, one of whom works at the VA medical center and was denied back pay after being gone 2 yrs (in military 25 years), Pentagon cited, lawsuits cited, Assistant Secretary of Defense, Thomas Hall interviewed. Dave Miller who owns Conway National shipping company first supported this cause but now has problems with giving soldiers back their jobs because they are on there 2nd and 3rd tours. The Sherwood Police Dept and its police chief were quoted, as well as Pentagon policies.
Definitely has an agenda, but allowed for all sides to be represented.

Gerald, MO
A tiny police force and a town with a big drug problem.
Bill Jacob impersonated a federal agent and tries to help the town on Gerald clean up the meth labs drug ring. Gerald has only 1200 residents. In 2 months Jacob helped - arrest 20 people. Jacobs was never a federal agent or a cop. Jacob was bankrupt and unemployed. Jacob made up evidence. He arrested people and never read them their rights, no search warrants were issued, suspects were not allowed to call lawyers. Now none of the evidence found is admissible. A local Gerald reporter with did background check on Jacob and found out the real him. Jacob was arrested by FBI. Jacob has long history of conning people. Police officers and chief were all fired; people arrested now suing the town. Jacob pled guilty, will be sentenced in December to 5-6yrs in prison.
Interviewed Jacob, Ryan McCrary - police chief, Mayor Otis Schulte, reporter Linda Trast, Michael Holland ( A suspect who “confessed” to drug dealing)
Huge controversy - all sides spoken with, except for federal agencies.




CABLE:

Special interest stories
Fox News, The Huckabee Show

Show with Govenor Mike Huckabee
Shows SNL making fun of Presidents and Presidential candidates
Thenoseonyourface.com - Obama carved on Mt Rushmore - team members of Huckabee’s show create a parody

Interviews with Bill Maher & Richard Dreyfuss

No sources because it’s an interview segment - q&a, not evaluating a story or reporting hard news

On Camera Lead in:
HELPING CASH STRAPPED AMERICANS.
KYLEE MORRIS REPORTS, ON THE NEW ECONOMIC STIMULUS PLAN.
(Anchor on camera)

Take Package:
----(NAT SOUND)----
(Cars passing and people walking)
----(TRACK)---
CAPITAL HILL IS PUSHING FOR ANOTHER STIMULUS PLAN. BUT THE WHITE HOUSE HAS CONCERNS THAT THE PLAN WOULD NOT STIMULATE THE ECONOMY.
FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN BEN BERNAKE DOESN’T THINK THE COUNTRY’S ECONOMIC PROBLEMS ARE GOING ANYWHERE.
(Video follows script; Shot of Capital Hill, Congress, archive video of Ben Bernake)

----(SOUNDBITE)----
CG: (Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve Chairman)
“With the economy likely to be weak for several quarters, and with some risk of a protracted slowdown, consideration of a fiscal package by the Congress at this juncture seems appropriate.”

----(TRACK)----
BEATEN DOWN BY HOUSING, CREDIT, AND FINANCIAL CRISES, THE ECONOMY IS IN THE WORST CONDITION SINCE THE GREAT DEPRESSION.
MORE PEOPLE ARE LIKELY TO BE OUT OF WORK AS THE ECONOMY GETS WORSE.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE NANCY PELOSIN CHIMES IN ON THE STIMULUS IDEA.
( Video follows script; crowded streets, fore closure signs or for sale sign, people fill out job applications, shot of Nancy Pelosin.)


-----SOT-------CG: (Nancy Pelosin, Speaker of the House )
“I call on President Bush and the congressional Republicans to once again heed Chairman Bernanke’s advice and as they did in January, work with the Democrats in Congress to enact a targeted, timely and fiscally responsible economic recovery and job creation package.”

-----TRACK-----
ONE OUT OF THREE AMERICANS ARE WORRIED ABOUT LOSING THEIR JOBS. WHILE OTHERS AGONIZE OVER NOT BEING ABLE TO PAY THEIR MORTGAGE AND CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS.
(Video follow script; shots of people opening unpaid bills)

----SOT---- CG: (Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve Chairman)
“If Congress proceeds with a fiscal package, it should consider including measures to help improve access by credit consumers, home buyers, businesses and other borrowers.”

----TRACK---
IMPROVING THE CREDIT AND HOUSING MARKETS WILL PLAY A KEY ROLE IN THE RE- STIMULATION OF THE ECONOMY. KYLEE MORRIS, NEWSTEAM BOULDER
(Video Follows Script; People out shopping, buying houses, cars, etc.)

ON CAMERA TAG: Reporter on camera
THE UNITED STATES AND OTHER TOP ECONOMIC POWERS ALSO HAVE ADOPTED A FIVE POINT ACTION PLAN.

Statistic Story

Crime Statistic; Boulder, Co., vs. Tampa, Fl.,
In 2007, the population in Tampa, Fl., Hillsborough County, was estimated to be at 1,192,861.

Hillsborough County is a typical urban area with a higher population density and a population that has a higher proportion of young people.

Hillsborough’s crime rates tend to higher than the state average which includes rural areas and areas with a high number of retired people.

With dense urban population Hillsborough County’s crime rate is among the highest in the state.

There were 8,822 total violent crimes in 2007, 67 of which were murders.

Forcible sex offenses were among the lowest in over 10 years, with 324.

As most big cities like Tampa stem high crime rates, smaller cities tend to have lower crime rates. However violent crimes, once mainly the purview of big urban cities, are now growing in many small and mid-size cities.

Boulder, Co., a mid-size town West of Denver, is no exception to the rule. Although the population in Boulder has decrease from 103,216 in 2003 to 102,659 in 2007, the number of assaults has increased by more than 100 since 2007.
Boulder has a high youth population, stemming from the students who attend the University of Colorado.

It is not unfamiliar to hear a headline about a murder or a sexual assault. Boulder tries to hold on to its small town roots by making safety a top priority and over the years have decreased the total number of violent crimes by 1,519.

Every year since 2003, burglary, larceny, vandalism, assault and DUI have the highest reported crime rate.

The numbers are available for anyone to look at through either the Hillsborough County website or city of Boulder Website.

Chapter 6 Homework p.117

A. She felt bad about missing the school board meeting, but her editor fired her regardless of her excuse.

B. We will join together in prayer and fly the flags at half–staff for the students who died the shooting.

C. It is all right if you miss class for a job interview. You can make up the test tomorrow.

D. We will divide the workload among three students.

E. The St. Joseph Board of Commissioner plans to submit a proposal for a bond issue to pay for road improvements, and they are hoping the election committee will reach a consensus to put the issue on the ballot.

F. I know you are eager to get this, but each of the applicants will have a chance to discuss his or her strengths and weakness, with the personnel director.

G. Based on your writing skills, it looks like you could be a good journalist.

H. Each of the students will receive a plaque with his or her diploma at graduation.

I. She was embarrassed that she fewer than five answers correct on the quiz.

J. After the boss read the report, he gave it to Jim and me to rewrite. He said it is due back by Monday.

Revised News Story

Life Expectance Longer for Right-Hand People

Being left-handed is not going to kill anyone. However, research suggests that people who are left-handed maybe at a greater risk of dying earlier.

Diana Halpern, a psychology professor at California State University at San Bernardino and Stanley Coren, a researcher at the University of British Columbia, examined the death certificates of 987 people in two Southern California counties. A relative of each of the deceased were contacted about the subjects’ dominant hand.

Although the study was first conducted to determine why there are fewer left-handed people in the elderly population, results indicate that right-handed people have a longer life expectancy then left-handed people.

“The results are striking in their magnitude,” Halpern said.

Right-handed women tend to live six years longer then left-handed women and right-handed men tend to live 11 years longer than left-handed men.

The average age of death for right-handed people was 75 and for left-handed people, 66.

Left-handed people make up 10 percent of the U.S. population.

Halpern suggests her study should be interpreted with caution and that it does not take into account the fitness levels of any of the deceased.

“There are many, many old left-handed people,” Halpern said. “It should not, of course, be used to predict the life span of any one individual.

News Story

This is not a blog. This is practice news story beat for my News Gathering class at CU. Enjoy!


Life expectance longer for right-hand people

Being left-handed is not going to kill you. However research suggests that people who are left-handed are at a greater risk of dying early.


Diana Halpern, a psychology professor at California State University at San Bernardino and Stanley Coren, a researcher at the University of British Columbia, examined the death certificates of 987 people in two Southern California counties.


A relative of each of the deceased were contacted about the subjects’ dominant hand.


Although the study was first conducted to determine why there are fewer left-handed people in the elderly population. Results indicate that right-handed people have a longer life expectancy then left-handed people.


“The results are striking in their magnitude,” Halpern said.


Right-handed women tend to live six years longer then left-handed women and right-handed men tend to live 11 years longer than left-handed men.

The average age of death for right-handed people was 75 and for left-handed people 66.


“Some of my best friends are left-handed,” Halpern said.


Left-handed people make up 10 percent of the U.S. population.


Halpern suggests her study should be taking lightly and that it does not take into account the fitness levels of any of the deceased.


“There are many, many old left-handed people,” Halpern said. “It should not, of course, be used to predict the life span of any one individual.

Blog 4 part 2

Write a second blog article discussing the coverage of Weblogs by the mainstream media and what effect you think bloggers have on the media's coverage of an issue. How do bloggers fit into the communication sphere of our country? Do they make media better, or do they distract media from the important issues of our world?

The question is, are bloggers credible sources? The credibility of all bloggers is in a constant state of question. The information given by the bloggers who claimed to know the “truth” behind controversial “Memogate” was eventually dismissed. According to the article Blog-Gate, “bloggers fact checking was seriously warped” and “their driving assumptions were often drawn from flawed information or based on faulty logic.” I couldn’t agree more with Corey Pein, the author of Blog-Gate. Who are bloggers and how do they get their information? Although the bloggers cited in Pein’s article had creditable titles and information, their assumptions on the “Memogate” story were never proved to be true.

America is a very outspoken country and what a better way to let every American give there opinion on a subject than blogging. As a journalism graduate student, I hate blogging. Blogging is not “real” journalism. Although everyone has an opinion, a journalist is supposed to report the facts as unbiased as possible. There is a certain code of ethics a journalist must follow and with bloggers there is no such code.

In most cases blogs are merely biased stories that are poorly written by people who are no more qualified than my five year old cousin. Writers and anchors blogging on their newspaper or network’s website are not real bloggers. These are qualified people who are most likely forced to blog to keep up with the growing trend of electronic media. I think blogging is the reality TV of the internet, people love it and it’s not going away. On that note, I believe “mainstream media” and “bloggers” are both equally as corrupt.

Blog 4 Part 1

Write a blog article discussing your opinions and feelings about the Dan Rather/CBS/National Guard scandal. Provide a brief synopsis of the events surrounding the scandal and discuss how the various actions by the people involved made you feel as a news consumer, a journalism student and a voter.



On September 8th, 2004 just weeks before the presidential election CBS News airs memos which suggest President Bush received special treatment when he was part of the Texas Air National Guard. Later CBS News and Dan Rather eventually apologize for airing memos. Dan Rather is quoted in saying that, CBS was misled by Bill Burkett and in later interview Rather questions Burkett on why he falsified information. Burkett admits to misleading CBS, but the question still remains whether the information in these memos is true.

As a journalism graduate student I question why Dan Rather’s producer Mary Mapes trusted the information provided by Mr. Burkett. CBS is criticized for not know Burkett’s original source, but it is hard for me to believe that Mapes, a “star” CBS producer would trust the opinion and information of just one man. Maybe Mapes couldn’t reveal Burkett’s original source for “ethical” reasons.

Who cares what President Bush did while he was in the Texas Air National Guard? I don’t think something that happened forty some odd years ago should have so many people in an out roar. Nor do I think it is the fault of Dan Rather. Although I have not been involved with news anchors on a national level, I have at the local level. Local anchors don’t write or research the stories they read on the news.

So, don’t tell me that Dan Rather had much more input on this, than being handed a script thirty minutes prior to this story airing. Yes, maybe Mary Mapes discussed the story she was working on with DanRather, but I highly doubt Dan Rather pondered the question of “Should I do research to make sure Mary’s story is real before I read it to the American people?” He doesn’t get paid the big bucks to do the research; he gets paid the big bucks to read someone else’s research.

This might sound bad coming from someone who hopes to have a career in broadcasting, but anchors aren’t journalist, they are merely readers of information.

Take a listen to CBS "Memogate" Stories on NPR
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3928513

Story Ideas for beat

CU Hockey- How do you recovery from last season
Avalanche- The chase for the cup and upcoming season
Joe Sakic resigns for 1 year
Local Peewee/Youth hockey-upcoming season
Rookie profile piece

CU Equestrian- Why is the CU equestrian team not an NCCA Division 1 sport
Upcoming Horse show at CU horse show Oct 5th-6th
What is the IHSA and how does it work?
The different disciplines of equestrian
The Hunt Seat Team vs. The Western Team

Research Questions

Theses questions weren't easy to answer. I have called and emailed several people. Hopefully they will be returning my calls/emails and I can provide the missing infomation.

1. How has the production of Colorado natural gas changed in the past 5 years?

With the constant increase in oil prices the U.S. has looked for other resources as an alternative for oil. According to ColoradoProspects.com, in the past five years natural gas production in Colorado has shown a steady increase due to the development of Western Colorado (Mesa Rio Blanco, and Garfield Counties.) The natural gas resources found in these three counties is estimated to be 31 trillion cubic feet in diameter. Making this the largest discovers of natural gas in the Rocky Mount region.


2. How many companies currently explore and mine natural gas in the state of Colorado?

According to ColoradoProspects.com, there are more than 940 energy and mining businesses in Colorado. Also Wikinvest.com suggests, that companies such as, Exxon Mobil, BP, and Chevron, play a huge part in the rise of natural gas trends.

3. What ecological or environmental disasters have occurred as a result of raw resource recovery in Colorado’s history?

Although I did not find this answer I have emailed and called a few people concerning environmental disasters resulting from natural gas. One person emailed is Bob Beers, State Senator, District 6. Mr. Beers have been working on preventing future natural gas environmental and ecological disasters. I have also emailed Joe Neuhof from the Colorado environmental coalition.

4. How many people live on or near the Roan Plateau?


There are three major counties that surround the Roan Plateau, Garfield, Rio Blanco, and Mesa. The last statistics and demographics I could find were from 2006 on the Garfield county website. www.garfield-county.come
2006 Population
Garfield County- 49,325
Mesa-127,808
Rio Blanco-6102
Total Population surrounding the Roan Plateau-183,235

5. How much of Colorado’s drinking water is unprocessed? (What percentage of the population does not receive water from treatment plants?)

Although I don’t have an answer for this question yet, I emailed Mark Cardwell,Managing Editor Digital Media, at the Denver Post. Mr. Cardwell has written articles on the drinking water in Colorado. Also, I have called and I emailed the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Their mission is, “The Colorado Drinking Water Program makes sure that Public Water Systems always provide safe drinking water. We adopt and enforce regulations and provide assistance and incentives that further protect the quality of drinking water supplied by public water systems.”

The Function of the Press in American Society Blog

Every four years the American people are bombarded with an array of political advertising. Media companies, i.e. networks, are intricate businesses that need to make money to survive. During next two months millions of dollars will be spent on political advertising. Some people would agree that FOX News is more of a conservative network, where as CNN leans towards liberal and big networks like these will profit significantly over the next two months. This in turn could influence how they might affect the current political structure.


According to Lemann, Arthur Bentley believes, “anyone who comes into public life claiming not to have an interest is either deluded or deceitful.” In short, I believe Bentley is stating that, everyone has their own agenda. The owners of these media corporations most likely have their own political views, which can influence the role that an “individual” media corporations plays in the political structure in the U.S. Money talks and politicians have the money to influence the media/press to create their own ideal political structure.


Online I listened to a speech given at the University of North Carolina, by Bill Schneider, CNN senior political analyst, in his speech he suggests, that political analysts play a big role in how the media affects the political structure in this country. According to Schneider, “political analysts show what the “times” and the American people really want or what they are missing.” In other words, political analysts show politicians, polls & statistics relating to what the American people want to see in their individual campaigns. In turn they help shape the political structure.


No matter which way you look at the political structure in the U.S. some how the press/media plays a role in shaping the opinions of millions of Americans and no matter who you are everyday you are affected by the opinions of varies media outlets.

Link referenced: http://www.jomc.unc.edu/schneider.com

Story Ideas

Original Topic- With the recent sales of the mineral right leases on the Roan Plateau and the history of problems associated with water quality near mines, what plans do the companies who purchased leases and plan/hope to drill for natural gas have to monitor water quality?

Story Angles
1. Consult and interview ordinary people living near the Roan Plateau in order to create a human interest story with authenticity that resonates readers. In doing so you will set the overall tone of the piece as, ordinary people concerned for themselves and their family’s safety.


2. Research and locate a family who had a child’s health affected by the drilling of natural gas in another location; discuss these families’ recollections, opinions and emotions in order to validate them. Try then to directly link it to the Roan Plateau and the number of families with children living near the Plateau.


3. Interview the spokes people for the companies who purchased the leases on the Roan Plateau. Giving these companies a chance to answer “unanswered” questions and also allow them an opportunity to show and discuss facts regarding water quality, near and around areas of natural gas drilling.


4. Track down an expert on the drilling of natural gas, maybe a professor, a scientist, or author. Allowing them to offer an opinion based on fact and knowledge about the safety concerns of residents and the overall quality of water near mines.


5. Look for official records, like statistics, reports, court records, etc, that are in direct connection with natural gas drilling. Creating a piece that establishes accuracy through authority and objectivity, in order to depict the timeliness of such a compelling concern.

Lippmann Blog

Did you hear that two hunters in Georgia found Big Foot? Of course, the reason the press hasn't "covered" this story is because it is totally untrue. It is an urban legend and over the years several people have claimed to have found Big Foot. Unfortunately, people believe this crazy stuff because they want to believe it. Everyday journalists have to sort through bogus stories such as this one, to uncover factual stories.


In this particular passage, I believe Lippman was trying to convey that, the job of a journalist remains a difficult task, due to the influx of information one has to sort through to uncover the “facts” and report it to the public in timely fashion.

Lippman states, “The task of selecting and ordering the news is one of the truly sacred and priestly offices in a democracy”, but is he really suggesting journalist are priests? Or is he more or less suggesting that in order for a journalist to spend countless hours rummaging through, organizing and uncovering facts, he or she must depict priest like or saintly characteristics.

I do believe that at the time Lippman wrote this particular passage he was citing an external principle concerning the role of Journalism. Journalists have always had the job of sorting through, “Fact, propaganda, rumor, suspicion, clues, hopes, and fears “, in order to uncover some sort of truth and try to reiterate it back to the public without bias. Now with all the technological advances and excess of information provided by the internet Lippman’s perspective on journalism remains timeless.