Good News Lead From CNN

"A shootout at the home of a Florida sheriff left four people dead Tuesday, including the sheriff's wife, a deputy and two suspects the wife reported as intruders."

This is a good news lead because it contains important "w's" of a news lead, and gives important information first.

Who: Sheriff's wife, deputy, and two suspects.
What: Shootout that left four people dead.
Where: Home of a Florida Sheriff.
When: Tuesday.

1/29/2007

A Moscow resident died Monday when his car crashed into a utility pole on Broad Street in wet weather conditions.

The accident occurred at about 5 p.m. when 20-year old John Frazier lost control of his 1998 Ford Mustang. Frazier was going 20 mph over the speed limit when he hit the utility pole and was thrown through the car windshield. He was not wearing a seat belt, which caused him to land some 20 feet away.

Frazier was the only person in the vehicle, and no other injuries were reported. The utility pole is located at the intersection of Broad Street and Main Street.

Story Pitches

Dear Editor,

In recent years, environmental protection has become a big topic in America. The rising price of gas has also become a concern to many Americans. One of the biggest trends seems to be buying hybrid cars.

Hybrid cars are supposed to be not only better for the environment, but have better fuel economy. The reality, however, is hybrid cars seem to be very rare in Pullman. Are people buying into this or are sales lower than expected?

I plan to interview people at the local Ford dealer and find statistics on local hybrid car sales along with national sales rates. My article will also include their performance statistics, an interview from a hybrid car owner, and interviews with several people owning regular gas vehicles. This will generate several opinions on hybrid cars, and will possibly show why people are buying or not buying them locally.

This is newsworthy because many people are unfamiliar with hybrid cars. This information will expose them to this topic, let them know if hybrid cars are a great value, and why the trends are the way they are.

Several members of my family own hybrid cars, and I have been interested in cars all my life. This is why I believe I should write this article.


Dear Editor,

Every week there are reports in the local newspaper about people’s personal property being damaged or vandalized. Houses are often broken into or damaged, along with cars. This is definitely an issue that should be addressed here in Pullman.

I know from personal experience that it can be very frustrating to wake up and find your brand new studded tires slashed while you parked out on the street. I also felt very clueless as to what procedures to follow in case of this, or what precautions I should take to prevent it from occurring.

This article would include an interview with the Pullman Police Department about what to do if your property is damaged, and what preventive measures to take. It would also include statistics about automobile and home damage in Pullman, to give readers an idea of the frequency of the crimes.

I believe this article would contain information that ALL students would find useful and interesting. It will also help students be confident in what actions to take if a property crime were to be committed against them.

Dear Editor,

Since Christmas break many students have been left without Fox on their Time Warner Cable. I know that apparently the two companies were unable to come up with a deal, and Pullman residents are very angry about it. I have not been able to watch many of the shows that I enjoy, including football and American Idol.

I plan to interview several students, along with possible associates of Time Warner Cable and Fox. I also plan to interview several places such as bars or restaurants that get satellite cable, and see if they are actually happy with the situation and if it is bringing them more money.

Students and residents of Pullman want to know what is going to happen to resolve this issue. The goal of this article is to find out what steps are being taken, and to inform the local community.

Three News Websites

The three news websites I decided to use were cnn.com, cbsnews.com, and abcnews.com. The first thing I noticed was that cnn.com and cbsnews.com each had a large headline about cancer deaths dropping for the second straight year. Abc News, however, had a large main headline about OJ Simpson’s book about hypothetically murdering his ex-wife. CNN and CBS each had one main headline accompanied by a picture, whereas ABC had the OJ Simpson headline along with four other headlines that alternated.
CNN had stories in their top headlines about deaths in Iraq, the death of an Al-Qaeda figure, bombings, and other stories containing facts. The CBS website seemed to be dominated by stories containing commentary, such as Senator Clinton being against troop buildup in Iraq, or a commentary discussing whether more troops are needed or not. ABC News focused less on Iraq stories than CNN did, and included many stories about unusual things or celebrities. Top ABC headlines included an Indian movie star getting married, and the heaviest man in the world.
ABC seems to appeal to people who may be more interested in celebrities and unusual stories, as opposed to the emphasis on war articles from CNN and CBS. Nonetheless, all three of them appeal to adults who are interested in reading the news to begin with.
The site that I liked the least was CBS. This website was very cluttered and confusing to navigate, with many different sections having links scattered randomly on the front page. I liked CNN because it is very easy to navigate, and includes top stories right up front that I personally care about reading.
All three of the sites appear to be fair and balanced to me, even though they focus on different types of stories. I was able to find stories pertaining to things like health and sports, along with the war in Iraq. None of the sites stood out to me as having a biased opinion in their stories either, which makes me believe they are fair and balanced.