This article was very informative. The information was scientific, but not overwhelming. It was written so that a regular audience could read the article without being confused. The story did not seem to have any missing information; it was very complete. Experts included scientists both for and against the storm tracker.
The only issue I had with the article is the title. I did not think that it was important to include the "$7.6B" in the title. In the article itself, there were only one or two references to the cost of this tracker. The majority of the article was focused on what this storm tracker will enable scientists and weather personnel to do.
The article included a pro-tracker side and an anti-tracker side, as any complete article should. The argument for the side that does not agree with the tracker is that it will only increase predictors for hurricanes by "another few percent." I guess the reader is supposed to infer that this is not worth spending this much money on the tracker. The information that supports the tracker says that the current trackers have been in use since the 1980s and will soon stop working from old age, so they need to be replaced in the near future.
It was an interesting article. If earlier detection of natural disasters can be made possible, then many lives can be saved and that is always good. On the other hand, nature can be very unpredictable, and even the "super storm tracker" can malfunction at any given time. That's where the $7.6B comes in; is it really worth it? I think that's what the readers are supposed to be deciding.
The story can be found at:
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/research/2008-10-23-satellite_N.htm
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Brazil prosecutes 81 for Amazon destruction
When I first saw the headline of this article, I thought this was going to be an interesting story. Instead it was more like a press release. It gave the basic facts that the reader should be getting in the story, but it was not the type of article I was expecting after reading the attention-grabbing headline.
Maybe this was just a follow-up story to an earlier piece that included more information about the crimes and the people being accused. However, that information was not included in the article, so it does not seem to be the case.
The article included a paraphrased quote from the environment minister, but there were no direct quotes in the article. The article also included a statistic at the end, but I felt like it was just thrown in the article. Granted, it was related to the issue of deforestation, but I thought if they included it, then they should have elaborated that point.
The story can be found here:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-10-10-brazil-amazon_n.htm
Maybe this was just a follow-up story to an earlier piece that included more information about the crimes and the people being accused. However, that information was not included in the article, so it does not seem to be the case.
The article included a paraphrased quote from the environment minister, but there were no direct quotes in the article. The article also included a statistic at the end, but I felt like it was just thrown in the article. Granted, it was related to the issue of deforestation, but I thought if they included it, then they should have elaborated that point.
The story can be found here:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-10-10-brazil-amazon_n.htm
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Report:Arctic temperatures at record highs
Carbon emissions. They are getting to be more and more common in news stories. It seems like every environmental change is caused by the carbon emissions. This article is another of those environmental changes.
This article gets right to the point in the opening paragraph with a summary lead. Since this is a scientific article, the author chose the appropriate lead.
The article included several statisitics and quotes from experts. Since this article seemed to be a synopsis of the actual report, the article also included a link to the original report. The beginning of the article was more of a story format, but the end provided more information in a bullet-style format.
This article also included many of the features of a multimedia story, like had been discussed in lecture. The article had still photos, and inlcuded "quick question" on the side where readers could vote on the question "Is global warming real?".
This article was full of information, but it did not seem overwhelming. The author related this information to information from 2007, probably to refresh readers' memories that this is not the first time this situation has occurred. While this was scientific and informative, it was put into terms that the common, everyday reader could understand with little to no confusion.
The story can be found here:
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/globalwarming/2008-10-16-arctic-report_N.htm
This article gets right to the point in the opening paragraph with a summary lead. Since this is a scientific article, the author chose the appropriate lead.
The article included several statisitics and quotes from experts. Since this article seemed to be a synopsis of the actual report, the article also included a link to the original report. The beginning of the article was more of a story format, but the end provided more information in a bullet-style format.
This article also included many of the features of a multimedia story, like had been discussed in lecture. The article had still photos, and inlcuded "quick question" on the side where readers could vote on the question "Is global warming real?".
This article was full of information, but it did not seem overwhelming. The author related this information to information from 2007, probably to refresh readers' memories that this is not the first time this situation has occurred. While this was scientific and informative, it was put into terms that the common, everyday reader could understand with little to no confusion.
The story can be found here:
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/globalwarming/2008-10-16-arctic-report_N.htm
Friday, October 17, 2008
Aquarium scum: fuel of the future
With a title like this one, I was immediately interested. The lead was a scene-setting lead followed by a nutgraph. The article also included quotes from different sources, as well as statistics about both emissions and contents in algae. The experts, including professors and spokespeople for airline companies who are considering using the algae for their fuel, were contacted and quoted in the article. This is good because it gives both a scientific and business perspective on the issue.
The article also defines just what "aquarium scum" is. I think it uses that phrase to grab the reader's attention and then uses defines the actual "scum" that is being proposed to be used. In this story, the aquarium scum is algae. This article even goes deeper to say that this algae is farming algae. This is one example of filling in all the holes, because it provides extra information that the readers probably won't be able to figure out by themselves.
The end of the article also makes predictions, saying that algae fuel will be profitable in five years. The author did not make the prediction though; he presented opinions of sources in the article. He also included a quote from an opposing position to this prediction, to keep the story fair.
All-in-all, I'd say this story is done pretty well. There didn't seem to be any holes that I could find and the author included quotes and statistics to keep the article from being opinionated. Since this was an AP story, it would only seem appropriate that the story is complete and un-bias.
The story can be found here:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/environment/2008-09-27-algae-energy_n.htm
The article also defines just what "aquarium scum" is. I think it uses that phrase to grab the reader's attention and then uses defines the actual "scum" that is being proposed to be used. In this story, the aquarium scum is algae. This article even goes deeper to say that this algae is farming algae. This is one example of filling in all the holes, because it provides extra information that the readers probably won't be able to figure out by themselves.
The end of the article also makes predictions, saying that algae fuel will be profitable in five years. The author did not make the prediction though; he presented opinions of sources in the article. He also included a quote from an opposing position to this prediction, to keep the story fair.
All-in-all, I'd say this story is done pretty well. There didn't seem to be any holes that I could find and the author included quotes and statistics to keep the article from being opinionated. Since this was an AP story, it would only seem appropriate that the story is complete and un-bias.
The story can be found here:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/environment/2008-09-27-algae-energy_n.htm
Saturday, October 11, 2008
House Democrats unveil draft climate change bill
Since the title advertises that the Democrats in the House were the ones proposing this new bill, I was expecting one of two types of articles: either the author was a Democrat who would praise his political party's choice, or she was a Republican who would bash this new proposal. (Maybe that's just because I tend to interject my own opinions into my stories from time to time.)
Pleasantly, I found out that it was neither choice. The author did not seem to interject her opinion. She also found sources from each political party to quote in her story and quotes to back up the claims that were being made. She not only found politicians as sources, but she found environmental experts as well to include in the piece. The author also found statistics for emission reductions from both the Democratic presidential nominee (Barack Obama) and the Republican presidential nominee (John McCain) to incorporate in her article.
This story was more of an explanatory story that explained just what this bill was proposing and how and when this would all be occurring. It started by explaining what the purpose of the bill was, which is to reduce the gases being released from power plants, factories and as a product of transportation. These gases are thought to cause global warming. The bill wants to reduce these emissions 80% by the year 205o. One criticism of this bill is that the reductions would not being until the year 2012.
The story can be found at:
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/globalwarming/2008-10-08-house-climate-change-bill_N.htm
Pleasantly, I found out that it was neither choice. The author did not seem to interject her opinion. She also found sources from each political party to quote in her story and quotes to back up the claims that were being made. She not only found politicians as sources, but she found environmental experts as well to include in the piece. The author also found statistics for emission reductions from both the Democratic presidential nominee (Barack Obama) and the Republican presidential nominee (John McCain) to incorporate in her article.
This story was more of an explanatory story that explained just what this bill was proposing and how and when this would all be occurring. It started by explaining what the purpose of the bill was, which is to reduce the gases being released from power plants, factories and as a product of transportation. These gases are thought to cause global warming. The bill wants to reduce these emissions 80% by the year 205o. One criticism of this bill is that the reductions would not being until the year 2012.
The story can be found at:
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/globalwarming/2008-10-08-house-climate-change-bill_N.htm
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
California's Los Padres forest fire now 37% contained
California forest fires are nothing new. Every time you turn around you hear about another forest fire and how it is threatening prominent areas of California. This story did not seem to be anything unusual. Except....
This article was very short, with only the facts. There are no quotes, direct or partial. The reporter could have contacted people in the area, or the chief of the fire department to get a comment on the story.
It did not lack anything except that connection to the readers. If the author had found a source, it would have made this story more than just another California forest fire.
The story can be found at:
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wildfires/2008-10-06-los-padres-wildfire_N.htm
This article was very short, with only the facts. There are no quotes, direct or partial. The reporter could have contacted people in the area, or the chief of the fire department to get a comment on the story.
It did not lack anything except that connection to the readers. If the author had found a source, it would have made this story more than just another California forest fire.
The story can be found at:
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wildfires/2008-10-06-los-padres-wildfire_N.htm
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