U.S. vs Matthews

U.S. vs Matthews

By Timothy Doan

I think the ruling was fair because it was a sensitive subject. He should have had documentation he was doing a story before he started trading pictures online.

Reporters have to be careful, and make sure what they are doing is not going to get them into trouble. Matthews may not have had any intent of using child pornography for personal means, but he should have known better before doing something illegal.

This ruling will affect the caution of reporters. The ruling will remind reporters to think twice before doing a story.

If the story was just pornography, it would have been alright. Pornography is legal, but child pornography is not.

Child pornography is different because children pornography will always be ruled as illegal. As a student journalist, I understand that Matthews could have been doing story, but as a reporter you still have to be law abiding.

Twitter and News Sources

News sources are using twitter to get their news out to a bigger audience. A local story will be nationally seen with twitter. Twitter can help readers track trends or relative stories of news sources. 

Twitter makes news more interactive. A small story can make headline news with twitter if the story is popular enough. Twitter makes stories easier to follow. 

Users of twitter become outsources for news sources. People who track the story can tweet their new information and others can help a news source follow up on a story.  

News sources can greatly benefit with Twitter. Any story can easily be nationally recognized and in result the news source can be a reliable source for people world wide. 

Twitter may be inaccurate sometimes, but since news stations are cutting back, twitter can be a new free source that the station uses. A story may not be greatly covered by the news source, but users of twitter can be another source viewers go to.

7 Elements

Former Reporter Dies

A Point of View

• The point of view of the story is sympathy and respect for the former journalist.
• The point of the story was to tell James Meadows’ death.
• The point of view was some fact telling, but had quotes from close friends.

A Dramatic Question

• A dramatic question is not really specified, but the question that can be inferred is why.
• Why did Meadows die because of a bike wreck?
• He didn’t die of illness or disease, but a bike wreck?
• Is his death fair?
• If he was still working for Rocky Mountain News, would he still be alive?

Emotional Content

• There were quotes from Meadows’ close friends.
• There were details of the accident.
• The story described Meadows’ heart episode when he fell off the bike.
• Meadows fell off the bike and had shortness of breath.
• His injuries consisted of broken bones and a collapsed lung.

The Gift of Your Voice

• The voice of the writer is not heard, but is heard through the story.
• His voice was a voice of respect and sympathy for the death of Meadows.
• The voice of the author allowed the reader to get to know Meadows on a different level.

The Power of the Soundtrack

• The story has no soundtrack, but a sad, classical soundtrack would fit this story.

Economy

• The story was somewhat told of James Meadows.
• The death of James Meadows was a sad story.
• There is a picture of Meadows and his wife dancing. He is smiling with his wife.
• He told the story of what happened before Meadows died.

Pacing

• The pacing of the story had to be slow because death has to be observed.
• There is pain, but in the end the story showed hope of his family that will carry on his legacy.

Crowdsource

 

Strait Sellout

The George Strait concert in Dallas’ new Cowboys stadium sold out in less than an hour. The show features  country music stars Reba McEntire, Blake Shelton and Julianne Hough. The new stadium has a capacity to hold a little more than 100,00o people.

Tickets went on sale Saturday to the public, but fans of Strait’s fan club had access to buy the tickets on Monday and Tuesday. I was about to go to the concert, but there were no 40 dollar tickets on Saturday.

I should have asked my friend to buy them. Season ticketholders for the Dallas Cowboys had a chance to buy tickets before Saturday. George Strait is a big country star from Texas. He is a well known artist around the U.S.

The new stadium seating may not be finished before the stadium opening. The new stadium will open June 9.

• This story can be crowd sourced by people expressing their experiences buying their tickets

• People can also express their opinions of the country stars

Beer Block

Six Flags is a nationwide name. People know Six Flags from their amusements and their roller coaster rides.  Six Flags in Arlington has tried to get permission to sell alcohol in their Park in Arlington.

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission administrator ruled last week that the chain could receive a liquor license for its theme park and its Hurricane Harbor water park, both in Arlington. Six Flags has their license, but a group from Fort worth is looking to block the park’s beer sales.

Texas Sober Inc. is based in Fort Worth. The group requested a rehearing on Monday. Whether there will be a rehearing or not will be decided in 45 to 48 days. People listed their concerns, but  Six Flag officials say the alcohol consumption would be closely monitored.

• People can list their alcohol consumption opinions and experiences at parks.
• People can provide more facts on alcoholic consumption in parks.
  
• People can also provide further details on the status of the rehearing.

Woman Reported Abuse

The woman who was beheaded in New York reported abuse in North Texas. Assiya Hassan reported abuse multiple times, including here in Texas. 

She was visiting her family in Flower Mound in 2007 when she reported abuse to the police. 

Police say they charged her husband Muzzammil Hassan with a felony charge. Flower Mound police attempted to charge Hassan, but could not contact Assiya Hassan.

Her husband reportedly sat on her chest and pinned her arms and legs. Her body was found on February 12 at the Muslim television station that her husband operated.

• Some people can talk about the Muslim television station
• Talk about abuse
• Police can share steps of preventing abuse

Cowboys Stadium

Cowboys stadium is almost finished.  The stadium is worth a little over a billion dollars. The stadium building began in 2006, and is scheduled to be complete in June of this year. The Dallas Cowboys will now play in Arlington instead of Irving.

The Dallas Cowboys are labeled “America’s Team.” Now America’s team will have one of the nicest stadiums in the world. The stadium includes a retractable roof, and the largest high-definition television screen in the world.

Arlington is paying 325 million dollars, and the National Football League is paying 150  million dollars of the estimate 1.3 billion. The remaining costs will come from Jerry Jones’ pocket.

Arlington residents are only seeing a 1/2% increase in sales tax,, 2% in hotel tax, and 5% in car rental tax.

The new stadium does not have a name yet.  Many believe the struggling economy is a major reason why companies do not want to sponsor the stadium. Some fans want the stadium named after former coach Tom Landry.

Tom Landry would be a good name for the stadium, but Jerry Jones will probably not go for the idea. Jones was the person who fired Landry in the early 90s.

The new stadium will also hold college football games and musical events. The 2010 NBA All-S+tar game is also being held at the stadium. I am anticipating the All-Star event because Lebron James will be in the slam dunk contest.

The stadium is estimated to hold 100,000 people. I do not care where I sit as long as I have a good view of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. There is actually Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders that attend the University of North Texas.

I am very excited about the Red River Shootout this year. The stadium will host the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma. It is a big game for both programs because the star quarterbacks from each team are returning.

Hopefully the Cowboys will actually make it to the playoffs this year. Terrell Owens is a popular subject on ESPN. Many people believe that T.O. has to go. I personally believe that Tony Romo should work on his decision making, and focus on becoming a better football player.

Another Cowboys issue is whether to sign free agentRay Lewis. I believe he is one of the great linebackers to ever play the game, and Zach Thomas is nothing compared to Lewis. Lewis is old, but still understands the game. He is physical and has the mental toughness the Cowboys need

The luxurious stadium is nothing without a winning football team. Cowboys fans need to see there team in the playoffs. I think if fans could trade a Superbowl win this year over the new stadium they would.

I saw the stadium being built last year from the Ballpark in Arlington. The stadium is a work of art, and the size is flabbergasting.

The stadium proves that the Cowboys are the most valuable franchise in the world. Residents in the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex should be grateful to have a beautiful stadium where they can appreciate good sports.

My Hometown Newspaper

The Five I’s: The Garland News  

Garland is a suburb in Dallas. The Garland News is the newspaper. Garland is a fairly large town, but people rely on Dallas news stations to get their news.

Garland people use the Garland News to keep up on events in Garland. Garland news rarely does breaking news on thier website. Which brings me to my first point, Immediacy.

Garland News is not very immediate at all. Any murders or breaking weather reports, they use Dallas to cover the story.

The website does focus on interactivity and involvement. Since the website focuses on the community, it is very interactive. There is also a community link. The website is involved with the events going on in the community. Anyone in the community that wants to interact in Garland events can find out about it on the website.

The website is community based, but is not very integrated. It looks fairly outdated, and could use a makeover. The newspaper is on a small budget, but there are improvements the website can make that are easy and free. Another integration the website could use is video. In today’s world, video is vitale for web users. The newspaper can get volunteers to help because it would look good on a resume.

The final “I” is in depth opportunities. The website does not have any in depth opportunities, but I don’t see why they would add it. The website barely encompasses the news in Garland.

Overall, the website serves its purpose as providing community news.

Blog vs News

Stimulus Bill Cleared for Housing

The news story about the stimulus bill was by Richard Cowan and Jeremy Pelofsky. The bill has been cleared by the House, and is waiting on the Senate vote. President Obama feels strongly for this plan, and thinks the plan will get the economy back on track. The federal budget deficit will greatly increase.

timulus deal? Not So Fast

ABC News’ Rick Klein blogged about the  739 billion dollar stimulus plan. He wrote about the problems the Senate and House are having. They are having a hard time approving the same amount of money.

In Class Assignment

Unemployment Claims at a 26-Year High

The number of Americans filing unemployment is at the highest in 26 years. The government says the U.S. lost 540,000 jobs in January. Macy’s Inc. and PNC Financial Services Group Inc. are two of the companies announcing job cuts. Productivity has gone up, but labor costs have also  gone up 1.8%. Economists project the government will report that the unemployment rate rose to 7.5% in January.

 

Thousands of Palestinians in Tents

16,000 Palestians are in tents after Israel’s attack on the Gaza Strip. There are 1,300 Palestians dead and more than 5,000 wounded. Bashir Khidir says people are frightened, and are afraid the tanks will come back.

Michael Vick

Michael Vick’s commercial against dog-fighting for PETA has been canceled.
Michael Vick was charged for holding a dog-fighting ring two years ago.

The question is if Michael Vick were to do the commercial, would people take him seriously?
Michael Vick was charged with killing and torturing some of the dogs and is currently in jail.

PETA probably made a wise decision to not do the commercial.