Student takes a stance

While on the hunt for an article about Towson's initiatives to "go green," I came across an article printed in the Moday, November 17th issue of The Towerlight which has helped me to narrow my focus down a bit. In Nick DiMarco's article "Students, community protest coal financers" he writes about a protest by the Baltimore Rising Tide. Througout the article he quotes a Towson student, Amanda Duzak, a senior environmental science and studies major. I am interested in writing a profile piece on Duzak because she obviously cares about the environment and the impacts the human race have on the universe.

Advance Information

I do not have much information on Duzak herself, although I have visited the Baltimore Rising Tide website. There I found the Baltimore chapter is just a small part of the global network to conservation and plans of action to make the planet more sustainable. Specifically about the protest, I know a little about the issue behind the protest on November 14th. A few years ago, I wrote a paper for my environmental science class about the appalacian region. In the paper, I wrote about the working conditions in the coal mines. The protest was part of a chain of protests for Bank of America's investment into coal mining.

Potential Sources

• Amanda Duzak- She is a Towson Senior and environmental sciences and studies major. She also participated in the protest.
• Baltimore Rising Tide- The group is working exclusively in the Baltimore area to make the planet greener. They led the protest.
• Heather Kangas- She is a Towson Junior studying political science. She participated in the protest and may know Duzak.

Potential Questions

• What inspires you to become active in saving the planet?
• How important is global conservation to Towson and the surrounding area?
• Do you feel Towson University is doing enough to "go green"?
• What are a few simple things each person can do to help the environment?
• What are your career aspirations?

Photo Possibilities

I would like to take a simple profile shot of Duzak to begin. I would also like to photograph her doing something related to her field. Obviously, I missed the protest, so I probably won't be able get that sort of shot but I would be open to following her to a protest in order to get the action shot. I could also capture her doing something around campus, for example, while she recycles something on the ground.

Audio Possibilities

There are a lot of audio possibilities with Duzak. She has a great deal of enthusiasm for helping the environment so getting her to discuss the importance of this would probably have a lot of emotion for her. I could also get audio of why she got involved with environmental science and conservation efforts. It might also be interesting to have her talk about what her vision of a greener Towson University looks like to her.

When Blogging goes Right

As a person in a generation where technology dominates all, blogs have been a part of my daily media consumption for many years. I even had blogs with followers. While most of my posts were saturated with gossip and drama, some actually had content and were based on real news. After reading the chapter on writing for the online world, I realize some of the errors I have made in the past as well as some of the things I was doing right. To organize my discussion on the patterns of a good online story post I will use The Baltimore Sun’s Bay and Environment blog, written by Tim Wheeler.

The point of a blog is to be brief and to expound on an issue that a news story might not have had the opportunity to do. On October 13, Wheeler summarizes his work by using the headline, “Asian Oysters Revisited: a health threat?” The typical pattern for headlines for blogs is to make a play on words or execute some sort of clever word choice. While this does not follow the pattern, I learn a lot from its content. I learn what kind of oysters he will talk about and that the issue is not new. Wheeler grabs my attention by questioning whether or not there lies a health threat if Asian oysters are consumed. Next, I looked at the lead. Coming in at 52 words, Wheeler’s lead is a bit too long for the size of the publication. In the lead reader’s learn that Asian oysters are being used as a method to clean up the Chesapeake Bay. We also learn that the non-native species of oysters may be susceptible to picking up diseases and viruses and passing them along to humans. The lead does a good job in telling readers what is coming in the following paragraphs.

In the body of the blog post, Wheeler uses a handful of paragraphs to give information from sources such as the Johns Hopkins' Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Environmental Impact Statement for Oyster Restoration in Chesapeake Bay published by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Norfolk, Virginia. He also gives his own opinion on the current situation in the latter paragraphs. Also in the body, the author uses four links to various sources including the Environmental Impact Statement. The use of the links is important to readers because should they click on them, they are likely to learn more than what Wheeler can teach in eight paragraphs, resulting in a better rounded opinion on the subject.

The blog post by Tim Wheeler is patterned after most posts. In just a few paragraphs, he is able to accomplish the following:

• Grab the reader’s attention in the headline.
• Effectively communicate to the audience in the lead.
• Concisely tell the reader what is going on.
• Give his opinion on the potential health threat of the consumption of Asian oysters, and,
• Provide readers with enough links to supplement the blog post.

You can find this article at: http://tinyurl.com/Bay-Environment

Could it be a from a press release? NO WAY! Well, maybe...

Logo courtesy of http://bearsbeersandbaseball.mlblogs.com/archives/2008/05/game_53_yanks_orioles.html

As a reporter with a few years under my belt, I have had my share of story ideas presented by an editor based off a press release. While canvassing the BaltimoreSun.com and NewYorkTimes.com, I found two articles which to me, represent a story that could have been written from a press release and another, which could not have been. The first story I would like to share is headlined, “For O’s, prospects brighter down on farm.” This story could have been written after a press release came out because it is not as timely as say an article of major newsworthiness. The article itself is written as most major league teams are coming down to their last games of the season.

The second story I found through NewYorkTimes.com, I feel, could not have been written based off a press release. In “Fed to Loan A.I.G. $85 Billion in Rescue,” reporters simply do not have time to wait for an official press release to announce the deal between the federal government and the insurance company. Further, in order to create this copy, multiple reporters from different cities were used to complete the article.

Links to the full articles:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/baseball/bal-sp.orioles16sep16,0,6890754.story
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/17/business/17insure.html?hp