Second Day Lead

"We are begging anyone who might have seen our daughter to please call police or us," said Maria L. Norton as police continue the search for her 4-year-old daughter, 24 hours after the girl went missing.

I watched BBC, Press TV and Al Jazeera English. I had watched the BBC before and I feel that this is a reliable TV station and one that can be trusted. Press TV, the Iranian government funded station had a lot of international news. However, during the sections of news I watched I felt that their news tended to be mostly about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They did report on a number of international stories. However in the short period of time I watched the program I heard about the deaths of French troops in Afghanistan, British deaths, protests against Guantanamo and protests about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. There also was a report on the result of the German elections, but the station followed this with reports on the numbers of German deaths in the wars. I felt their reporters appeared unbiased but the content of the news stories made me feel that this wasn't a news source I would trust one hundred percent. I am not questioning the truth of the stories but I didn't feel that the news covered the range of topics you would expect an international station to.
Al Jazeera:
I believe the internet will be very helpful to Al Jazeera in expanding its reach to the U.S. I think it will be nearly impossible for the government, if it chose, to keep people from watching this station. From what I saw, of the short time I watched, Al Jazeera did not seem like a "terrorist station." I felt like the news was unbiased and covered a wide variety of international stories. In comparison to Press TV I felt Al Jazeera was a good station. I can not say, for sure, whether I think Al Jazeera should be allowed to broadcast in the U.S. I do believe that people should be able to make their own choices when it comes to their news source, however I think this issue is more complicated than that and I can't say one way or the other. From what I saw Al Jazeera did adhere to its code of ethics.

Summary Lead

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/09/16/connecticut.missing.yale.student/index.html

A Yale University employee has been released from police custody after investigators detained him Tuesday night to collect DNA, said a spokeswoman for the city of New Haven.

This summary lead is mainly centered on the what and is attributed to a spokeswoman of New Haven. It mentions the who but not specifically so this is an example of a blind lead. The actual name of the employee is in the very next paragraph. The very first verb expressed what it is that has just happened which is that the employee was released from custody. This lead is short and to the point and includes the most important information.

Story ideas:

WSU cutbacks

1. With the cutbacks WSU made last spring there was a lot of commotion about what was going to happen, but we have not really heard much about the effect from a student perspective. It would be interesting to know how students who were affected by course cutbacks and changed curriculum are dealing with it.

Possible sources: A professor and two students in departments that were affected by the cutbacks.

Media outlet: The Daily Evergreen

Hearts In Motion

2. During the last two weeks professors have been handing out fliers to students studying foreign languages, medicine, nursing and other fields. The reason being that the organization Hearts In Motion is looking for students interested in going to Guatemala this spring to help provide care to children with cleft palates. They are holding a meeting this week and I thought it would be of great interest to WSU students to know more about this organization and the extent to which a college student can make an impact on the world.

Possible sources: A student who is interested in going on the trip, a Hearts In Motion representative and if it is possible, a student who has already gone on a similar trip with Hearts In Motion

Media outlet: The Daily Evergreen

Going Abroad After Graduation

3. Although it is only the beginning of the school year, seniors are already looking ahead to their plans after school. It would be of interest to WSU students to hear about alternative ideas to life after college. As students we are encouraged to take a global perspective. Some students really take this to heart and choose to teach and volunteer abroad. I would like to find out what exactly is driving students to looks at these options. Is it that they just want to experience living abroad or does the current economy have an impact on these choices?

Possible sources: a student who is now teaching abroad, a student considering volunteering abroad after graduation and a WSU faculty member.

Media outlet: The Daily Evergreen

CBS and Chevron

After watching these two videos I feel both leaned toward opposite sides of this argument. The Chevron video interviewed six people, all of whom supported the Chevron cause. During this video the plaintiffs are only represented by descriptions from the Chevron consultants. Certain phrases that were used make it clear that this was not neutral journalism. Chevron received a "rude greeting"and there were "explosive public charges" against Chevron.
During the CBS video there was a bias toward the Ecuadorians and the plaintiffs. Instead of a neutral reporter the reporter in this video almost appeared as an investigative reporter for the plaintiffs. There was a lot of video and pictures that showed the people that live near the contaminated streams. Viewers see a lot about the background of these innocent bystanders who are affected when the huge American company moves in and disrupts their most basic needs. The journalist spends the majority of his time interviewing the lawyer for the plaintiffs and he provides a lot of the information in the video which is biased toward those he represents. Chevron was represented in this video by only one Chevron Consultant.
There are definitely two different viewpoints represented in these videos and I do not think either truly lives up to the "Murrow Standard" of traditional journalism because neither was truly without bias.