Crime stories
Choose two different crime stories, from an online soruce of your choosing.
One story should be written in the no-nonsense style of the Gomez article, or the article on the Delaware Sate University shooting we looked at in class on Friday. (These will typically have been filed the morning after the crime took place, or sometimes within hours.)
Another should be a feature story, like the article about the student who recovered her thesis. (These can only be written after some time has passed, but there is always a "news hook" -- such as the judge announcing the date of the trial, a jury announcing the verdict, etc.)
For both stories, consider where the suspect (if any) is on a chart of the US criminal justice system. It's very important when reporting crime and court stories that these details be accurate. (Is the crime a misdemeanor or a felony? Is it actually a trial, or just a preliminary hearing? Is the presiding official actually a judge, or some other official? Is your story happening in the US, or did a search engine point you to something that happned in Canada or Australia?)
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"After one year in Purgatory Correction Facility in Purgatory Flats, Utah, Warren Jeff's trial began". I just have to make a comment: isn't Purgatory just the greatest name ever for a jail? (gotta love the irony)Now to be serious. The... Read More
Short and Sweet- "Men Break Into Building Full of Police Officers". This article was a more typical short and to the point type of crime reporting- just the facts and, well, that's about it. The attempted robbery occured on Tuesday,... Read More
England must be having a whole mess 'o trouble if most of the current top stories on Google News took place in either England or the UK. I chose a short article that could only tell me that a boy... Read More
Here is something like the Gomez article: Dispute over crime facts prompts Falls shooting, This story was to the point, there wasn't any unnecessary language. Just the facts. Then there is this story: Arrest made in 40-minute Ariz. crime spree... Read More
The first article I read, Man accused of beheading duck at hotel is a soft news story that is short and precise. Not until this class have I noticed details such as allegedly drunk. In the past I would just have... Read More
Opps...forgot to link my blog entry to this page...see my entry here: http://blogs.setonhill.edu/JacquelynJohns/2007/09/by_the_knife.html
Here is my blog entry.