Journalism Blog #3

1. a. “Unofficial” St. Patrick’s Day- weekend of Mar. 5^th , SafeRides

b. “Unofficial” St. Patrick’s Day- students, deans/faculty, residence hall workers, bar owners/managers (What are the problems that arise from this weekend? / Why can’t students who live in residence halls have guests?)

SafeRides- drivers, students, faculty/staff/deans (Do you think campus is safer because of SafeRides? What are the pros and cons of SafeRides?)

c. “Unofficial” St Patrick’s Day- Want to party all weekend with some friends from home and pass out in your dorm afterwards? Forget it.

SafeRides- After leaving a party at the wee hours of the morning with three friends, you see a SafeRides car coming. You think “Wow, we have the best luck!” You guys try to get on and the driver says that only three of you can get a ride. Who is going to walk back?

d. “Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day”- During the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s (UIUC’s) “Unofficial” St. Patrick’s Day weekend of Mar. 5^th, 2010, students will not have the opportunity to have their friends come and sleep over after a long night of celebrating.

SafeRides- SaferRides continues to enforce its three-rider only rule and students are annoyed more than ever.

2. a. link: http://www.nbc.com/news/2010/02/09/michelle-obama-to-be-featured-in-the-more-you-know-public-service-campaign-as-part-of-a-national-eff/

This news story is about Michelle Obama’s recent involvement in “The More You Know” service campaign that will air on national television through NBC. This campaign will inform people about the continuous increase in childhood obesity as well as ways to stop it.

b. This story could be localized by talking to people in the surrounding area of Champaign-Urbana about the effects of obesity in this town. I could interview elementary and middle school faculty and principals about the issue. Also, I could question the childrens’ parents who go to these local schools.

c. Cookies. Cakes. Chips. These three indulgences are only some of the foods that kids are eating these days that have caused one-third children in the U.S. to become obese or overweight.

d. Michelle Obama will help beat the rising childhood obesity rates through her involvement in NBC’s “The More You Know” campaign airing Mar. 2010.

"Check You're Story Be4 You Right It, K?"

Grammatically wrong
1. Defeated in the house, the Senate now gets to debate the bill.

*Defeated in the House, the Senate now gets to debate the bill.

Stylistically wrong
2. The 19-year-old boy got a ticket for jay-walking at 9 p.m. last night.

* At 9 p.m. last night, the 19-year-old boy got a ticket for jaywalking .

See if you can catch what's wrong.
3. Meredith ran away from home, she was so angry that night.

*Meredith ran away from home; she was so angry that night.


These should be easy:

4. Yes Brittney I can figure this one out.

*Yes Brittney, I can figure this one out.

5. Holding there flags high the veterans marched through town.

*Holding their flags high, the veterans marched through town.

6. The students said they would "skip class" if Britney made them do more exercises that had to do with grammar punctuation spelling or style.

*The students said they would skip class if Britney made the, do more exercises having to do with grammar, punctuation, spelling or style. (Isn't is Brittney?-If this is supposed to be you.)

7. I think most students in this class are apart of the class of 09.

*I think most students in this class are a part of the class of '09.

8. "I wonder if this is how you punctuate this quote?" Brittney said.

*"I wonder if this is how you punctuate this quote," Brittney said.

OK, now that's enough torture. Answer this question for a bonus point:
9. Why is it important for journalists to get these things right?

9. Journalists must pay attention to details. In order to establish credibility for the paper and himself or herself, one has to make sure to check the grammar of a story. Misspelling words, forgetting punctuation, etc. lead to a lower quality piece of writing. Also, it saves the copy editor time when he or she has hundreds of articles to read; it is kind to double check one's work to save other people time. Finally, it makes the articles easier to read because almost all papers write according to AP Stylebook.