Chapters 2 & 3 worksheet

CHAPTER 2: COMPONENTS OF THE STORY:
1) What's most important: A) accuracy B) getting both sides on the record C) a lively writing style?

2) Which is the better description and why: A) She was unusually tall. B) She was an inch over 6 feet tall.

3) Give of examples of A) a firsthand account B) secondhand account C) thirdhand account

4) Should the reporter make it clear in the story whether an account is firsthand, second or third? Is there a scenario in which you would not need to attribute information?

5) Explain A) on the record B) on background C) on deep background D) off the record

6) Which sentence would you pick to follow this one: The temperature reached an all-time high yesterday at noon. A) The air conditioning failed at UMass. B) The mercury hit 102 degrees, breaking the April 10, 1968 record of 98 degrees. C) Dogs howled and cats slunk under bushes looking for shade.

7) True or False: Objective journalism is the reporting of the visible and verifiable.

CHAPTER 3: WHAT IS NEWS?
1) Who said this in 1883: "Always fight for progress and reform, never tolerate injustice or corruption, always fight demagogues of all parties, never belong to any party, always oppose privileged classes and public plunderers, never lack sympathy with the poor, always remain devoted to the public welfare, never be satisfied with merely printing news, always be drastically indpendent, never be afriad to attack wrong, whether by predatory plutocracy or predatory poverty."

2) Describe a news story that fits each of the following criteria for what is news: A) Information about a break from the normal flow of events, an interruption in the expected, deviation from the norm B) INformation people can use to help them make sound decisions about their lives.

3) Give a example of a news story that exemplifies each the following criteria (for a total of 9 stories):
A) Timely

B) Impact

C)Prominence

D) Emotional proximity

E) Geographical proximity

F) Conflict

G) The Unusual

H) Currency

I) Necessity


4) What are some other factors that play into the selection of news published?

Profile assignment and some sample profile leads

PROFILE assignment: 1,000 words (include word count)
First draft due: Feb. 15
Final draft due: March 5

The profile:

• should be of a person who is accessible to you for an interview but not someone who is a close friend or relative. (We'll discuss exceptions)


• should have an angle that becomes apparent in the lead and/or nutgraph. In a sentence, what is the main point of this profile?


• should include the following information 1) full name 2) age 3) where he/she grew up 4) family details (what did his/her parents do? how many siblings? is he/she married with kids, for instance? 5) brief physical description 6) one or more scenes of the subject in action 7) what the subject stands for/believes in, 8) occupation 9) hobbies or interests 10) quotes from others ABOUT the subject

Nice profile lead in the Daily Hampshire GazetteBob Flaherty: Northampton police officer bikes by day, teaches salsa dance by nightTuesday, September 22, 2009

NORTHAMPTON - You can see glimpses of it in the way the officer moves.

The subtle flair he employs to pull over a motorist on Main Street, from the hips, like a ref tossing a flag. The way he pops the kickstand on his Trek mountain bike and slowlyswashbuckles away, stocky and muscular, readjusting his bulletproofvest and the nylon belt that holds his flashlight, handcuffs, extraammo and 40-caliber Glock.

Chico Jimenez, 52, has been a Northampton cop for 21 years, the last10 as a member of the bike patrol. He works the day shift, in thedowntown sector.

But on Friday nights, Jimenez works a shift of another kind. Swing shift, you could call it. Jimenez is teacher and practitioner of salsa, the sultry, flirtatious, hip-to-hip, face-to-face dance of the tropics....Continued at Gazettenet.com

Koby's team: Motherhood forces Northampton teen, a hoop standout, to sharpen her gameBy Jim Pignatiello02/21/2009

NORTHAMPTON - Cassy Sicard sat alone in the passenger seat of her mother's car outside JFK Middle School with her mind racing.

Tests earlier that day in May 2006 confirmed she was 7½ months pregnant. She was trying to wrap her brain around the challenges ahead.

"What am I going to do about school?" the 15-year-old freshman at Northampton High School wondered. "What am I going to do about basketball? What are my (friends) going to think?"

Sicard's AAU basketball team, the New England Explosion, was practicing inside the school's gym. But she couldn't bring herself to walk in and give the news to coach Perry Messer and her teammates, many of them friends since first grade.

"That was the hardest thing," Sicard said. "I had to have my mom (Erin Crowley) go in and tell" Messer and the rest of the Explosion.

Along with the initial worry and embarrassment, Sicard felt she had let her teammates down and was concerned about their reactions.

Then she got her answer.

The entire team, having just learned from Crowley that Sicard was outside, stormed out of the gym toward the car.

"Everyone was coming out in tears and they were all hugging me," Sicard said. "They were all telling me that they were there for me, that they love me and that they love the baby."

By the time Crowley returned to the parking lot, Sicard's teammates "were pretty much all in the car with her and then they brought her into the practice with them," Crowley said.

(Daily Hampshire Gazette) AMHERST - The question is not why Bart Bouricius loves bugs.

"The real question is what got someone not interested in bugs. If you're not afraid of them, learning about them is quite interesting," said Bouricius in an interview Thursday.

Bouricius' exotic bug collection is interesting enough to get him an invitation to the "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" show Monday, as "spider wrangler" for Mark "Dr. Bugs" Moffett, dubbed the "Indiana Jones of entomology" by National Geographic magazine.

NEW YORK MAGAZINE: profile of Jon Stewart:
It’s hard to top a kick in the nuts.

Especially when the kicker is Linda McMahon, the Connecticut Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate. Pure comedy gold.

Jon Stewart watches the tape and doubles over with laughter. He and fifteen of The Daily Show’s writers, producers, and performers are gathered around a 40-inch flat-screen TV inside the show’s Eleventh Avenue offices early on a Thursday morning in August. Creating a segment for tonight’s Daily Show around this footage, from one of World Wrestling Entertainment’s harmless little skits, would seem to be easy. Maybe they can just run the nut shot repeatedly. Along with another clip of McMahon, the co-founder and former CEO of WWE, chugging a beer and drooling foam down her cheek.

Except that the goal here isn’t simply topping the kick in the nuts—it’s using the scrotum slam in the service of a larger point. Oh, Stewart & Co. enjoy a lowbrow laugh as much as the folks over atSouth Park; heck, next week they’re publishing a book that includes some excellent masturbation jokes. But Stewart and The Daily Show became America’s sharpest political satirists by aiming at least a little bit higher.

Two talks that would be good to attend

From the weekly Journalism Program newsletter:

Joe McGinniss, the celebrated author of "The selling of a president, 1968" and "The rogue: Searching for the real Sarah Palin," will be speaking at 4:00 p.m. on Monday, March 12, in the Cape Cod Lounge.

Also, the next day, at the same hour and in the same place, UMass will host Pulitzer Prize writer and journalist Tony Horwitz.

Reporting on a computer science talk

Some talking points from Monday's presentation:

- It was a "multi-disciplinary event."

- The subject, according to the presenters was about teaching and "engaging students in technology through material culture."

-- The art historian Caroline Bruzelius said she has been frustrated by how to communicate "change over time."

- Bruzelius collaborated with computer scientist/engineer Rachael Brady who is interested in artificial intelligence and "visualization technologies."

- Brady doesn't consider any of the technology used "rocket science." There are a few things they thought students should know: -web authoring, HTML, CSS, Dreamweaver; - 2-D inmage manipulation (Photoshop and Illustrator); - 3D modeling (Google Sketchup) and -mapping (Google Maps)

Quote:

Brady: "Scholars should be able to tell good stories about what they do to the public."

-Brady is also interested in trying to "demystify the computer" by teaching art history students some "digital literacy."

- Their first project was to show how a Franciscan convent near Naples changed over time as earthquakes damaged it and it was rebuilt.

-The professors are concerned with being able to show what aspects of the information they have are solid/verified and which are "uncertain," an issue that is very familiar to computer scientists, Brady said.

-Uncertainty can be shown with fuzzy lines

-Brady likes "opportunities for automation." For instance, given a map, can elevations be generated; given a painting can 3-D space be generated; can sound analysis be done on 3-D models

-Challenges the professors encountered: - balancing teaching content with teaching of the technology and -ensuring that students applied the same intellectual they would to a written research project. The professors did NOT want students to make "Disneyesque reconstructions."

Second day of class Spring 2012: TIPS

JOURN300/Spring 2012

-- CUT TO THE CHASE: The lead should get to the heart of the event without delay. It should make an assertion that you have come up with after thoroughly “digesting” everything that happened and coming up with the one sentence that sums up the most important thing to be said about the event. (You may also use a DELAYED LEAD, which ILLUSTRATES the lead with an anecdote or a visual description that SETS UP your main assertion.)

-- In general, the lead should NOT be a question or a direct quotation. It should NOT be ungrammatical and it should not include clichés or canned language.

-- ONLY MAKE ASSERTIONS YOU CAN PROVE/THAT CAN BE OBSERVED – You can say “Students said they think it will be a great semester,” but you CAN’T say “Students think it will be a great semester,” because we can’t really ever know what someone is thinking. Nor can you say “It will be a great semester,” because we can’t predict the future. The reporter reports what he or she OBSERVES and HEARS – NOT his or her own opinions or predictions.

-- Include ACCURATE direct quotations, using correct punctuation, for example – “Remember to always cut to the chase,” the professor said. COMMAS and PERIODS INSIDE QUOTATION MARKS.

-- WRITE AS YOU WOULD SPEAK – Use the ACTIVE voice. Be CONCRETE and SPECIFIC. Don’t use long words when short ones will do. Make your writing lean, direct and lively by using SUBJECT-VERB-OBJECT construction. Don’t start off with information that could be placed at the end of the lead or in another sentence later on. You don’t have to cram every detail, such as the number of the room where the event was held or the exact time it was held into the lead. The lead should be your best, most polished, lively, easy-to-read sentence!

-- Check name and place spellings using Google. Review AP Style for states (It’s Mass. – not MA.; Spell out one through nine, numerals for 10 and above; DON’T capitalize academic subjects etc.)

-- SYNTHESIZE information: Don’t just report what happened in the order it happened. Much of what goes on at an event is not interesting or important to relate to your readers. Think about what is the key information you want to convey and put the most important point highest in your story. Combine related information and point out similarities and differences, for instance that several students in the class said they’re interested in sports.

SPRING 2012 -- Blog assignment

Journalism 300 blog assignment/SPRING 2012/ M-W 3:35-5:30 pm/DuBois 767

We'll do the blogs in pairs and there will be time to work on them in the computer lab. Midway through and at the end of the semester, the blog pairs will do a presentation on the blogs, projecting them on the screen in the computer room. Class members are expected to post constructive comments on the blogs.

Using Blogger or other blog-publishing service, start a blog that can function like a website with a

I) HOME PAGE

1) Should briefly describe the blog and 2) Have links or tabs to the following pages:

II) PAGES

1) List of EVENTS of interest to journalism students in the UMass area. The class may attend one or more of these, if possible. Each entry should include the following information 1) speaker/presenter 2) Topic/Title 3) Where 4) When 5) )Brief blurb about the event 6) Link to more/related info

2) EXAMPLES from work produced for the class by one or both of the blog partners A) Speech story B) Profile C) Feature D) Issue story . These should be thoroughly proofed and polished. One or more of these stories should be accompanied by a SLIDESHOW. (If your sources do not want their names published, you can use partial names AFTER completing the assignment that you turn in for a grade.

3) A blog post describing what went into CREATING THE BLOG, for instance why you decided to pick a certain template; how you decided which stories to include as examples, which one would include a slideshow and what went into getting the photos for the slideshow. The piece should also mention any interesting data you are able to gather using a service like Google Analytics or Statcounter about who is visiting the blog and why.

4) A page with topic of YOUR CHOICE.

III) SLIDESHOW should enhance/illustrate the story that accompanies it. It should include thoroughly proofed captions

IV) EMBEDDED DATA COLLECTING service like Statcounter or Google analytics

SPRING 2012 SYLLABUS

JOURN 300 :NEWSWRITING and REPORTING, SPRING 2012 -- M/W 3:35-5:30 p.m. -- DuBois 767

MARY CAREY maryelizacarey@gmail.com, 413-549-4595

Class blog: Journ300.blogspot.com

REQUIRED TEXT: Melvin Mencher, News Reporting and Writing (latest edition)

ADDITIONAL REQUIRED READING

AP Style Guide online

Daily newspapers and news magazines. Try to scan online and in print at least one of the local newspapers including the Collegian, Daily Hampshire Gazette or Springfield Republican every day. Also be aware of what’s on the front page of, for instance, the Boston Globe and New York Times. Each class, three or four people will bring in a newspaper article and comment on some aspect of the news, news coverage, style, choice of stories or contrast between coverage. Being conversant with what is in the news is essential to writing it.

GRADES

Grades are based on timely and thoughtful completion of in-class and out-of-class writing assignments and quizzes, multi-media blog, attendance and in-class participation. Writing criteria include news judgment, clarity of writing, grammar, accuracy, organization, spelling, conciseness, use of AP style, and meeting deadlines. Although the big picture things like news judgment and solid reporting are important, misspelling names and other seemingly minor shortcomings can ruin a story and your reputation, so they will count. Numerical equivalent of grades: A=95, A-=92, A-/B+ =90, B+88 etc.

ATTENDANCE

Not making appointments or missing the action will also undermine your career and the class. You MUST tell me BEFORE class if you are going to be absent and it has to be a legitimate excuse. (I read my e-mail regularly and have a phone message machine at home.) Otherwise you will receive zeroes for the day’s assignments. Please do not be late or leave early. More than three absences and/or repeatedly being late or leaving early will result in a significantly lowered final grade, with the grade being lowered by a full half grade for each absence over three.

WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

In-class writing assignments usually won’t be longer than 2-3 typewritten pages. Most major assignments are 1,000 words or 4 pages. First drafts must be in turned in on-time for credit. Not turning in a first draft or turning in an insufficiently complete first draft will result in a zero for the first draft and a significantly lower final draft grade. Among your assignments are a profile (counts for 15 percent of final grade), feature (15 percent), coverage of a speech (10 percent), issue piece (20 percent) and review (10 percent), minor papers, including first drafts (10 percent), blog (10 percent), participation/homework, worksheets and quizzes etc (10 percent).

HONESTY

There’s no excuse for any dishonest use of material. Any instance of plagiarism or any other form of cheating is ground for course failure.

SPRING 2012 SCHEDULE

JOURN 300/CAREY/ SPRING 2012--M/W 3:35-5:30 p.m.-Dubois 767

This is a tentative schedule of topics subject to revision to accommodate the news, campus goings-on that we’ll attend and classroom visitors. Check the blog (Journ300.blogspot.com) for updates and changes. Note: Each day 3-4 people will bring in an article to discuss and post an "AP Style tip" to the blog.

JAN 23 Introduction, In-class writing assignment. NEXT: read Chap. 5; write 300-word summary for next class. Bring three or more ideas of speeches/events to attend, ideally during class time, at UMass or nearby in the coming days.

JAN 25 Discuss Chap. 5 and speech options, in-class exercise on leads. NEXT: Read Chap. 16 on speeches, write 200-word summary for next class.

JAN 30 Discuss chapter on speeches, how to write a speech story. In-class work on blog. NEXT: Read Read Chap 15 on Interviewing Principles to discuss. Write 6 "bullet points" based on information in chapter.

FEB 1 Discuss Chap 16; in-class interviewing exercise NEXT: Write a brief profile pitch to present Wednesday.

FEB 6 Present profile pitch. NEXT: Read Chaps. 2 and 3.
FEB 8 SPEECH paper potentially DUE (DEPENDING ON WHICH EVENT COVERED),750 words INCLUDE WORD COUNT. Discuss Chaps. 2 and 3

FEB 13 In-class work on profiles. NEXT: Read Chap. 7 on the Writer's Art. Write 100-200 words SHOWING something (vs TELLING) and post it on the blog
FEB 15 FIRST DRAFT PROFILE DUE (INCLUDE WORD COUNT) Discuss feature stories. Discuss Chapter 7 and SHOW v. TELL examples. In-class work on profiles. NEXT: in-class feature pitch, read Chap. 8 on Features.

FEB 20 NO CLASS – Presidents Day

FEB 22 Have read Chapter 8 on features to discuss. PEER EDIT first draft profiles. NEXT: Read Chapter 18 on Accidents and Disasters and Chapter 19 on Obituaries.

FEB 27 FEATURE PITCH. Discuss chapters on accidents and obituaries. NEXT: read Chapter 21 on Courts.

FEB 29 In-class work on feature and blog, discuss Chap. 21 on Courts

MAR 5 FINAL DRAFT PROFILE DUE (1,000 words, INCLUDE WORD COUNT) In-class work on feature drafts Discuss Issue paper requirements, including interviews with 2-3 "experts." NEXT: read Chaps. 11 on layered reporting. and 14 on sources.

MAR 7 MID-TERM QUIZ Discuss Chap. 11 and 14.

MAR 12 FIRST DRAFT FEATURE (1,000 words, INCLUDE WORD COUNT) DUE. PEER EDIT Discuss issue paper ideas and strategy. Next: Issue pitch.

MAR 14 Discuss issue ideas, experts. In-class work on blogs. NEXT: Issue pitch

*************************************NO CLASS week of MARCH 19 – SPRING BREAK ************************************

MAR 26 Issue pitch.

MAR 28 In-class work on Issue papers. NEXT: read Chap 20 on police.

APRIL 2 Discuss Police chapter. In-class work on issue, blog. Next: read Chaps. 26 on Taste in Journalism and 27 on Morality.

APRIL 4 FEATURE (1,000 words, INCLUDE WORD COUNT) DUE. Discuss Chapters 26 and 27

APRIL 9 . In-class work on Issue paper.

APRIL 11 FIRST DRAFT ISSUE (with four voices, two of whom are "experts") due. PEER EDIT NEXT: Read Chaps. 24 and 25 on Government and Reporters and the Law.

APRIL 16 – NO CLASS

APRIL 18 ISSUE (1,000 words INCLUDE WORD COUNT) DUE Discuss Open Meeting, definitions of slander etc.;

APRIL 23 Discuss Chapters 24 and 25, review writing. END OF SEMESTER QUIZ

APRIL 25 Watch film and write REVIEW (10 percent of final grade) on deadline, due at end of class.

MAY 1 LAST DAY OF CLASS/RECAP

UMass Spring 2012 calendar

Last Day of class Fall 2011

Hugo

The article I chose, Movie Reviews: Hugo, was published on the Birmingham Post website on Nov. 30, and written by Roz Laws and Graham Young. The film is “set in and around a Paris railway station in 1931.” In Hugo, the famed film director, Martin Scorsese, directs his first 3D film. The plot of the movie revolves around a young boy who sets out to unlock a secret left to him by his father.

The film was adapted from Brian Selznick’s 2007 bestseller, The Adventures of Hugo Cabret. The review calls into question Scorsese’s decision to rely on “so many star names to play supporting characters.” The review also compares the film to an animated film from earlier this year, Rango, saying “at first glance, adults will seemingly appreciate more than their children.”

The review anticipates whether or not Scorsese will be able to improve the 3D viewing experience and how it will affect actors and films in the future.

Favorite quote: “Hot on the heels of Steven Spielberg’s motion capture experiment with The Adventures of Tintin, director Martin Scorsese returns with a live action movie set in and around a Paris railway station in 1931.”

AP Tip: Composition Titles

Apply guidelines to book titles, movie titles, opera titles, play titles, poem titles, song titles, titles of lectures, speeches and works of art. Capitalize the principal words, including prepo- sitions and conjunctions of four or more letters. Capitalize the article if it is the first or last word in the title.

Put quotation marks around the names of all such works except the Bible and books of reference.
i.e. “The New York Times”

Encyclopedia Britannica

Chapter reviews on local government and journalism and the law

JOURN 300/FALL 2011

Chapter 24/Local Government and Education

1) What is an ordinance? (478)

2) What is a resolution? (478)

3) What is a bylaw? (Answer: a law enacted by a town, for instance Amherst's noise bylaw.)

4) Who crafts and who enacts/signs laws in a town? in a state? In the country?

5) What is a quorum?

6) What is the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law (see below) designed to do?

7) Name six reasons a governmental body may give in order to hold a meeting outside of public view (known as an executive session.)

Chapter 25/Reporters and the Law

1) What is libel?

2) What is slander?

3) True or False: During a period of particularly intense racial tensions in the United States, The New York Times ran an advertisement in 1969 that an all-white jury found to be libelous toward L.B. Sullivan, a Montgomery, Ala. city commissioner responsible for the police department. Sullivan was awarded $500,000 in damages.

But the Supreme Court heard an appeal of the case, The New York Times vs. Sullivan, in 1964 and in its decision took away states' power to award damages in a libel action brought by public officials against critics of their official conduct.

The Supreme Court wrote that a public official must prove the statement was made with "actual malice," whether it was false or not.

4) Did Supreme Court Justice Brennan write that the right to criticize the government is "the central meaning of the First Amendment" guaranteeing freedom of Speech? True or False

5) Explain who qualifies as a "public figure" and why. A) a police officer B) a newspaper columnist C) Brad Pitt 4) The editor of the Collegian

6) What are privileged proceedings? Is a court hearing a privileged proceeding? Is a political rally a privileged proceeding?

Massachusetts Open Meeting Law

Governmental bodies must post a notice to say there will be a meeting 48 hours in advance of it to give the public a chance to attend. A quorum (majority or the number of members present needed to vote) may not get together and discuss SUBSTANTIVE issues outside of the public's view. There are nine exceptions under which a board may hold a closed-door session although it must later make the results of decisions reached available to the public. Below is the Massachusetts General Law with a few annotations by me.

TITLE VII. CITIES, TOWNS AND DISTRICTS

CHAPTER 39. MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT

TOWN MEETINGS

Chapter 39: Section 23B. Open meetings of governmental bodies

Section 23B. All meetings of a governmental body shall be open to the public and any person shall be permitted to attend any meeting except as otherwise provided by this section.

No quorum QUORUM IS THE NUMBER OF MEMBERS OF A BOARD NEEDED TO VOTE of a governmental body shall meet in private for the purpose of deciding on or deliberating toward a decision on any matter except as provided by this section.

No executive session EXECUTIVE SESSION IS A CLOSED DOOR MEETING shall be held until the governmental body has first convened in an open session for which notice has been given, a majority of the members have voted to go into executive session and the vote of each member is recorded on a roll call vote and entered into the minutes, the presiding officer has cited the purpose for an executive session, and the presiding officer has stated before the executive session if the governmental body will reconvene after the executive session.

Nothing except the limitation contained in this section shall be construed to prevent the governmental body from holding an executive session after an open meeting has been convened and a recorded vote has been taken to hold an executive session. Executive sessions may be held only for the following purposes:

(1) To discuss the reputation, character, physical condition or mental health rather than the professional competence of an individual, provided that the individual involved in such executive session has been notified in writing by the governmental body, at least forty-eight hours prior to the proposed executive session. Notification may be waived upon agreement of the parties. A governmental body shall hold an open meeting if the individual involved requests that the meeting be open. If an executive session is held, such individual shall have the following rights:

(a) to be present at such executive session during discussions or considerations which involve that individual.

(b) to have counsel or a representative of his own choosing present and attending for the purpose of advising said individual and not for the purpose of active participation in said executive session.

(c) to speak in his own behalf.

(2) To consider the discipline or dismissal of, or to hear complaints or charges brought against, a public officer, employee, staff member, or individual, provided that the individual involved in such executive session pursuant to this clause has been notified in writing by the governmental body at least forty-eight hours prior to the proposed executive session. Notification may be waived upon agreement of the parties. A governmental body shall hold an open meeting if the individual involved requests that the meeting be open. If an executive session is held, such individual shall have the following rights:

(a) to be present at such executive session during discussions or considerations which involve that individual.

(b) to have counsel or a representative of his own choosing present and attending for the purpose of advising said individual and not for the purpose of active participation.

(c) to speak in his own behalf.

(3) To discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation if an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining or litigating position of the governmental body, to conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with nonunion personnel, to conduct collective bargaining sessions or contract negotiations with nonunion personnel.

(4) To discuss the deployment of security personnel or devices.

(5) To investigate charges of criminal misconduct or to discuss the filing of criminal complaints.

(6) To consider the purchase, exchange, lease or value of real property, if such discussions may have a detrimental effect on the negotiating position of the governmental body and a person, firm or corporation.

(7) To comply with the provisions of any general or special law or federal grant-in-aid requirements.

(8) To consider and interview applicants for employment by a preliminary screening committee or a subcommittee appointed by a governmental body if an open meeting will have a detrimental effect in obtaining qualified applicants; provided, however, that this clause shall not apply to any meeting, including meetings of a preliminary screening committee or a subcommittee appointed by a governmental body, to consider and interview applicants who have passed a prior preliminary screening.

(9) To meet or confer with a mediator, as defined in section twenty-three C of chapter two hundred and thirty-three, with respect to any litigation or decision on any public business within its jurisdiction involving another party, group or body, provided that: (a) any decision to participate in mediation shall be made in open meeting session and the parties, issues involved and purpose of the mediation shall be disclosed; and (b)no action shall be taken by any governmental body with respect to those issues which are the subject of the mediation without deliberation and approval for such action at an open meeting after such notice as may be required in this section.

This section shall not apply to any chance meeting, or a social meeting at which matters relating to official business are discussed so long as no final agreement is reached. No chance meeting or social meeting shall be used in circumvention of the spirit or requirements of this section to discuss or act upon a matter over which the governmental body has supervision, control, jurisdiction or advisory power.

Except in an emergency, a notice of every meeting of any governmental body shall be filed with the clerk of the city or town in which the body acts, and the notice or a copy thereof shall, at least forty-eight hours, including Saturdays but not Sundays and legal holidays, prior to such meeting, be publicly posted in the office of such clerk or on the principal official bulletin board of such city or town. The secretary of a regional school district committee shall be considered to be its clerk and he shall file the notice of meetings of the committee with the clerk of each city or town within such district and each such clerk shall post the notice in his office or on the principal official bulletin board of the city or town and such secretary shall post such notice in his office or on the principal official bulletin board of the district. If the meeting shall be of a regional or district governmental body, the officer calling the meeting shall file the notice thereof with the clerk of each city and town within such region or district, and each such clerk shall post the notice in his office or on the principal official bulletin board of the city or town. The notice shall be printed in easily readable type and shall contain the date, time and place of such meeting. Such filing and posting shall be the responsibility of the officer calling such meeting.

A governmental body shall maintain accurate records of its meetings, setting forth the date, time, place, members present or absent and action taken at each meeting, including executive sessions. The records of each meeting shall become a public record and be available to the public; provided, however, that the records of any executive session may remain secret as long as publication may defeat the lawful purposes of the executive session, but no longer. All votes taken in executive sessions shall be recorded roll call votes and shall become a part of the record of said executive sessions. No votes taken in open session shall be by secret ballot.

A meeting of a governmental body may be recorded by any person in attendance by means of a tape recorder or any other means of sonic reproduction or by means of videotape equipment fixed in one or more designated locations determined by the governmental body except when a meeting is held in executive session; provided, that in such recording there is no active interference with the conduct of the meeting.

Upon qualification for office following an appointment or election to a governmental body, as defined in this section, the member shall be furnished by the city or town clerk with a copy of this section. Each such member shall sign a written acknowledgement that he has been provided with such a copy.

The district attorney of the county in which the violation occurred shall enforce the provisions of this section.

Upon proof of failure by any governmental body or by any member or officer thereof to carry out any of the provisions for public notice or meetings, for holding open meetings, or for maintaining public records thereof, any justice of the supreme judicial court or the superior court sitting within and for the county in which such governmental body acts shall issue an appropriate order requiring such governmental body or member or officer thereof to carry out such provisions at future meetings. Such order may be sought by complaint of three or more registered voters, by the attorney general, or by the district attorney of the county in which the city or town is located. The order of notice on the complaint shall be returnable no later than ten days after the filing thereof and the complaint shall be heard and determined on the return day or on such day thereafter as the court shall fix, having regard to the speediest possible determination of the cause consistent with the rights of the parties; provided, however, that orders with respect to any of the matters referred to in this section may be issued at any time on or after the filing of the complaint without notice when such order is necessary to fulfill the purposes of this section. In the hearing of such complaints the burden shall be on the respondent to show by a preponderance of the evidence that the action complained of in such complaint was in accordance with and authorized by section eleven A 1/2 of chapter thirty A, by section nine G of chapter thirty-four or by this section. All processes may be issued from the clerk’s office in the county in which the action is brought and, except as aforesaid, shall be returnable as the court orders.

Such order may invalidate any action taken at any meeting at which any provision of this section has been violated, provided that such complaint is filed within twenty-one days of the date when such action is made public.

Any such order may also, when appropriate, require the records of any such meeting to be made public, unless it shall have been determined by such justice that the maintenance of secrecy with respect to such records is authorized. The remedy created hereby is not exclusive, but shall be in addition to every other available remedy. Such order may also include reinstatement without loss of compensation, seniority, tenure or other benefits for any employee discharged at a meeting or hearing held in violation of the provisions of this section.

Such order may also include a civil fine against the governmental body in an amount no greater than one thousand dollars for each meeting held in violation of this section.

The rights of an individual set forth in this section relative to his appearance before a meeting in an executive or open session, are in addition to the rights that an individual may have from any other source, including, but not limited to, rights under any laws or collective bargaining agreements, and the exercise or nonexercise of the individual rights under this section shall not be construed as a waiver of any rights of the individual.

Jenny's Article and AP Tip

The article I chose was "Prince William Joins Irish Sea Rescue Mission" from ABC news on November 27, 2011.

This article is about how Prince William joined a search and rescue mission early Sunday after a cargo ship sank in the Irish Sea. He is in the Royal Air Force and was co-pilot of the helicopter which helped rescue two members of the Russian crew where seven went missing.

I chose this article because I think it's rare to find the Royal family in proactively saving people. It's always nice to see famous people doing kind things for others, especially in this type of situation where he saved lives.

A great quote from this story was, "The second in line to the British throne, who is a Royal Air Force helicopter and known professionally as Flight Lt. William Wales, was aboard an aircraft which rescued two crew members early Sunday, after their vessel's hull cracked in gale force winds off the coast of north Wales." I liked this quote because I think it summed up the main point of the article in a nice way and include good descriptive words for visuals.

My AP tip is for uses of homicide, murder, and manslaughter: Homicide is a legal term for slaying for killing. Murder is malicious premeditated homicide. Some uses of this is if the killing occurs in the course of armed robbery, rape, etc. Manslaughter is homicide without malice or premeditation. A person shouldn't be described as a murderer until convicted of the charge. Unless authorities say premeditation was obvious, victim was not murdered but instead was killed or slain.

EX. It was clear that Smith had murdered Jones due to obvious premeditation of the act. 

Steve's article and AP tip

The article I chose was, “Woman surrenders in Black Fridaypepper spray incident,” which was put on CNN.com on Saturday.

            It discussed how the woman turned herself in to Los Angeles authorities after allegedly pepper spraying people grabbing XBOX games at a Walmart. There is still a lot that needs to be done in the investigation, authorities said, as they need to interview countless witnesses and victims, as 10 people received treatment at the scene as a result of the pepper spray.

            I chose this article because I believe that Black Friday is a frenzy and that, although the deals are great, people become animals as they grab and push and will do anything to get the item they’re looking for.

            The quote I chose came from witness Juan Castro, who was at the Walmart that night trying to buy video games as well.

            “I tried to get away as quickly as possible because I didn’t think it was worth it. No deal’s worth that.”

            I thought this quote perfectly summed up the entire situation and people’s obsessions with hunting for Black Friday deals even if it means they become a monster in the process.

            My AP tip is when writing about a person who is a junior or third generation, you don’t include a comma after the name. For example, it would be “John Elliot Jr.” or “John Thompson III.”

Article and AP tip for Nov. 9th

November 8, 2011 “U.N. Agency Says Iran Data Points to A-Bomb Work”

By DAVID E. SANGER and WILLIAM J. BROAD

New York Times

Summary: "United Nations weapons inspectors have new evidence that they say makes a ‘credible’ case that ‘Iran has carried out activities relevant to the development of a nuclear device,’ and that the project may still be under way.”

“The inspectors devoted a section of this report to ‘credibility of information.’ The information was from more than 10 countries and from independent sources, they said; some was backed up by interviews with foreigners who had helped Iran.”

“The report does not claim that Iran has mastered all the necessary technologies, or estimate how long it would take for Iran to be able to produce a nuclear weapon.”

Reason for picking the article:

I picked this article because the US has involved itself in this situation, and if Iran decides to take action and actually go forward with the plan of a nuclear bomb we could very much be affected. It is a very controversial article in the sense that it may not intentionally scare the readers, but the subject itself is frightening. The article was well written and biased, although the writers probably felt very strongly about the situation.

Great quote from the story and why:

“’The level of detail is unbelievable,’ said a Western diplomat familiar with the report, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was discussing the agency’s internal assessment of the report. ‘The report describes virtually all the steps to make a nuclear warhead and the progress Iran has achieved in each of those steps. It reads like a menu.’”

This is a great quote said by a person who was interviewed for the article because of the vivid description of the report and you really get a sense of how the diplomat is intrigued by the report.

AP TIP:

• Capitalize the proper names of nationalities, peoples, races, and tribes:
Indian
Arab Caucasian

Visitor tomorrow/issue first draft due

Hi Everybody - We're going to have a visitor tomorrow, Bill Carey, a longtime newspaper reporter, editor and magazine writer who works for Aviation International News, which is known as a "trade publication." Bill can tell us about what trade publications are and the pros and cons of working for them. One of the pros is that he has traveled all over the world, most recently to Dubai, to report on aviation and avionics ( a combination of aviation and electronics.) Check out the AIN's website at http://www.ainonline.com/ and read one of Bill's pieces (pasted below), a blog entry in which he talks about how as a reporter you often hear very interesting things that you can't always include in stories. Be prepared to do a good interview and write 250 words due when we come back after Thanksgiving. See you in class and don't forget your issue first drafts!

An Anchor Loosens His Tie, Along With His Persona

Originally published on November 1, 2011 in The New York Times

Summary:
Brian Williams, a well-known news anchor, started his own newsmagazine show called “Rock Center with Brian Williams” that focuses on everything news, but with a comedic twist. As known as he is for his nightly reports on NBC, his comedic side is also in the public eye, as he has appeared on several talk shows and comedies. The article goes on to explain how media personalities have changed, from having basically zero show appearances to making constant appearances on television because as the article states, “the audience for network news keeps dwindling, so those who want to be seen have to go where the viewers are.”

Why I Chose It:
I picked it because I always think it’s interesting to see the whole side of the reporter, not just what he’s like on screen. Also, the title of this article caught my eye. I like how it said “An Anchor Loosens His Tie.” It makes me think of how an anchor gets off set, is done with the work day, and “loosens his tie” because he’s off television.

Great Quote from the Story:
”It used to be that news anchors, like sitting presidents, had a quelling authority that made any sidestep into entertainment surprising and even newsworthy. Now entertainment shows are a bobbing life raft holding serious news — and serious people — afloat.”
I thought this quote was interesting, to see how times have changed and media personalities have also changed roles.

AP Tip:
Use commas in numbers with four or more digits, except in years and street addresses.
1,080 students
1234 Sesame St
The year 2011

Where Football Is King, Alleged Crimes Sometimes Get a Pass

Summary:

This article is about the Penn State football controversy and how students are choosing to deal with it. The games still have a high number of attendees despite recent controversy to show pride for the school. Although the public may think otherwise due to the media’s wide coverage of this issue, students won’t let this mishap ruin their school pride. They do feel strange about it, though, as Paterno and Sandusky were part of everyone’s childhoods in the area. One woman says, “There was a feeling of infallibility. It may not sound rational or logical to someone who didn’t grow up here, but it feels like we were told part of our childhood is a lie.” A UMass clinical psychologist mentions that boys are more likely to be sexually abused than girls because we, as a culture and society, have trouble believing that boys can be and are sexually abused. A Penn State grad also mentioned that terms like “predators” and “monsters” and “stranger-danger” discourage people from believing that someone they know and trust could be an abuser.

Why I chose it:

I chose this article because I know that lately there has been a lot of controversy over this issue. I have a friend who goes to Penn State and insists that the University should still live up to its prideful reputation despite recent controversies. I feel like a slip like this is not as big of a deal when it happens to someone that’s an unknown guy to society, but when it happens to someone kind of famous like these coaches, then I think people make a bigger deal out of it. I think it’s interesting the way people have reacted to the situation.

Quote:

Houser, a Penn State grad, says “People see Joe and Jerry at the grocery store. Joe would walk to the stadium from his house on game day and you would walk behind him," she said. "So, this whole community is struggling with this sudden glimpse in the mirror…" The fact that she mentions people would walk behind him really shows the connection between the school and Joe.

AP Tip:

DO NOT use an abbreviation or acronym in parentheses after the first reference of a full name. Wrong: The Radical Underwater First United Sailors (RUFUS) meets tonight. Right: The Radical Underwater First United Sailors meets tonight.

Katie McKenna