Discussion

* initial post: 300 words!!!In the first installation for your Discussion Board entry, locate what you feel is the most important hard news story to appear this week, and discuss why you feel this to be the case. Remember, we are talking hard news here -- so I will be looking to see that you actually found a story that begins with a summary lead, is written with the inverted pyramid, etc.At the end of your post, make sure to embed an image from the story that was used to drive the point of the story home, and discuss how you feel the image worked on a tactical level, describing how the image to the story to a place that text alone would not achieve.HOW TO DO IT:Make sure the story you select begins with a summary lead. Copy and paste this summary lead at the top of your initial post. Do not confuse a summary lead with a headline. Learning to distinguish lead styles from headlines is integral to this course, and points will be docked for those who don't understand the differences between these elements.Once you have copied and pasted the summary lead at the top of your post, use your text editor to highlight the who, what, when, and where elements of the story, as they appear in the summary lead. Neglecting to use the highlighter will result in the loss of points. It's right up there in your toolbar above this conversation window.Beneath your summary lead section, tell us which of the ten news criteria are at play in the story you selected -- there should only be two or three main ones -- and explain exactly how they are evidenced in the information at hand (listing too many criteria often indicates the writer is not sufficiently familiar with the ten criteria of newsworthiness, and needs to return to that seminar). Then, evaluate why the story you selected is important -- both for yourself and the rest of the human community. When you argue for the relevance of your story, bolster your arguments with the use of facts and examples taken from the article in question: never present a series of sweeping or generalized opinions, always anchor your opinions to facts.At the end of your post, make sure to embed an image or video that ran with the story, and take a moment to reflect on the relationship of the multimedia object to the text. How does it serve to augment the story? Does it add something to the article that could not be conveyed in words? If so, what did it add?If you do not know how to embed an image in your posts, eCampus support has provided some tutorial links (below). Supplying a link to an image is not an option here -- nobody ever clicks on the links and it makes the reader go through an extra step for something that should be included in your post. This ability to embed images in digital files will be quite crucial in writing your multimedia stories.

Response post

After you have posted your initial contribution, you are ready to respond to some of the stories your classmates posted this week. Tell them whether or not they were accurate with the ten criteria they detected at play in their chosen summary lead. Discuss how you feel about the topic of the story they selected. Evaluate the image they provided and add any input on how it adds to the story. Do a spot of research, and see if the story has headed anywhere since the other person selected it -- if so, discuss with them the direction the story is now trending. That can sometimes be interesting and demonstrates curiosity. The minimum response post lengths should be around 200 words. Extra credit, as usual, will be awarded to those who go beyond the word-count minimums or respond to multiple posts.



* reply to this post "200 words": “Tens of millions of Californians are under heat warnings and advisories Thursday as a record-breaking, relentless heatwave continued to roast areas from San Francisco to San Diego. The heat, associated with an unseasonably intense and stubborn area of high pressure parked over the region, is sending temperatures soaring up to 30 degrees above average for this time of year in some areas.”Who  What   When  WhereTimeliness, Proximity, and Impact are the three criteria of newsworthiness at play in this summary lead. It provides the reader that the heat waves (impact) has put Californians in the San Francisco to San Diego (proximity) area at risk of wildfires, and warnings and advisories were sent out Thursday (timeliness).I find this article important due to the fires in the Pacific NW. Smoke and possible evacuation was something I have not experienced or ever thought I would experience in my time living in Portland, OR. Wildfires have been a longer issue in California due to global warming, and I think the fires in Oregon is one of many indicators of that. This article goes into depth about glaring facts about the 2020 wildfire season. For example, the heat in the Long Beach Airport broke its previous record of 100 degrees when it “reached 105 degrees Wednesday,” and other areas unable to reach below 90 or 80 degrees. The overall season being the worst on California record, having “more than 3.9 million acres burned and five of the top 20 largest wildfires in state history.” Further in, it talked about the heat and fires link it to human-caused climate change, where the heat waves indicate the severe impact of greenhouse gas emissions and the wildfires themselves being more likely to occur in areas growing hotter and drier. This image of the remains of the Calistoga Ranch after the Glass Fire provides a slice at the devastating damage the wildfires had done to peoples’ homes and businesses that myself and others hear about but don’t see. It adds an emotional aspect to evoke empathy for fellow humans losing something that’s a significant part of their lives, balancing the article’s number and fact-based story with a humanistic side.