a news writing case study05 Apr 07
Posted by M. Wright | Filed in: Media
Your assignment: read this story in the Commercial Appeal and the Memphis Flyer, then tell me which writer has better news judgment, and which makes best use of the inverted pyramid. Bonus points for the reader who points out the most discrepancies between the two accounts.
UPDATE: It’s take two at the Flyer, and this one is even more ridiculous than the first.
April 5th, 2007 at 7:54 am
Commercial appeal is succinct. Memphis Flyer is wordy and has typo’s and too much extraneous information. The Flyer front loads a bunch of unimportant information and gives a bunch of details that are really not that interesting or relevant to the case. So I would have to go with the C.A. on using the inverted pyramid better.
Typo
M.F. - “the case drew the attention the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force”
Discrepancies:
Collierville - Germantown
Rehabing houses - car salesman/real estate investor
PLO - Fatah
April 7th, 2007 at 5:50 am
The CA’s article was a news item. Branston’s columns were commentaries. Apples to oranges. Branston isn’t reporting the news, he’s analyzing it. The “inverted pyramid” is a strictly news-writing tool. You might as well compare a photograph to a painting and ask, “which offers the better use of telephoto lens?”
April 7th, 2007 at 8:37 am
That clears one question up, Bruce, and begs another: why two columns in two days by the same writer that say the exact same thing?
Also, we’ll take a closer look at your columnist’s propaganda here in a little bit… maybe you can explain why your paper is turning into a regular Pravda.
April 7th, 2007 at 8:39 am
Pravda? Good Lord. I can’t wait.
April 7th, 2007 at 5:21 pm
Most alarming is the gushing sympathy given to a man who threw an explosive weapon at a bus and chose to lie on his immigration form. Bravo to the authorities that processed a man who lied on a federal form and has a history with Fatah. I have filled-out a similar form about my past and done so knowing that punishment will come if I do not tell the truth. He knew it also, and chose to lie.
I just re-read the “take two” article. The author is on crack.
Look at the I-485 form and you will see multiple opportunities to declare PAST actions IN THE USA OR IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY. Damn, how can you miss it? Part 3, Section C, questions 1 forward.
It’s not a “trap”. Only a complete moron would foul it up. The applicant is asked at least three times on the page about past criminal actions, here or abroad. Association to any organization, foreign or domestic is covered. There is a HUGE space to explain your relationship (age 16 to present) to the declared group. Old Sam clearly knew that he was hiding information about his past. If he was confused by the horrible, trap-laden, 81-word inquiry to his past, the other questions in Section C should have cleared things up.
If it is the article’s implication that most Americans are guilty of Question 4, rest assured that you are advised at the top of the page to explain on a separate sheet of paper, why you answered, “Yes” to the question. Also stated is that an affirmative answer does not automatically deny the request.
I have been through a very similar process. As long as you are forthcoming with information, the investigators listen.
Trap my ass.