Wednesday, February 25, 2009

"Schools hope for best, prepare for the worst"

Tara Malone and Jo Napolitano coauthored this article concerning how the as much as $3 billion dollars in stimulus funding could effect Illinois public schools.  The article's lead is a bit of a combination of both summary and feature styles.  It begins in summary form, answering the 5 W's, but ends with a humorous simile.  Normally I'm in favor of trying to make the news more fun, but from what I've learned in journalism 200 so far, it shouldn't be.  The end of the lead is misleading because it conveys a lighter tone that the story really conveys.  
The authors did a great job of finding quality sources for this story.  Many of the quotations come directly from high ranking officials and experts.  This article also demonstrates great depth, with information on many different school district's and how each plans on using the stimulus funds they hope to receive.  
There are no signs of the authors' biases in this article, as they did an excellent job of reporting facts and attributing information to sources. 
The main focus of the article is on how different school districts are going to use the money they receive from the economic stimulus.  Since they do not yet know how much they will receive, many school districts are being very cautious.  The authors deliver the main points of the article in a clear and easy to read manner.  I especially like the quotations used in this article, they flow nicely with the story and contribute instead of simply repeat points.
Posted by at

3 comments:

  1. TiffanyFebruary 25, 2009 at 1:57 PM

    "Normally I'm in favor of trying to make the news more fun, but from what I've learned in journalism 200 so far, it shouldn't be." haha


    I think it would've been nice to get some comments from teachers. Getting people that are higher up is great because they have a grasp of the legal situation, but talking to the teachers would've added a more human perspective. For example, a higher ranking officer could say that $X is going towards upgrading technology in class rooms, but what does that mean for each class room? The executives are more removed from the actual situation than teachers are, I think.
    Just a thought.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Trenton J. MorrowFebruary 28, 2009 at 4:55 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Becky LongFebruary 28, 2009 at 4:58 PM

    Yeah...so that last post from "Trent" was actually me. I was accidentally logged into my friends account. haha.

    ANYWAY.

    Tiffany: I definitely agree. I think that's whats cool about journalism, etting out and talking to people from all different perspectives/levels of an issue.

    Also...HA loved the quote. But I think news CAN be fun. We're just not alowed to have fun writing it. (totally joking)

    But anyway, Sam, I appreciate that you are following the same story in your beat. Do you think that the different reporters have brought different perspectives to the topic?

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)