Social Media Addition to Final

John Boehner has a Twitter, which I am now following. He seems to update his Twitter several times a day so that will be helpful. He also has a Facebook page and two pages on websites that I didn't even know existed, Delicious and Digg. I now know Delicious is what they call a "Social Bookmarking Service," so you can post bookmarks to sites and see what others are posting. And Digg seems to just be a network for sharing web content, so pretty similar to Delicious.

5/17 in-class exercise

Slug: Ohio Bad for Business

Short hed: CEO's Rank Ohio 44th in States To Do Business

Long hed: CEO's Rank Ohio 44th in States To Do Business Survey Due to Taxes, Workforce, Living Conditions


Ohio is among the nation’s worst states to do business based on its taxes, workforce and living conditions, according to a January survey of 651 CEOs nationwide, given annually by Chief Executive magazine.

Ohio ranked 44th in the magazine’s "Best & Worst States," up one spot from last year. The state received a grade of “C-“ in taxation and regulation, a “B” in workforce quality, and a “B-“ in living environment.

The state’s most recent rankings in the survey represent a dramatic downgrade among the CEOs, who placed Ohio at No. 20 in 2005. The 24-spot decline was second only to Illinois falling 29 spots in the same period.

Ohio's neighbor to the North, Michigan, received a ranking of third-to-last.

State tax officials blamed the weak assessment on Ohio’s reputation as a “high tax state,” which it is taking steps to shed.

“Perception has yet to catch up to reality in Ohio,” said John Kohlstrand, spokesman for Ohio Department of Taxation.

Since 2005, the Buckeye State has been working to lower taxes while creating a more attractive tax system for business. Local property taxes on equipment and a state tax on corporation profits have been eliminated and replaced with a new commercial activity tax based on the location of a business’ customers. That means when businesses establish new facilities or hire more workers, “they don’t pay additional CAT,” Kohlstrand said.

Marshall Cooper, CEO of Greenwich, Conn.-based Chief Executive Group, shared four comments from surveyed CEOs with operations in Ohio. Three mentioned a need for an improvement in the tax situation one said “get rid of the CAT.”

But Ohio’s overall grades among the CEOs with business operations in the state were slightly higher than the national rankings. Local CEOs gave Ohio a “C+” in taxes, a “B+” in workforce quality, and a “B+” in living environment, Cooper said.

The state’s most recent rankings in the Chief Executive survey represent a dramatic downgrade among the CEOs, who placed Ohio at No. 20 in 2005. The 24-spot decline was second only to Illinois falling 29 spots in the same period.

Despite its weak ranking in the Chief Executive survey, Ohio is home to 23 Fortune 500 companies, including four based in Columbus: Nationwide, American Electric Power, Limited Brands and Big Lots. At least one company on that list, and one that is not, recently announced plans that should result in more than 1,000 local new hires.

Huntington Bancshares last week said it will add 500 jobs in the next five years and keep its headquarters Downtown for 20 more years. Nationwide earlier this month said it plans to fill 600 job openings in Ohio.

Still, Ohio’s unemployment rate remains above the national rate. The jobless rate in Ohio was 11 percent in March. April figures are due out next week. The national unemployment rate was 9.9 percent in April and 9.7 percent in March, according to federal data.

Texas again finished first in the Chief Executive rankings, followed by North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. The worst state was California, with New York, Michigan, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Illinois and Connecticut the others that finished below Ohio, according to the survey of 651 CEOs conducted in late January.

Final Project Outline

Doing a profile on House Minority Leader John Boehner.

-Talk to John
-His wife Debbie
-His kids
-One of the people that works in his office
-I'm trying to get another politician that works closely with/knows Boehner

That's all I have for now.

news broadcast

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. This is David Scott, bringing you today’s news update.

New York City police continue to search for answers regarding Saturday’s attempted car bombing of Times Square.

Police released surveillance video of the scene revealing a middle-aged white male walking away from the SUV containing gasoline containers, propane tanks, and firecrackers, and looking back at it before disappearing into an alley.

Another part of the country was not so lucky in averting casualties, as parts of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Mississippi were hit with over 20 inches of rain over the weekend. According to Fox News, at least 19 people have been confirmed dead, with thousands more displaced from their homes as wide scale evacuation procedures were implemented by authorities.

The biggest hit at the box office this weekend was the remake of the 1980’s horror flick, “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” which garnered $32.2 million and took the No. 1 spot. “How to Train Your Dragon” continued its success, pulling in $10.8 million.

From number 1 in the box office to number 1 in the NBA, Lebron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers was awarded with his second consecutive MVP award, receiving 116 of 123 first place votes. Thunder forward Kevin Durant finished second, and Lakers’ forward Kobe Bryant came in at third. James’ Cavaliers continue their quest for an NBA title tonight in Game 2 against the Boston Celtics.

Last week, Phillies’ first baseman Ryan Howard signed a 5-year, $125 million deal to become one of the highest paid players in the MLB. Less than a few days later, people were already beginning to speculate about the contract of a comparable National League first baseman whose contract expires at the end of the season: Albert Pujols. When comparing the two players, Howard supporters are quick to point to his advantage in home runs and RBI’s since 2005, but when you crunch the numbers, there is no comparison. Pujols holds the advantage in every single category besides the two power numbers, and is actually younger! Howard may put fans in the seats with his majestic home runs and insane power, but Pujols never gives away outs, does everything right, and wins games. So my advice to you, Cardinals front office, pay up and make Pujols, who could go down as the greatest baseball player of all-time, a Cardinal for life.

Washingtonians Concerned About Job Security

**In-class assignment**

News Now: 29 percent of Washington state workers are concerned about losing their job, according to last month's Washington State Workplace Confidence Survey conducted by Harris/Decima on behalf of Everest College.

Following the economic troubles of 2009, Washington residents have seen the unemployment rates rise to almost 10 percent, the highest in the state since the economic crisis of the early 1980's, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics.

With nearly a third of the state's residents fearing joining the ranks of the unemployed, many Washington residents are considering returning to school, nearly 36 percent according to the survey. Everest College's enrollment has risen 56 percent since January 2009.

The survey found that those with incomes less than 40,000 dollars fear losing their job twice as much as those with incomes over 80,000 dollars (37 percent to 18 percent, respectively). Nearly two-thirds of Washington residents (63 percent) say they suffer from some sort of work-related stress.

This story on Jimmy Clausen was not my original profile, but it will have to do.

It focuses on Clausen's natural throwing mechanics and how his skill will translate into the NFL.

The lede paints a nice picture of how the way Clausen plays isn't something that he only shows when he's on the football field, it's more like a 24/7, 365 way of life. Even when he is sitting in his agent's conference room, he still has the quarterback presence that the NFL demands. Then it goes into his childhood, which gives you this picture of Clausen as the annoying little kid that never stopped throwing things and simulating the game-winning touchdown pass.

While the first few paragraphs are a little bulky, they paint a good picture and function well in painting a portrait of Clausen's personality.

The to-be-sure thought comes relatively early, in the fourth paragraph. I'm not sure I would have had it this high, but it does work well in ensuring the balance of the story before it glorifies the former Notre Dame quarterback too much. It's very interesting that Fleming got so many anecdotes about Clausen's childhood, including the one about him throwing the ball 55 yards across the field in the fifth grade. Showing his family pedigree just adds to the story that he has such a natural and NFL-ready throwing motion.

As previously mentioned, the body of the story is almost all paragraphs with multiple sentences, but one paragraph is a single sentence and it has a good effect. "No wonder Clausen is a quarterback obsessed."

Sourcing is also good and credible.

4/19 press conference

**This is for a class exercise (not real)

Short hed: Lantern Sports Editor Named Finalist for SNAA Award

Long hed: Lantern Sports Editor Zack Meisel Among 5 Finalists for College Sports Editor of the Year Award

Zack Meisel, sports editor of The Lantern, has been named a finalist for the Student Newspaper Association of America's College Sports Editor of the Year Award, Lantern spokesperson Dan Caterinicchia announced Monday afternoon.

The five finalists will gather at an awards banquet at the end of May, where the recipient of the award, along with the accompanying $5,000 prize, will be revealed.

"It's probably the biggest accomplishment of my life," said Meisel, a 20-year-old journalism major.

Profile

I'm going to do a profile on Alex Wimmers of the OSU baseball team.

I plan on focusing on his draft stock, his future and his goals, his relationship with Dan Burkhart and how going pro will change things, his family, last year's no-hitter, and maybe go through a specific pitch sequence in that or another game that embodies Wimmers' approach.

People to talk to:
-Alex
-Dan
-his Dad and brother
-a scout or someone in an MLB front office to get their take on him

April 7 Short, Long, Tweet, Lede

Short: Big Shoes to Fill for Inexperienced Defensive Line

Long: Despite Losing Veterans, Heyward and Co. Confident in Young, Talented Defensive Line

Tweet: Seniors Heyward and Larimore Look to Lead Inexperienced Defensive Line in 2010 Season and Continue Past Success

Re-written lede: When the Buckeyes open against Marshall on Sept. 2, Ohio State fans will be looking at many new faces clogging the middle, as well as a few familiar ones.

Payback

I read "Commodity Futures Trading Commission discloses investigation of crude oil contracts," an article Dan wrote May 30, 2008 for the AP.

The 83 character headline is well under the 94 character maximum, and is pretty straightforward at telling you what you're going to get with this story. The lead comes as no surprise after the headline, telling you the who (Federal investigators), what (investigating oil markets), when (for the last six months), where (the U.S.), and why (price manipulation). How they are conducting the investigation is kept secret, so that is why that part of the six essential elements of the lead is left out. Overall the lead is good and properly represents the body of the story.

After reading through the article the first time, there is one thing that catches my eye before I even start the breakdown of each paragraph. In the last graph, "Speculation has been cited as one on many factors contributing to surging petroleum prices," seems to have a little typo. I believe the word on is supposed to be of.

The third graph has six numbers in it. It's a bit much for me to handle, but it is the nature of business reporting I suppose.

Most of the quotes in this story are partials and it seems kind of quote heavy at some points. I'm not sure if I'm a big fan of the use of so many partial quotes. It feels kind of boring and doesn't feel like I'm being told a story as much. The two graphs after Simons is introduced is an example where it seems like some of the quotes could have been broken up with more body or even removed. The phrase "will have a chilling effect" could have been taken out of quotation marks and just been attributed to Simons.

Overall, obviously I think the story is pretty good. If it's good enough for the AP, it's good enough for me. I would have included a few more direct sources, it seems like there are some that are quoted from statements and press releases.

Broadcast script

Good morning. This is David Scott, bringing you today's news in just 60 seconds.

An 8.8 magnitude earthquake decimated Chile Saturday, leaving hundreds of thousands homeless. More than 700 have been confirmed dead, with that number expected to climb as rescuers continue to search for survivors.

A different kind of shake-up is taking place in the music world, as rapper Lil Wayne will begin serving his one year jail term for felony gun charges immediately following his sentencing today. The sentencing had to be delayed three weeks so Wayne could get his diamond-studded braces removed.

Shifting from the king of rap to the king of hoops, Michael Jordan has reached an agreement to buy the Charlotte Bobcats, team officials announced yesterday. Sources estimate the purchase to be somewhere between $240 and $260 million.

Another icon was in the news yesterday as Jay Leno was back in his old role on the Tonight Show. Last night's guests included actor Jamie Foxx, Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Vonn, and country star Brad Paisley.

From David Scott, THAT is what's going on in the world today.

Multimedia Analysis

This story is about condom distribution at the Olympic games. I chose this example because the photo accompanying the story is simple, but effective because it cleverly mimics the Olympic logo. The color of the condoms, not to mention the raciness just for showing condoms, stick out in the layout of the story, visually directing you into the lead of the story.

Here is a story about the effects of the tsunami that followed the earthquake Saturday in Chile. Fox News really likes using slide shows with their stories, as seen in their coverage of Haiti, and this story has a slide show with some powerful images to emphasize the devastation. Fox News seems to enjoy eliciting emotional responses from their audience, and this story is no exception to that agenda.

Even a simple recap of an NBA game can succesfully incorporate multimedia. It is important to tell stories with sports through visual mediums, especially incorporating highlights of the most important points. This is also good because as you are moving through the story, the video is playing and gives you the audio component, even if you aren't watching it.

Following 31-30 loss to Ole Miss, Tebow makes tearful apology, promise to Gator nation

Florida quarterback Tim Tebow made a pledge to play harder than anyone in football for the rest of the season following today’s loss.

At the end of his post-game press conference, an emotional Tebow made a personal promise to both play and push his team harder than anyone’s seen.

The 31-30 home loss to Ole Miss marks the Gators’ first loss of the season and poses a serious threat to their national title hopes.

In Tebow’s apology to Gator nation, he promises that “a lot of good will come out of this.”

If Tebow hopes to live up to his promise, there’s no doubt it’s going to take the best effort of both he and his teammates.