The Autopsy of a Newspaper.

My attempt at fulfilling Assignment Number 2.

1) "Bugs Power Scientist's Drive" - Written by Staff Reporter Brett Popplewell

Summary :
Rahadkrishan Mahadevan's excitement about his work is very contagious. His claim to fame is that he's currently working experimentally with bugs to create fuel cells which could power our everyday household appliances. His theory (translated for a 5 year old to understand) is that by feeding these microscopic bugs our bio-waste (organic matter and waste water), they will in turn create electricity and leave behind clean water. Is this the answer to our energy crisis? Could we use bugs to power everything - including cars - one day? The only problem is that "microbial fuel cells are very small and have never been proven practical in 100 years." says Mahadevan. Darn, so the answer isn't a quick fix, but I have hope still that one day it could be as easy as throwing our organic waste into a fuel cell and letting it do it's thing. I hold out hope that Mahadevan's passion and drive may just be enough to help us on our way to fixing a few of our global problems. He puts it best when he says that "It's what consumes me."

For more information on this story visit : http://www.thestar.com/article/491098

2) "Victory Speech Caps a Storybook Comeback" - Written by Tim Harper, sourced from the Washington Bureau.

Summary:
McCain finally accepted the Republican Presidential Nomination, now officially representing a political party of the country that he felt compelled to fight for. After being taken a prisoner of war, McCain says "I was never the same again. I wasn't my own man anymore. I was my country's." The article then continues to compare McCain to Obama, talking about how much more experienced McCain is.


I'm sure a link wouldn't be appreciated and would be worse than the long article I read...so moving right along...

3) The differences between the two articles aren't vast, but there are some definite and easily identifiable differences. The staff reporter seems to have more of a writing style. They were able to take their time introducing the story and providing some interesting details and direct quotes, whereas the Washington Bureau article took no time in presenting all the facts (however they were confusing as they included the American Political System which is too complex for me). The staff writer's article appeared to be an article in a series of articles about the next great Canadian Innovators. The second article was more of a biased political article about John McCain. Obviously the second article was one that was paid for by the paper because it's about American Politics and foreign affairs. The first article was about a Canadian, making it Canadian news and easier for the paper to write about and make interesting with first-hand quotes. I can draw the conclusion that the stories bought by the paper will not be local or niche stories but more large national articles and worldly news.

4) Hard News Story: "Crash Closes 404 on-ramp" - Jasmeet Sidhu and Alex Cooper
After reading the first paragraph and the caption of the picture I felt that I knew exactly what the whole article was going to say. I knew who, what, where, when, and why the on-ramp was closed. The article goes on to speculate about how and why the accident happened more in-depth. All in all you can tell it's a hard news story because of the style it's been written in, presenting all of the facts quickly in case they lose the reader's interest.

Human Interest Story: "Second-hand Fashion to Help the Planet" - Erin Kobayashi
This article was all about the Green Party Leader Elizabeth May's new environmental fashion choices. By making every aspect of her life green, she hopes to set an example for Canadians everywhere. May says one day she wants to make a quilt out of her discarded floral dresses her friend no longer allows her to wear in public. By taking time to develop the story, I found I was more interested in this article than the previous one. However, it wasn't quite as easy to tell what the story was about because the information wasn't all in the first paragraph and it was very detailed.

Sensationalism: "What? Oprah Couldn't Help Mom Pay the Bill?!" - Associated Press
A high-end clothing store is suing Oprah's mother for not paying her massive bill of $156, 000 to Valentina. Failing to pay her monthly bill of 2000 dollars, Oprah's mother will try to resolve the matter before going to court says store lawyer Joseph Niebler Sr. This is obviously sensationalism as it provides no substantial evidence, and doesn't even include the name of Oprah's mother! It just says "Oprah's mom" repeatedly. Hmmm...reliable or just gossip? We all love a good story about a celebrity's parent that can't pay their bills don't we? Ah sensationalism.

5) In the article "Undecided Sundin Appears More like Retiree" by Kevin McGran it seems pretty obvious how much the writer already disliked the Maple Leafs. By including his biases and opinions into the story, he has probably twisted much of what has been said by Sundin into something else. Though I'm not saying the Maple Leafs are my favourite either, it doesn't mean that comments like this need to be included: "He sounded as frustratingly muddled as a Maple Leafs power play." It doesn't sound like Mr.McGran began this article with an unbiased perspective now does it? Also by making conclusions about what Sundin had said, the writer of the article seems to suggest that the hockey star had included a good-bye in his speech. "Sundin did add a sentence that almost sounded like a good-bye." When really, the quote that was said doesn't include a good-bye at all. "Whatever happens to me - whether or not I'm going to play any more - I think Toronto is always going to be the team in my heart." Whether or not it was a good-bye is questionable, but there is no evidence of it being a farewell. In the end, this article seems very biased against Sundin and the Leafs.

6) 3 Stories from Ontario:

TORONTO - "Armed Officers won't be in our Schools, Trustees Say"
OTTAWA - "Stripper Ban called Unconstitutional"
GUELPH - "The Hurricane that put a Black Culture in Exile"

3 Stories from Different Provinces:
WINNIPEG, MB - Tories Blasted on Food Safety"
MONTREAL, QU - "Columbine Incited Dawson Gunman"
MONCTON, N.B. - "Man Saved Twice in Motel Fire"

3 Stories from Different Countries:
ST. PAUL, MINN, USA - "Few Minorities Appear on Podium in St.Paul"
PAKISTAN - "American-led Attack Draws Condemnation"
IRAN - "No-consent Polygamy Sparks Controversy

7) Articles from other places are not written by staff writers (obviously) so that's one difference. Another difference is that articles from other places are usually about a popular topic that has been talked about before. It is not detailed news about one town or one law, but instead is an overview of what is happening in a country usually. Most of the news in Toronto's paper is ALL about Toronto, so I had an almost impossible time trying to find something happening in Ontario other than stories from Toronto, and the occasional story from Ottawa when there was a political article. Articles from USA were usually longer, whereas the articles from foreign countries were shorter unless about major issues that are a regular topic in Canada.


8) Stories aimed at:
Parents: "Alaska mum on Teenage Pregnancy"
Environmentalists: "Second-Hand Fashion to Help the Planet"
Feminists: "Sarah Palin Shares Nothing but a Chromosome with Hillary Clinton"
Middle-Aged Women: "Taking on the Original Gossip Girl"
Toronto Baseball Fans & Followers: "Young Jays Sparkle in Romp"

9) The subjects most represented in the front sections are economics, the Toronto International Film Festival, Politics, and Sports. They are most likely represented in the front page because these subjects combined together will attract a larger variety of people than having it all be about economics or politics (all hard news). The papers need to have some flavour to attract people to their paper.

10) 10 Words I Didn't Know:
Cineastes - A film or movie enthusiast/A person involved in film making
Misanthrope - One who hates or mistrusts of humankind
Schemata - A diagram, plan, or theme/an underlying pattern or structure
Coup - A highly successful, unexpected stroke, act, or move/A clever action or accomplishment.
Bastion - A fortified place/Anything seen as preserving or protecting some quality or condition
Pontificate - To speak in a pompous or dogmatic manner
Idyllic - Suitable for or suggestive of an idyll; Charmingly simple or rustic
Pundit - A source of opinion; a critic/A learned person.
Chroma - The purity of a color, or its freedom from white or gray/Intensity of distinctive hue
Electroencephalograph - an instrument for measuring and recording the electric activity of the brain.

11) "Can you Keep a Secret?" - Corey Mintz
Who: Stacey Case
Where: Case's print shop by day, dinner and a movie spot by night. Described as down a dark alley to the underground theatre somewhere on Dupont St, Toronto.
What: Stacey Case screens films once a week with a side of ribs. All films were purchased by him for cheap prices, and they're all very old.
When: Every Friday night.
How: Stacey Case will move everything in his printing shop aside once a week to set up a popcorn machine, a screen, and uncomfortable little folding chairs. He'll pick a movie from his large and very strange collection, invite a few of his friends, prepare his dry-rub ribs, and get ready for a good night of genuine entertainment. Whether the guests are enjoying themselves while watching the movie or just enjoying being there, Case is content to sit back and let the group (usually 60 people or so) do it's thing.
Why: Case and his makeshift movie cinema fans understand that it's all about the love of movies, ribs, and simple childhood pleasures. The atmosphere is much preferred to that of the TIFF. The critic puts it best when he says "No one is complaining of sold-out screenings for High Ballin', a Canadian trucker film made as a tax shelter. That could be because it's terrible. But that's the appeal. The chairs are uncomfortable. The fun is pure, untainted by cynicism, high expectations, or irony." To Case it's not about the movies, (because all of his are cheap and by no means to the standards of today's crowd) but it's about the simplicity of getting together with a few friends and having a fun night that just can't be spoiled.

12) The photo I've chosen is one showing the extent of the flooding in India. In the picture a child is hugging his mother as other children look out to the endless water in an Indian navy boat. I felt attracted to the picture because of a few things. The first probably being it's size, it's about half a page above the fold, so obviously it must be important. Second, it didn't have an article I had to read to figure out what was going on, just a caption. Also, the picture is photographed well, explaining the situation in a picture instead of needing words. It grabs your interest and makes you say "What's happening?!"

13) People write letters to the editor in hopes of creating a stir or opening some eyes to their opinion or perspective on a specific issue. Usually critical of political decisions and in response to an article previously written and submitted to the paper, the letters are a way of getting out one's opposing ideas without having to censor your opinion. The letters may be as opinionated as the author would like in hopes to show others their perspectives on any issue they would like. The letter I read was a response to an article from the day before. The author expresses their sympathy to the families and friends of soldiers past, but it's time to stop fighting. This person would like to see the guns go away and instead Canadians come home, or resume as peacekeepers or advisers. It's just time to stop the military role that we are providing in Afghanistan says this person.

14) Jennifer Aniston: Will be in Toronto trying to get some distribution deals for her newest movie.
Nicolas Cage: His new movie Bangkok Dangerous wasn't screened for critics, which means that if you decide to go, you may just want your money back after realizing it's not at all you thought it would be.
Michael Moore: Is at it again with another controversial film. Slacker Uprising follows Michael through a 62 city tour in 2004, where he rallies thousands of young voters to actually go out and vote. Described as his big "election year" movie, many people are itching to see what Michael will stir up before the election this time (the previous election Michael released Fahrenheit 9/11 which was incredibly critical of Bush). Now comes the best part, Michael has decided to release his newest movie online, for free. That's right, on September 23, Michael's movie will be available to anyone and everyone with a computer in North America.
David Spade: Apparently David Spade has a child now, with Jillian Grace (playboy playmate).
Angelina Jolie: In Britain 2 of Jolie's promotional posters for her newest movie Wanted were banned after the Advertising Standards Authority declared the images to be glamorizing the use of guns and violence.

Most of the celebrity news weren't positive, and a couple of the celebrities were mentioned in articles that were obviously sensationalism. However, a couple of the celebrities were surprisingly mentioned in good humour...after all the newspaper can't make everything negative can they?....

15) Private Investigator Wanted!

~Must be able to think like a criminal~

~Cannot get discouraged easily~

~Must have a good attention to detail~

~Must be able to follow another person without being detected~

~Experience preferred, but not required!!~

Thanks for reading!

Until next time

-peace