As people look back and remember the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., his legacy and untimely assassination leave a lasting impression on their lives. For those who lived during the turbulent times of the late 1960′s, April 4, 1968 was a day they will never forget.

Just two months prior to his death, Robert F. Kennedy was also assassinated and left the American people in a state of confusion and rebellion. And two years before that the beloved and charismatic John F. Kennedy was shot in Dallas. For Larry Garrett, who was 21 years old that year, King’s death was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

“The thing that really struck me was that another one of our great leaders had been assassinated,” explained Garrett.

Garrett was attending Dallas Baptist University and living in Dallas in 1968. He found it difficult living in the South during the Civil Rights movement and truly felt a common bond with the black community.

“I had long hair at the time and I could identify with the persecution and didn’t think it was right,” said Garrett. “I would get pulled over by police and couldn’t go into restaurants because of my long hair. I was treated just like a black person.”

Living in Dallas grew to be intolerable for Garrett and he eventually moved to California to escape the harassment of being labeled “white trash” and “white scum.”

Garrett remembers when King was assassinated that many in Dallas would even say “that he had it coming”, “that he got what he deserved.” This mindset shocked and appalled him. He wanted nothing to do with it.

“It made me feel that our country and our government was really messed up,” said Garrett. “I didn’t want to have anything to do with the establishment.”

He remembers the racial riots that took place after the assassination. In the midst of the Vietnam war, King’s death and the conflicts that arose afterward were almost too much to bare for Garrett.

“I felt lost – my peers were lost, our generation was lost,” recalled Garrett.

He expressed how he felt a deep sadness for the black community and the Civil Rights Movement. Even though Garrett is white, the death of one of the greatest African-American leaders greatly affected his outlook and his life.

Religious groups express outrage at the federal Bureau of Prisons for removing tens of thousands of religious books from prison chapel libraries.  The bureau based this decision on a 2004 Department of Justice report that said certain religious material could encourage violence.

But the pressure from religious groups, civil libertarians and members of Congress has made the bureau rethink the lists of acceptable material and restore the books to prison libraries’ shelves.  The bureau said they will continue to review all materials in chapel libraries and only weed out publications that could be radicalizing or incite violence.  But in the mean time, all books will remain in the prisons.

“This is a positive step: it means they are not throwing the baby out with the bath water,” said Bob Moore, director of prison policy oversight for an advocacy group for Jews in prison.  “But our position is there should not be a list of what should be on the shelves, but what shouldn’t be.”

For more information, click on links below:

New York Times article

Columbia Law: Experts Discuss Prison Chapel Library Controversy

Actor Samuel L. Jackson and over 100 Hampton Hotel volunteers will work around the clock to restore the museum by April 4th, the anniversary of King’s untimely death. Volunteers are expected to contribute more than 1,000 hours toward reviving the legendary landmark.

Dr. King was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4th, 1968. The historical motel became the National Civil Rights Museum in 1991. It was dedicated to celebrating King’s life and legacy.

“There was no question that Dr. King should be the first Legend honored by the program, and there was no better setting to honor his influence on the world than the National Civil Rights Museum,” said Judy Christa-Cathey, vice president of brand marketing for Hampton Hotels.

The refurbishment of the museum will kick off Hampton’s 2008 campaign named “Landmark Legends.” Throughout the year Hampton will be devoted to restoring sites honoring prominent Americans. A few important names on the list are Amelia Earhart’s Birthplace and Museum, the Barnum Museum, and the Poe Museum.

Hampton Hotels established the Save-A-Landmark program in 2000. During its nine years of operation, the program has helped research landmarks in need, promoted landmark sites and their importance, facilitated thousands of volunteer hours, donated several tons of supplies and worked with matching grants.

To nominate a location or “Landmark Legend” visit the Hampton Hotels’ Save-A-Landmark site at www.hamptonlandmarks.com.

Often times news blogs and news stories can seem quite similar. Especially when the topic of the blog is related to a specific story from that news organization. One type of blog that is popular and almost always related to news stories are political blogs.

I went to USA Today‘s website and browsed their blog section. USA Today has a page specifically for political blogs. The latest entry on the page at the time was a blog posted by journalist Jill Lawrence. It entails information about the 2007 Presidential race, in particular Hillary Clinton and the primaries being held in Texas and Ohio today.

There was also a story on USA Today about the Texas primaries and the importance it holds for both Clinton and Obama.  The story on USA Today was not so narrowly focused on Hillary, though it definitely pertained to her.

As a journalist, it is important to distinguish the difference between a news story and a news blog.  Some of the elements that set the blog apart from the USA Today article are more details and a tighter focus of the blog.  The article was broader and covered both sides of the primary, Clinton and Obama.  But the blogger chose to focus simply on Hillary.  The title of the blog: Clinton: Imperative to Make Contrasts.  It is easy for a journalist to know that a blog is not story that is published on a news website.  A blogger does not have to have an editor approve what they write, but they must be careful to not show a lot of bias.  A journalist who posts on a site like USA Today is expanding on the news, giving more details.  This blog is much shorter than the news article and it is one of several dealing with the primary elections and the presidential candidates.  One of the biggest differences to a journalist between blogs and news stories are readers’ comments.  When someone comments on a news story, it is usually to correct something in the story, it is in a more critical sense.  That is because that story reflects the news organization, like USA Today.  But comments on blogs are done in a more helpful sense.  They are providing more information to the blogger, it is not necessarily criticizing them.  This is because what the blogger posts is not a reflection of a bigger organization, but only of themselves.

A reader, who is not a journalist, must also be able to determine the difference between a blog and a news story.  It can be confusing because the blog might be about a published story on the website.  But one key factor in the example of the Clinton blog is that the news article is much longer and covers a wide range of elements, unlike the blog.  Also, blogs can be posted much faster than a traditional news story.  A reader can see that the blogs are frequently updated as news unfolds and new posts are written.  The blog is not directly associated with USA Today, but with Jill Lawrence.  She has a profile  page and a place for comments.   Because this blog is expansion of the USA Today story, the reader should be able to recognize the fact that it is not in fact an article published by USA Today, but by the blogger.

Scenario A: Facing a tight deadline with limited resources.

The first story that would run would be spot news.  Immediacy would be the main factor in working on a short deadline.  I would send a reporter with a camera to the scene right away.  Upon arrival they could get some immediate video of the scene and possibly a stand up.  The reporter could send the video and information back to the station to be uploaded to the web as the story unfolds.  This would allow constant updates and the latest video and photos to be posted on the web as the reporter is able to get them.  Also playing into the immediate element and also the interaction element, I would put up a map of the area on the web alongside the story.

Scenario B: A more flexible time frame with a staff of artists, programmers, and multimedia journalists.

With a longer deadline and a wider range of staff members, more of the ‘Five I’s’ can be put to work for this story.  With the immediate element over, I would then go much deeper into exploring the story and the life of the student.  For the integration element, a newspaper reporter who is writing for print the next day could also post a profile feature of the victim who died on the web.  There could also be a still frame slideshow  of the  student’s life: photos of them growing up, in high school activities, with family and friends, at the University.  I would also post the TV news package or story that ran that night on the web as well.

But then I would take the piece more in depth.  I would talk to officials about the dangerous highway.  Ask questions such as why have there been so many fatal accidents on this stretch of road? Are they going to do anything to fix the situation, widen the road?  I would talk to the families of the other victims as well, put their interviews online for the reader to see.  As for interaction and involvement, there would be a blog or forum for people who are concerned about that highway or who have also had bad experiences to post their opinions and thoughts.  Perhaps if there was archived pictures or video of past accidents, I would create a longer feature about the increasing danger of the road and the multiple incidents that have occurred there.  In case readers wanted to visit TX Department of Transportation or local authorities, I would make sure that information was available on the web as well.

Poynter Institute conducted an eye-tracking study in 2007. The research was to find what elements in a newspaper or online news site attract readers. The study found that online participants read an average of 77 percent of story text they chose to read. While newspapers participants read an average of 62 percent of stories they selected. There are some elements that attract readers on the web that could also carry over to newspapers.

The study shows that big, bold headlines capture readers attention. While online users first looked at the navigation bars to locate content, print readers enter the paper through headlines. This means that papers should focus on their headlines. Their top stories should have the largest headlines, the most important articles should be the focus of the page.

Short briefs were also among the most read.  Because they are short and tight, readers were more attracted to them.  Keeping a story shorter is appealing to both scanners and methodical readers.  The scanner is more likely to read the entire brief because it has the essential information all compacted  in a short story. Briefs with pictures work best and gain the most attention.

Photos in general are appealing to readers.  The study found that large, color, documentary style photographs are better.  These candid photos attracted more attention than the traditional staged pictures, such as mug shots and stock photos.  Given this information, newspapers should consider spending more money on bigger, more colorful photographs.  A story accompanied by a bold picture is more likely to be read than one with a small photo or without one at all.

Maps and explanatory graphics are also an essential part of readers’ consumption of news.  Alternative story forms such as Q & A’s, timelines, lists, fact boxes and maps are extremely helpful in getting information to a reader.  When surfing the net a reader can simply click on a link to additional information or video to find the alternative story form.  But for print, the extra box or graphic needs to be located next to the full story.  That way the reader can simply look over the next column to get that extra information that might be more interesting than reading the whole story.

In January 2005 the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed and ended 21 years of civil war between the North and South. Now the U.S. is pushing for full implementation of the CPA. The CPA created the Government of National Unity and it calls for democratic national elections before July 2009 and the deployment of troops away from the border. Implementation of the plan will help end the crisis and provide a framework for the development of a democratic Sudan

The U.S. is currently the largest single donor to Sudan, including Darfur. In the trouble stricken state has more than 2.5 million people living in camps for Internally displaced Persons. The United States has provided nearly $2.5 billion in humanitarian peace keeping assistance to that region since the violence broke out.

Throughout the site there are two navigation bars at the top of the page, along with the paper’s logo.  There is a lot of white space and the lay out is very basic.  I think the site has too much white space though.  Especially on the home page, the stories and text are very spread out and it looks empty and as if they don’t have enough content.  And there are very few pictures on the page.

As I click on the link for local news, there are more stories and details about the goings-on in the town of Athens.  But once again, more ads.  It feels like the advertisements, with their animation, bright colors and large size really dominate this site.  I find them catching my eye more than the actual stories and information.  The amount of visuals pertaining to the news on the local news page is still relatively little and what pictures they do have are small in size.

The site does offer a search engine powered by Google.   There is also a link for a forums page where people can post their own comments.  But there is not link for blogs or any user generated content.  Overall I think the site is very basic and not very appealing.  There are too many ads and not enough information.  It also needs more pictures to go along with the news stories.

Maddie Garrett

mjg0102@unt.edu

RadioShack announced today that its stores will not longer be selling analog televisions and related analog video devices starting February 29, 2008. The corporation says it is ready to support the in nearly 5,000 neighborhood stores. RadioShack is taking action in response to the government mandated analog-to-digital transition that will occur in one year. The company will offer two different models of DTV converter boxes along with antennas, splitters, switches, cable and other accessories. This is all to keep analog televisions receiving over-the-air broadcasts after the switch to digital TV is final.

“We are uniquely positioned to offer customers the necessary products, accessories, information and personal consulting to help make the transition from analog to digital broadcasts as seamless as possible,” said Peter Whitsett, executive vice president, general merchandising manager for RadioShack Corporation.

The National Telecommunications and Information Association (NTIA) is expected to begin distributing $40 coupons next week that will be good toward the purchase of a certified DTV converter box. RadioShack stores will be equipped to redeem the converter box coupons in nearly 5,000 stores and select dealer locations next week. The company will offer two different brands of Energy Star-compliant DTV converter boxes for $59.99 each. If the customer has requested the NTIA coupon they will only cost $19.99 each.

Whitsett said customers have three basic choices when it comes to the DTV transition. They can buy a DTV converter box for their analog television. People can also use their analog television with a cable or satellite subscription ser

vice provider. Most cable or satellite providers eliminate the need for a DTV converter box. Or customers can simply upgrade to a television with a built-in digital tuner.

“Customer education is, and remains, the number one challenge to ensure we have a smooth transition next year,” Whitsett said. “Bottom line, we want every customer who turns to RadioShack for their digital solution to leave satisfied with the products and personal service they experience.”

For addition information regarding the DTV transition, visit:

http://www.RadioShack.com

http://www.dtv2009.gov

http://dtv.gov

One example of crowdsourcing in the news is user generated video, such as CNN’s iReport.  On CNN’s website anyone can submit video, photographs or audio.  If the content is newsworthy CNN may post it on their website or even put it on air in a newscast.  One particular instance is the Stephenville UFO siting.  CNN was the first to post that video, and it came from a public citizen’s cell phone footage.  It was a major news story and the only video CNN, or any other news organization for that matter, had was that cell phone footage.  Granted it was not of the highest quality, but it was a live witness of the supposed UFO the people of Stephenville saw that night. The same service is available at Fox News  (UReport) and MSNBC, where the public is encouraged to report on news they find in their neighborhood.

This can be an advantage to news organizations because it allows them to get footage and photos that they normally may not have access to or know about.  It is a way for that organization to get the exclusive, to scoop the other news programs and have something that no one else has.  But at the same time, it can be a very tedious and daunting process.  There are teams of people who have to sort through all of the photos, video and audio submitted every day.  Many videos or photographs are edited or are just plain junk.  It is a long process to verify the content and make sure it is from a legitimate source.  With today’s technology it is easier than ever to edit a video or photo to appear to be something it’s not.  But the news organizations like CNN, Fox, and MSNBC do receive a significant amount of useful and legitimate content that does sometimes end up in a slide show on the web or a news package on television.

Another