Second-day lead example

Police are continuing their search for a four-year-old girl who went missing from her home Tuesday evening while in the care of a babysitter.

WSU Greek councils hosted hazing prevention week

WSU Greek councils hosted National Hazing Prevention Week on campus from Sept. 21 to Sept. 25, featuring events spreading the message of a nation-wide call to stop hazing.

The week of activities, including a remembrance walk, hazing prevention programming, and a wall of posters memorializing victims of hazing, focused on spreading awareness of the realities of hazing and promoting hazing prevention, both within and outside the Greek community on campus.

“Greek organizations are taking the lead in educating all students at Washington State University about the dangers associated with hazing,” Interfraternity Council President Ben Wagner said.

“There are better practices and more effective methods that can be used to create bonds between people,” Wagner added. “We are challenging student organizations to rethink their practices and find ways to attain that bond without the dangers of hazing.”

Wagner stressed that hazing is not specific to the Greek community.

“Hazing is not just a Greek issue, and this week was intended to serve any student organization that wants to find alternatives to hazing,” he said.

Washington is among 43 other states that have hazing statutes, as listed in a document available on Hazing Prevention’s website. Ray Cuthbert, the interfraternity council director of policy and procedure, said WSU has a “zero-tolerance” policy.

According to WSU policy, hazing is defined as "any activity expected of someone joining a group (or

maintaining full status in a group) that causes or is likely to cause a risk of mental, emotional and/or physical harm, regardless of the person's willingness to participate."

Hazing Prevention’s website states that 47 percent of students come to college already having experienced hazing, and an estimated 55 percent of all college students belonging to student organizations, clubs, or teams experience hazing.

The national statistics of hazing incidents show that hazing still remains embedded in the culture of an array of organizations across the country.

For those heading up Greek standards positions, the message is clear that any cases of hazing should be reported, regardless of which group or organization the hazing is carried out in.

Khalie Janes, the Panhellenic vice president of policy and procedure, said an anonymous report form found on the WSU website is the easiest way to bring attention to acts of hazing.

“No matter what, I think an individual from any club or organization or team really has to have the courage to stand up and speak out against hazing, and there are many different ways they can do that,” Janes said.

Janes said the form is accessible by searching ‘report hazing’ on the WSU website and following the first link.

Cuthbert said one of the most important actions to take, specifically for members of the Greek community experiencing hazing, is to inform those in executive positions in their organization of the hazing incident.

“We don’t do guilty or not guilty – we do responsible or not responsible,” Cuthbert said. “So, if it’s a really big case of hazing, that’s out of our hands and the school will take that over.”

In the remembrance walk on Thursday from Bryan Hall to Chi Omega sorority, the massive line of students remained silent, highlighting solidarity in working toward hazing prevention while remembering victims of hazing. Participants of the walk wore T-shirts with the words “Learn – Prevent – Change” printed on the front of them.

Janes said she created the slogan to embody the theme of the week.

“I think learning and trying to help prevent hazing are some of the easier parts, but actually making that change is probably the hardest part,” Janes said.

Following the walk, students listened to a speech by Milton Lang, the senior associate vice president of the division of student affairs, equity and diversity, enjoyed refreshments and talked about the importance of the events during the week.

Senior communication major Avery Berschauer said the wall of remembrance helped show that hazing affects lives in very painful ways.

“It brings it home that it’s real,” Berschauer said. “Seeing those kinds of things reminds you that this is a serious issue and that we need to remember the past.”

Al Jazeera on Livestation.com

With a general opposition of the inclusion of Al Jazeera English in American television line-ups, the only real appeal that the channel seems to have is an internet audience from which to try to garner support. The degree of effectiveness to which the channel can build an audience is up to viewers identifying the station as credible, fair, honest, and unbiased, in accordance with their own ethical code.

In analyzing the reporting on Al Jazeera, I did not notice anything anything profoundly different, with the exception that there was, in the sampling I did today of Gaddafi's speech, somewhat less commentary. Gaddafi's speech was full of ramblings, and the commentators mentioned that this was fitting of his style. With just one viewing today, however, it's difficult to see a profund difference from US news channels.

From my review of the code of ethics of Al Jazeera, it appears as though the channel follows the items on its list closely, but more viewing is required to get a better sampling and make a more sound report on it.

Example of a summary news lead

A New York Times article concerning unrest in the capital city of Uganda features essential elements of a a summary news lead -- summarizing the "who," represented by rioters who swept through the city; the "where" component, as represented by Kampala, Uganda; "when" as being Friday, and "what" as being 10 people killed, according to witnesses, in unrest sweeping through the city.

Three Pitches

(1) National Hazing Prevention Week at WSU (Sept. 21-25)

WSU Greek councils will be putting on events throughout the week to educate about hazing. The story will focus on how the WSU Greek community has worked toward the goal of abolishing hazing practices or has had hazing cases recently that work away from that progress. Interviews could be with representatives of the IFC, Pan-Hellenic, Greek Life, and also associate members of various fraternities/sororities with semester long associate periods that have yet to go through initiation. The intended media outlet is the Daily Evergreen.

(2) Peace Corps: a possible trend in after-graduation plans?

Another "overheard" in Pullman: WSU students weighing the options for what to do after graduation and the possibility of the Peace Corps. Has interest in the Peace Corps become a popular trend? Has interest grown nationally according to recruiting numbers? This story would look at what the Peace Corps is doing currently in the area of recruitment on college campuses and would introduce the stories of students on campus who are planning to go into the organization upon graduating. Interviews would be of students planning on serving after graduation, as well as a possible telephone interview with the recruiter in Seattle. The intended media outlet is the Daily Evergreen.

(3) Cricket at WSU

In over 30 years of existence at WSU, the WSU Cricket Club has participated in regional competition and has offered a sport unlike more popular US college athletics. My story would be to investigate the club: facilitating the sport on campus with larger NCAA sports, how it's survived as a club and what the sport offers students looking outside the edges of stereotypical American sports. Interviews would be of players, the faculty adviser, and WSU students no affiliated with the club and their ideas on the sport. The story would run in the Daily Evergreen, as the student newspaper is ideal for sharing the story to the target audience (WSU students).

Chevron, the Amazon, oil, lawsuits, and the "Murrow Standard" of traditional journalism

The two videos offered very different approaches on the same story. From the 60 Minutes special report, one can gather a better understanding of the various perspectives on the issue. The reporter focused on interviews from the major players: indigenous people affected by the oil within the region, the judge who will determine how much of the multi-billion dollar lawsuit might be paid by Chevron, the man who assessed the damages done by the oil contamination, the key players within Chevron, and other voices from both sides of the lawsuit. Though the special report by 60 minutes offered a wider array of voices than the second video, the focus on the side of the plaintiffs, by sheer, greater frequency of coverage, left me feeling that a larger agenda was behind the story's reporting. Such a gut-feeling helped me to decide that somewhere within the report, the precedent set by Murrow's reporting was abandoned (or it was never really adopted in the first place.)

Similarly, the second video, offering Chevron's take on things, really did just that. Language such as "Anti-Chevron protests" was adopted by the reporter over using language like "people protesting Chevron gathered in the streets of such and such a place," as an example. When I hear "anti" used when talking about two specific, opposing parties, I often associate "anti" with "antagonist." I've seen enough movies to know that the good guy is typically the protagonist and the bad guy fills the other role. Instincts and random schema aside, the second video touched mainly on how Chevron was the victim, showing ways that the company should be considered innocent rather than focus on both sides of the lawsuit. This is contrary to the example of the "Murrow Standard" of traditional journalism, which requires utmost dedication to seeking the truth in all ways, rather than taking sides. Though the second video did not exemplify the values of Murrow's legacy, in my opinion, the 60 Minutes special report did not either.