stories and evalues for 2/2-2/6

International: “Zimbabwe’s parliament passes unity bill”

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/02/05/zimbabwe.bill/index.html?eref=rss_world

National: “Bipartisan Push to Trim Size of Stimulus Plan” “Charges dropped in USS Cole trial”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032572/

Local: “State Supreme Court weighs a temporary Sen. Franken” “Joblessness is on rise here, as in most metro areas”

http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/senate/39064407.html?elr=KArksUUUU
http://www.startribune.com/business/39034422.html?elr=KArksUUUU

One of the local (Minnesota) stories this week is titled: “In era of fewer farms, Minnesota stands out.” This particular story stuck out to me simply because of the video the writers included. The video helped cement the facts written in the rest of the story, but more importantly, it captured the human side of the story and will remain in my memory even if the statistics don’t. This story is an example of the growing use of mixed media in journalism that Dr. Norton mentioned this past Monday. I appreciated the authors’ use of multiple sources. Not only did they use the interview from the owner of the mid-sized farm, but they also gained information from an owner of a newly popular small farm, Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner Gene Hugoson, and many other sources. I really liked the authors’ use of statistics to back up their claims, but I did not appreciate that they did not mention where they got the information from. News elements of this story: relevance to Minnesotan residents, new information.

Tess Livingston