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Where I Receive My News

As a journalist, I keep up with a lot of current events on a daily basis. There is not a day that goes by where I don't hear about the news. I get ideas and inspirations for stories from a lot of different places. A main place I go to is social media. News channels have their own Facebook pages and twitter handles. I follow a lot of local news pages and national news pages also. I also get the news from television broadcasts and radio broadcasts. One of the most interesting ways is by listening to what other people are talking about. Whether it's at school, work or home, I can usually find out about something interesting from the people I talk to. 

Grammar Mistake 

Correction

 

To all the little girls watching ... never doubt that you are valuable and powerful, and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world. 

5 BuzzFeed Comment Mistakes

Correction

Really, tough shit!

Pray for the innocent people riding with the GOP on their train to hell!

Correction

What a strange pick though ... imagine a high school boy is about to pick his yearbook quote. And he decides to make it about the role of women in society? Strange that that topic of all things won out over everything else!

Correction

Correction

Trump is the result of the Russian cyber warfare. The fascination on the part of the media for a buffoon that nobody considered a serious candidate, and the rampant ignorance of a part of our population.

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The rest of the responsibility lies in the greed of some more and the apathy of many who decided that going out to vote "was a waste of time."

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Lesson learned? ... I wouldn't be sure.

Gerry Gillis, we're not talking about the memorial to slain settlers Gerry. But if you're going to try to turn this around on Aboriginal people, and look at the "two sides of history". Its almost like the people already living there were retaliating against the guy who started a town on their land. And issued an literal proclamation to hunt down and scalp them, along with taking their women and children prisoners.

 

Again, you can't change history, but we don't have to honor a historic piece of shit with a statue.   

Correction

Shut up and take my vote!

5 Interesting Entries From AP Style Book 

His Majesty- Capitalize when it appears in quotations or is appropriate before a name as the long form of a formal title. 

hodgepodge- one word, lower case. 

Hades is uppercase, but hell is lowercase.

gung-ho- A colloquialism to be used sparingly.

gray- no grey, but greyhound 

Bad News Lead

“Alleged arsonist and murderer Anthony Baye got some good news today, but in the end it could turn out to be the worst news of his life.” Northampton Media http://northamptonmedia.com/blog/07/16/2012/da-relaunches-baye-arson-investigation/

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This is a bad example of a news lead because it doesn't really provide a lot of information about what the story is suppose to be about. It's almost too much of a surprising lead. What is the good news Anthony received? And what information should we be focusing on? Is it the fact that he recieved good news or is it the fact he is a murder? 

Celebrity singer Nicki Minaj dies of a heart attack at 35. Note: This is a fictional story written for a college journalism course.

Story by Erin Alexander/Staff writer 

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Photo courtesy of  officialcharts.com 

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BEVERLY HILLS- Famous singer and rapper Onika Tanya Maraj AKA Nicki Minaj, has died at the age of 38. She was discovered by her neighbor in her home in Beverly Hills on Feb. 15. 

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An autopsy revealed that Minaj had died of a heart attack. 

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During her time, Minaj became the first female solo artist in 2010. She had seven singles simultaneously charting on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. 

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Minaj also played several roles in the film industry. She voiced on the animated film "Ice Age: Continental Drift" in 2012. And played other minor roles in "The Other Woman" and "Barbershop: The Next Cut" in 2014. 

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She received ten Grammy nominations throughout her career. And won six American Music Awards, 11 BET Awards, three MTV Video Music Awards, four Billboard Music Awards and Billboard Women in Music Rising Star Award. 

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She became the first female artist to be included on MTV's Annual Hottest MC List. In 2016, she was included on the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world. In her early career, Minaj was known for her colorful costumes and wigs. As of 2017, she was the world's most followed rapper on Instagram. 

 

Minaj is leaving behind a legacy of of being the best-selling female rapper of all time. She sold 20 million singles as lead artist, 60 million singles as a featured artist and over five million albums worldwide. 

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"Today, I feel so sad," longtime friend Stacy Williams tweeted. "I also feel grateful to have known such a kind and generous soul. R.I.P."

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Minaj is survived by her parents Robert and Carol Maraj, three brothers: Brandon Lamar, Jelani Maraj, Micaiah Maraj, and one sister, Ming Maraj. 

Obituary Edited 

Celebrity Betty White dies of a heart attack at age 96 

NOTE: THIS IS A FICTIONAL STORY WRITTEN FOR A COLLEGE JOURNALISM COURSE. 

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BEVERLY HILLS – Betty Marion White, age 96, passed away Feb. 15, 2018, in her home due to a heart attack.

 

Although White is renowned for her acting in shows such as the Golden Girls and Hot in Cleveland, she spent much of her career as a humanitarian and animal rights activist.

In 1987, she was awarded a Humane Award by the American Veterinary Medical Association for her charitable works toward animals. In 2006, the city of Los Angeles dedicated a bronze plaque in her honor at the city’s zoo. White had been a part of the Los Angeles Zoo Commission since 1974, and even served as Zoo Commissioner for eight years. She played a big role in the Morris Animal Foundation, serving as a trustee in 1971 and then president emerita as of 2009. April 2008, she donated 100,000 to the zoo.

 

White is the only woman to earn an Emmy in all performing comedic categories. She was also the oldest performing nominee for an Emmy and the fourth eldest to compete for a Grammy Award.

Her list of awards include five Primetime Emmy’s, two Daytime, a Regional (LA) Emmy, three American Comedic Awards and two Viewers for Quality Television Awards. She was also awarded the Funniest Female Award in 1987 by the American Comedy Awards. She received her Lifetime Achievement Award in 1990. Her most recent award was in 2012 where she won a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor, for the second year in a row, for her Hot in Cleveland character Elka Ostrovsky. On the Hollywood Walk of Fame, her star lays alongside Ludden’s.

White was the final surviving Golden Girl.

 

“This is is a tragic loss for our nation. Our thoughts are with the family at this difficult time.” — former President Barack Obama.

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White is survived by her three stepchildren from her late husband, Allen Ludden.

Potential Questions for Midterm 

1. Which form of word is correct to use in a sentence?

A. toward

B. towards

 Answer: B 

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2. Fact Checking: True or False- According to the New York Times, Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone died at the age of 71 from decapitation. 

Answer: False 

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3. What is the correct AP style for 84 year old woman? 

Answer: 84-year-old 

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4. Which sentence is correct?

A. Tommy gave Susie flowers, chocolate, and a stuffed bear.

B. Tommy gave Susie flowers, chocolate and a stuffed bear. 

Answer: B

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5. Fact Checking: What year was Netflix founded? 

Answer: 1997

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Vanity Fair

After reading this article I was able to conclude that it's no secret that plagiarizing is a bad move. Journalists especially have to be careful to avoid this because it can ruin their entire career. To me, the article made it seem as though a lot of journalists plagiarize because they like the fame they get from it more than doing actual reporting. Some times a journalist might look at someone else's work and think it's better, so they try to steal it. 

Front of Student Union at MTSU on Friday March 30, 2018.

Tree grove at MTSU on Friday March 30, 2018

Food at Smith Hall on Friday March 30, 2018

Front of BAS building at MTSU on Friday March 30, 2018

Pattern of chairs lined up at Smith Hall on Friday March 30, 2018

Comments on the movie "Spotlight"

I recently watched the movie "Spotlight". I thought the movie did a great job of interpreting what investigative journalism is all about. You must have a will and passion for finding out the truth behind scandalous events. The acting was great, I felt you could really see their passion for wanting to know more about the cover up for the Catholic priests. I thought it was interesting how the newspaper itself focused solely on investigative journalism and exposing criminal activity. I loved how this information took months to come together and publish. This just shows that they were focused heavily on finding out the truth and not just trying to hurry up and get a story published for likes and clicks. To me, the media relies to heavily now a days on a time crunch reporting. It was also interesting how they incorporated the 9/11 attack within all of this. This really helps show the struggle reporters face when it comes to focusing on more than one hard hitting news story. Overall, I felt the movie did a great job of interpreting what it means to be a reporter. And showcased how difficult the job can be. 

News Correction

An article on Wednesday about Macedonia’s struggles to keep its name in a long-running cultural dispute with Greece gave the incorrect year in which the country agreed to temporarily call itself the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. That compromise was reached in 1995, not 1993. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/21/pageoneplus/corrections-march-22-2018.html

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This is very important to correct because it is dealing with history. Any time any historical information is proven to be inaccurate it can be very damaging. It's also disrespectful toward the countries who are involved in the issue. 

Inside of CIM at Bragg Hall on Friday March 30, 2018

Books inside library at MTSU on Friday March 30, 2018

Detailed picture of hand sanitizer at Smith Hall on Friday March 30, 2018  

Music poster in Bragg Hall on Friday March 30, 2018

Front of library at MTSU on Friday March 30, 2018

Editing Project- Sidelines Meeting

On April 6th I attended the Sidelines meeting held at the CIM every Friday at 2 pm. I actually wrote for Sidelines last semester as an internship for school credit. I enjoyed the experience and thought it was a great learning opportunity. The meeting began with the Editor-in-chief Brinley Hineman greeting everyone and letting new comers know how everything works. Then she proceeded to let each section know which stories she believed stood out the best. After that, everyone went into their usual groups. There are three sections within Sidelines: News, Lifestyles and Reporting. Lifestyles was actually the section I worked for last semester. Everyone splits up and joins whatever section they have stories to pitch for. There's also opportunities to writes stories for the print publication or get involved with the podcast, which is something fairly new to Sidelines. You just have to go and talk to Brinley about it. A lot of students gave their pitches to the editors in each section. The meeting overall went really well and I could tell everyone was working hard to bring ideas to the table. 

Social Media post inspiration for Sidelines story 

https://www.facebook.com/mtsublueraiders/

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I found this on the MTSU Facebook page that updates the current events happening around campus. MT One Stop recently organized a free financial aid service advice for upcoming graduating students called "Game of Life" it was an event held at the Student Union that allows students to go through and help them determine smart financial plans based on their majors, expected job opportunities, living arrangements and randomly unexpected life events. I think a good story could be written for Sidelines about how this event helped students preparing themselves for the real world. Contacting MT One Stop to ask them more about it would be the first thing to do. And to talk to students in general about their plans after college to try and get a sense if the average college student has a good handle on figuring out what their financial plans would be like.  

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