Word of the Week #5

"Divisive"

Source: The San Jose Mercury News, September 27, 2007 in the article "The Barry Bonds Era: The End."

How it was used: "The most controversial, complicated, divisive athlete to ever play in the Bay Area - perhaps ever to play anywhere - said goodbye Wednesday night."

Definition: (Adj.) Tending to cause disagreement or hostility between a group of people.

Sentence: The abortion debate is a highly divisive issue.

Word of the Week #4

“Surreptitiously”

Source: The San Jose Mercury News, September 18, 2007 in the article “Video of Simpson Incident Surfaces”

How it was used: “Think you can steal my (property) and sell it?’ a man believed to be Simpson angrily says on the audio obtained by TMZ.com after it was surreptitiously taped by Thomas Riccio.”

Definition: Surreptitious (Adj.) 1. Obtained, done, or made by clandestine or stealthy means. 2. Acting with or marked by stealth. 3. Kept secret especially because it would not be approved of.

Sentence: Their affair went surreptitiously on for months.

Journal #2 – Media Audiences

The national news story that will be examined is O.J. Simpson being arrested in Las, Vegas, NV for an alleged armed robbery attempt.

Newspaper
The newspaper article chosen was from The San Jose Mercury News. The article titled “Video of Simpson Incident Surfaces,” was located in the first section of the paper, on page five. This story appeared on Tuesday, September 18, 2007, two days after the incident happened. The article was located at the top of the page surrounding a huge color advertisement. Taking up one side column of the page and about a half of another column, the article was not lengthy. Next to the lead of the article, a small picture of the mug shot of Simpson from the Nevada jail and a caption that read, “Football legend still being held without bail in Clark County jail.” The article sited a source of the audio tape, TMZ.com. Also quoted as a source Alfred Beardsley who was to broker the sale for the collector Bruce Fromong. Although Bruce Fromong was not directly used as a source in this article, he was quoted from an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

Television News
Television news reporter Chris Jansing conducted interviews with legal analysts to shed light on this incident. The total time for the story was 4 minutes and 55 seconds. Jansing summarized the events that happened with this incident and then introduced legal analysis Susan Filan. Filan commentated on what the charges against Simpson were and what type of punishment he might face. Audiotape was also played and discussed the ethics of the tape being released to media outlets. Milton grimes, a criminal defense attorney, was also introduced to give his analysis on the incident. Much of the conversation was about the audiotape from the incident. During the story, Jensing reported that the celebrity website, TMZ.com was given the tape by Thomas Ricco, who secretively taped the incident. The New York Times claims TMZ paid for the audiotape, according to this report. This was more of an analysis of the charges being filed or that could be filed. The newscast was also able to play the audio tape being discussed and show video of the key players involved in the incident.

Web
The story, “Simpson Faces 7 Felonies, Including Kidnapping” from MSN.com is lengthy adding up to almost 550 words. Since this article came out after the newspaper article and television newscast, it had more up to date information. The article mainly focused on the fact that charges had been formally filed in the case and that kidnapping was one of the charges. This means the Simpson could face life in jail if convicted. The article quoted sources such as police spokesman Officer Ramon Denby. The article also quote the interview from ABC’s “Good Morning America” this time from Walter Alexander, considered accomplices in the case. This has many similarities to print and to broadcast. It is much too long for broadcast, but at the same time sounds like a newscast if read aloud.

Overall I felt that web based news has the advantage over television and print. Online news is up to the minute, can include not only print media but also sound and video to go along with the story. The newspaper gave initial information pertaining to the case. Television gave more information than the newspaper. However, the web gave more current and up to the minute information. I was even able to launch a video to show me more visuals of the incident. Even though all three outlets, newspaper, television and web, are all good sources for news information, each one is vastly different than the next in its information sharing and delivery.

Word Count: 595

Word of the Week #3

"Spurned"

Source: People Magazine September 17, 2007 Page 102

How it was used: "In last season's finale, Eddie appeared to hang herself after Carlos spurned her."

Definition: Spurned (v.) 1. To reject disdainfully or contemptuously; scorn. 2. To kick at or tread on disdainfully. To reject something contemptuously.

Sentence: She was shocked when the man who spurned her walked in the doors.

Newspaper Opinion Piece

Since the publication of the article “Infinite Ingress” from the Los Angeles Times, many of the facts in that issue have changed. This story was originally published January 25, 2004. Three years later, immigration is still a hot topic in American society. On May 25, 2006, the United States Senate approved an immigration bill that would strengthen boarder control, establish a guest-worker program, and providing means for immigrants to stay in the country to possibly become citizens according to The Washington Post article “Senate Approves Immigration Bill.” Even though this bill later stalled in Congress, immigration is still an issue today. According to a Los Angeles Times article posted September 10, 2007 “Caught in a Bureaucratic Black Hole,” immigrants trying to becaome legal citizens, are finding the process to take an excruciating amount of time. According to the article, “nearly 320,000 people were waiting for their name checks to be completed as of Aug. 7, including more than 152,000 who had been waiting for more than six months, according to the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services. More than 61,000 had been waiting for more than two years.” While the article “Infinite Ingress” depicted a bleak outlook for California’s congestion and immigration issues, it seems that little has changed since then. An immigration bill was trying to relieve the burdened but failed to complete the job. California’s immigration problem is still just that, a problem and relief seems out of reach. It seems as though legislators from both California and throughout the United States, are aware of the immigration issue, however there is little action that has been done to alleviate the crisis.

Word Count: 274

Descriptive Writing

It was Monday afternoon; the sun was shining through sheer clouds in the sky. The treetops were swaying in the light cool breeze. I was relaxing on the lawn outside of Dwight Bentel Hall at San Jose State, looking at the fountain in the middle of the grassy field. Trying to relax and read my book, I could hear the fountain’s rushing water shoot up into the air and then crashing down into the drain below it.

Through the fountain I could see a little girl, probably about 3 years old, gently touching the fountain’s rushing water. Ever so often she would glance back at her mother sitting near by. The little girl was soon uninterested in the fountain and began romping in the grass. Her toes gently brushed the strands of grass. She soon noticed a butterfly gliding over the grass and she began to chase it. Her giggly laugh echoed through the quiet campus. I soon realized that I was no longer reading my book, but I was observing a young girl taking pleasure in nature. It was amazing to see this little girl, who is so innocent, bring such life to one calm campus in San Jose California.

Word Count: 203

Word of the Week #2

“Bleary”

Source: MSN.com website

How it was used: In an article titled “A Bleary Britney Kicks Off MTV Awards”

Definition: Bleary (Adj.) 1. Blurred or dimmed by or as if by tears. 2. Vaguely outlined; indistinct. 3. Exhausted; Worn-out.

Sentence: After the race, the runners looked bleary.

Word Of The Week #1

“Belie”

Source: “My Friend Leonard” By James Frey

How it was used: “Leonard, of the secret deals, of the surprising passions that belie his violent career choice, of fantastic generosity and ferocious loyalty.”

Definition: Belie (transitive verb) 1. To give a false representation to; misrepresent. 2. To show to be false; to deceive with lies; contradict.

Sentence: The evidence belied the defendants testimony.