Week 1: Student Response and Assignment

ThursdayMar 29 at 5:26pm

Manage Discussion Entry

The article I read was on the website for the local newspaper, the Panama City News Herald regarding the recent outbreaks of wildfires across the panhandle. The article is titled, “Gulf Wildfire Tops 8000 Acres; No Homes Endangered. Reporter Stephanie Nussbaum gave the readers a topical subject that could possibly spell trouble for the areas within reach of the fires, although reiterated in the first sentence of the article that experts say that at this time, no homes are in danger. The principles that Nussbaum covered in this article are accuracy, as the wildfires have been raging for two days, and as of yet, no one has been injured, nor have been forced to evacuate their homes. This is a current topic, as it is happening now, and has been happening for two days, while firefighters do their best to control it. The five W’s are covered, as Nussbaum included a quote from a forestry service spokeswoman. Chipola district Forestry Service’s Public Information Office Hannah Bowers was quoted as saying, “We have been working 24 hour shifts, and that it is estimated that 8015 acres have been affected as of this morning.” This points to the accuracy of the article, as the number is specific, and the reader can get a sense of where the fire is, and how may affect them. The only possible missing element in this article is brevity and repetiveness, as the quote from Bowers and the number of acres affected is repeated several times throughout the article. The article is well written, and all sources were cited, and Stephanie Nussbaum makes it clear to the reader what was being written about and why.

Andy

Kershner, J. (2012). The elements of news writing (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

http://www.newsherald.com/news/20180329/gulf-wildfire-tops-8000-acres-no-homes-endangered (Links to an external site.)