All are Welcomed!

Every Tuesday from four to eight p.m. Monterey Bay, California holds an Old Monterey Marketplace set up on Alvarado Street between Del Monte and Pea. This event has been occurring every Tuesday in old town Monterey since 1991. It never lets a costumer down because it occurs every Tuesday no matter what, regardless of the weather. People want their food and the farmer's market has it! Walking down Alvarado Street will bring rows and rows of vegetables, fruit, meats, etc. for three blocks. Farmers and growers come from all the surrounding areas of Monterey to sell their delicious fresh grown goods to the community for reasonable prices. It's a win-win situation for the sellers and the buyers. All good vibes here for fresh grown purchases, friendly conversations, and the appreciation for mother earth's delicious grown foods. Not only is there tables of food for three blocks long but there are other things for customers who have interest in the arts and crafts area. Old Monterey Market Website says, "Arts and crafts vendors come from around the world, selling treasures from Africa, Colombia, Mexico, Russia, Japan, China, and Yugoslavia, just to name a few." This farmer's market isn't just any old farmer's market. Its food ranges from Chinese to Italian to Mexican and more. The food has one of the most various choices of food a person can get. It gives the costumer an option of what they are craving that day to enjoy for a meal to be cooked hot and ready at that moment or to purchase their own food to cook up for a later meal to enjoy at home. Don't forget the sweet tooth customers. Walking along the block you will see a variety of sweets. You're looking at pies, cookies, muffins, cake, and so much more. Lastly, after all is said and done with the food and crafts you even have the option of taking a part in your community. Monterey Bay's farmer market gives you the option to look at certain events nearby that you may be interested in. Old Monterey Market's website says, "In addition to the products and food we offer, the Old Monterey Farmers Market also includes a variety of community events. You can donate blood through C.H.O.M.P., adopt a dog from the SPCA, register to vote, and enjoy live music from local musicians. During the holidays you can listen to carolers, as they’re dressed in costume straight out of a Dickens novel." This farmer market has one of the largest populations of people to come and join the festivities of food and friends. People will come just to enjoy the day and food together and even make new friends and acquaintances.

Source: http://www.oldmonterey.org/farmers.html

Same story different story?

The story that I reviewed is about a man who sacrificed his life in a car crash to save his pregnant wife in the passenger seat.

The first story i read was by a news site called Babble. Following this site, I searched for the same story and found it at "Shine" from Yahoo News.

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/parenting/husband-sacrifices-life-for-his-pregnant-wife-saddest-story-of-the-day-2390035/

http://blogs.babble.com/being-pregnant/2010/09/13/man-sacrifices-his-life-to-save-his-pregnant-wife-and-unborn-child/

After reading both stories, i noticed that babble was less detailed than Yahoo was. For instance: babble explains that the car that hit the man and his pregnant wife had a car full of drugs while Yahoo explains that the car was searched and police found heroin, cocaine, marijuana, and syringes. Thus. giving a more detailed explanation of the story. Another thing that i noticed was that Babble did not have any quotes while Yahoo did. Yahoo quoted the victim, stating, "“It’s pretty obvious if you look at the car that if it would have been a head-on crash, we both would have been killed, right along with our baby. He definitely saved us. He made that choice, and I’m thankful for that.” This quote is important for readers to read because it puts a lot of emotion into the story and tugs at the viewers heart strings. Yahoo explains in better detail about what the police reported and why the car veered into the victim's lane.

Not only that, but Babble's story is far shorter than Yahoo's story proving why Babble's story is so bland. Overall both stories get the message of bravery out but Yahoo does a far better job of doing so.

Overall after reading both articles, I would absolutely choose the Yahoo article to read for the reasons that it is more detailed and interesting to read rather than a less detailed and bland story.

Newspapers or Internet?

Today technology has become an ultimate priority in one's life. There is not one day that some people will go without using the world-wide internet. There is pretty much anything one can do on the Internet. A person can live their whole life through the Internet whether it being shopping, dating, and talking via email/video chat/chat. They can pay bills on the Internet, go to school through the Internet/ traffic school, movies, entertainment, knowledge, news and so much more. A person can sit in their chair in front of the screen for hours at a time at home. Internet is such a huge deal nowadays that there may come a time where Newspapers will go out of business and the only way to look up news would be on the Internet. This can become a problem for people such as the elderly. Elderly can't look at a screen and read it for long periods of time as well as a young person could. The classic mornings of sitting at the breakfast table, having a cup of coffee and reading the morning paper will be over and a lot of people still enjoy that to this day. The question today is, “how can we continue to keep the Newspaper printing company in business?” Some people like to look up news on the Internet and other like to have a hard copy to read. It shouldn’t be limited to one option. Also it can be looked at from another perspective, let’s say some people can’t afford a computer and cannot look up the news. The only way people who don’t have much money could keep in touch with the real world is through a hard copy paper. Another way to look at it is that a newspaper is extremely easy access to the real world. If a person’s Internet is down they cannot get easy access to the news. If the Newspaper no longer exists, this could become a problem for most. Newspaper printing companies need to stay in business for the sake of the people and their needs.

UNCOVER THE COVER

Uncover the Cover

Paris, France- The French Senate has passed a law that bans any burquas (full body coverings), and veils that cover the face worn by Muslims.

CNN wire staff says, “The law passed by a vote of 246 to 1, with about 100 abstentions coming essentially from left-leaning politicians.” France is the first country to pass such a law. Many citizens of France are very supportive of this act at a rations of four to one, found in a survey given on this topic.

CNN wire staff states again, “Some 82 percent of people polled approved of a ban, while 17 percent disapproved. That was the widest support the Washington-based think tank found in any of the five countries it surveyed.

Clear majorities also backed burqa bans in Germany, Britain and Spain, while two out of three Americans opposed it, the survey found.”

The French government enforced the law to have a 150-euro ($190) fine if caught wearing veil or will be fined a citizen course for punishment. Also, if a Muslim woman is forced to wear a veil by another person, that person will be sent to jail for a year or 15,000-euro ($19,000) fine. The government calls it, "a new form of enslavement that the republic cannot accept on its soil."

There is a chance however, that this law can go against the International Human Right’s Law warned the French Council of State. The council does not have the power to change this. They are allowed to suggest and warn but they cannot change anything. The government does not have to listen to what the council suggest and can continue with what they are doing with the law.

The ban is for the burqua, which covers the full body plus the covering over the face and the niqab, which covers the whole face besides the eyes. The Muslims wear these items. A hijab, which covers the hair and neck besides the face, is not included in this law as well as the chador, which covers the whole body but not the face.

CNN Wire Staff says, “However, a 2004 law in France bans the wearing or displaying of overt religious symbols in schools -- including the wearing of headscarves by schoolgirls.

The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life estimates that France has about 3.5 million Muslims, or about 6 percent of the population.

France does not keep its own statistics on religious affiliation of the population, in keeping with its laws requiring the state to be strictly secular.”

Huffington post states the reason for this law and that it is “part of a determined effort to define and protect French values that has disconcerted many in the country's large Muslim community.”

This law will continue to have its issues and oppositions. These issues have been discussed and debated about across many countries including Europe, Spain, and Belgium who are also pushing for this law.

CITATIONS:

Doland, Angela. "France BURQA BAN: French Parliament Approves Ban On Face Veils." The Huffington Post. N.p., 2010. Web. 14 Sep 2010. .

Erlinger, Steven. "Parliament Moves France Closer to a Ban on Facial Veils." The New York Times. The Times People, July 13, 2010. Web. 14 Sep 2010. .

“France moves toward partial burqa ban." CNN World. CNN, Jan 26, 2010. Web. 14 Sep 2010. .

Vandoorne, Saskya. "French senate approves burqa ban." CNN World. CNN, 2010. Web. 14 Sep 2010. .

WhoWhatWhereWhenWhyHow???

In a News writing lead story it is important to remember that there are six rules to writing a story. Rule number one is important to remember, keep the paragraph short! If it runs on it is too long and won't be straight to the point; it will lose the reader's interest. Rule number two, The leads first verb should express the main "what" of the story. Rule number three, the lead's first verb ( the same one the expresses the main "what" of the story) should be active voice, not passive voice. Rule number four, If there is a "who", involved in the story, the lead should give some indication of who the "who" is. Rule number five, the lead should summarize the "why" and "how" of the story, but only if there's room. Meaning if a paragraph is already getting to be too long, do not at the "why" and "how". Finally, ending with Rule number six, if what is in the lead needs to be attributed, place the attribution at the end of the lead.

These six rules were taught in my Hcom class as guidelines and helpful tips to ensure a good article lead.

Here is a good example of a good lead:

"KIEV, Ukraine (AP)-- Ukrainian and Russian news reports say that Prime Minister Yulia T. has refused to concede Ukrainian's presidential race to opposition leader Viktor Yunukovych."

It is difficult to understand how a good lead is written. It takes time and practice and a lot of News reading to finally get the hang of it and understand what sounds right and what sounds wrong. Choice of words is very important when it comes time to news writing and making sure the news is accurate. Not only that but getting in the stories must be quick and on time or it will be too late. In Newswriting you got to be quick in the mind and creative. SNAP SNAP SNAP* SNAPPY*

Is That News to Me?

In the dictionary it states, "News is a report of a recent event; intelligence; information. A person, thing, or event considered as a choice subject for journalistic treatment; newsworthy material." The keyword in this definition is newsworthy. What is considered newsworthy THESE DAYS? These days people are looking for the most unimportant and entertaining news they can find. It doesn't have to be beneficial to their lives just as long as it is an entertaining topic to talk about when there are far more important things to worry about. Today, people are so interested to hear about celebrity lives rather than the news that could be affecting their owns lives. People are so wrapped up in gossip that they don't stop to think that the news is feeding them this pointless gossip to keep them entertained rather than keep them notified about what's going on in the world. Looking back at the definition of 'news' another word that appears in the definition is 'intelligence'. This is an important factor in the news. If our news was filled with unimportant material all day it would not be intelligent information that is important to be knowledgeable about. This nation seems to be dumbing down because all we look for is the entertainment rather than looking for information to benefit our lives. For example, knowing about a bank that isn't doing so well is beneficial to us because we can prepare ourselves for the worst if that is our bank. Knowing about Angelina Joe Lee and Brad Pitt's new baby isn't beneficial to our lives in any way. The news needs to have formality and importance again instead of unnecessary topics that affect us and help us in no way. If the news continues the way it does today we will no longer have a program that fills us in on the important daily news of the world, we will end up having a gossip program to tune into.