French Fries

Facts:

Eight boys ordered $250 worth of french fries at a Tokyo McDonald's Restaurant. The McDonald's was having a sale on french fries so the boys were inspired to order as many fries as they could afford.

The larger than usual order of french fries was part of a trend sweeping Asia known as "potato parties.'' According to the Japan Daily Press, teenage boys descend on different McDonald's and order as many french fries as they can afford. Apparently, french fries are cheaper at McDonald's restaurants in Asia than at McDonald's in the United States. The only requirement is that the boys eat all of the french fries before they leave the restaurant.

For the $250 order the eight teenagers pushed several tables together and then poured all of the fries out on the tables and started eating. The teenagers made such as mess and made so much noise they annoyed others in the restaurant prompting McDonald's to ask them to leave before they finished eating the fries.

In another potato party in Tokyo, a group of teenage boys ordered 60 large orders of french fries, approximately 30,000 calories if you're counting, according to the Japan Daily Press.

Study Guide Chapters 3 and 4

Understand the definition of news and the difference between news that is interesting and news that impacts our lives such as the price of gas.

What is the difference between hard news and soft news?

Know what the five W's are and why most leads are What leads. Know the characteristics of news such as timeliness, proximity, consequence, uniqueness, etc. 

Which one of the W's are rarely known for a news story and why?

Understand the role of a lead to summarize the news and capture the reader's interest.

Know the differences between the different types of lead outlined in the textbook such as the summary lead, anecdotal lead, direct-address, wordplay lead, etc.

Know the basics of interviewing. What is the difference between a direct quote, indirect quote and paraphrasing? When should you do each one?

What does the term attribution mean? Why is said the preferred verb of attribution?

What is the benefits and downside of tape recording an interview? What are the benefits of taking notes during an interview?

What should a reporter do before an interview to prepare, during the interview and after the interview?

What is the correct way to punctuate a quotation? Does punctuation go inside or outside of the quotation marks?

Priciest Starbucks drink ever

Write a news story with a feature lead for the following fact sheet:

Beau Chevassus set a new record for the most expensive Starbucks drink ever ordered.

Chevassus, who lives in Washington, ordered a “Quadriginoctuple Frap”  for $47.30 to break the previous record holder which was a $26.60 drink called a Java Chip Frappuccino in a Trenta cup. This previous record holder’s drink consisted of $16 shots of espresso, a shot of soy milk, caramel flavoring, banana puree, strawberry puree, vanilla beans, matcha power, protein powder and some caramel and mocha.

When asked why he ordered the drink that was put in his own 52-ounce coffee mug, Chevassus said, “I did it for fun, for a bit of entertainment and to see if it is at all possible. I was surprised how cool the Starbucks employees were. They seemed almost interested in trying to set the record than I was.”

It took Chevassus several days to finish the drink because the caffeine was so strong. Starbucks gave the drink, which consisted of 48 shots of espresso, some protein powder, two bananas, a few caramel drizzle Frappuccino chips, some vanilla bean and a little soy, to Chevassus for free because it was his birthday.

Writing the Inverted-Pyramid Lead

 

To identify the lead for the inverted-pyramid fire story, start by looking over the answers you obtained to the six basic questions.

            Who? The owner, Henry Smith, 29. (The age is important. Along with other personal information, such as address and occupation, it differentiates him from other Henry Smiths in the readership area.)

            What? Fire caused damage estimated by the fire chief at $2,500.

            Where? 1705 W.Haven St.

            When? The call was received at 10:55 pm, Tuesday. Firefighters from Station 19 arrived at the scene at 11:04. The fire was extinguished at 11:30. (The times are important to gather even if you don’t use them. They show whether the fire department responded quickly.)

            Why? The fire was started by carelessness on the part of Smith, according to Fire Chief Bill Malone.

            How? Smith told fire officials that he fell asleep in bed while he was smoking a cigarette.

            If you had asked other questions, you might have learned more from the fire department:

• This was the eighth fire this year caused by smoking in bed.
• All last year there were four such fires.
• Smith said he had insurance.
• The fire chief said no changes will be filed against Smith.
• It was the first fire at this house.

Smith was not injured.

Plunger News Lead

Facts:

New York City arrested Lawrence Deptola, 49, at 6:30 p.m. Thursday and charged him with attempted third-degree robbery. He is being held in lieu of 10 thousand dollars. A police spokesman said that Deptola was arrested outside of a downtown New York bank. Police were responding to the bank after receiving reports that a man tried to rob the bank with a toilet plunger. Police said that bank employees reported a suspicious looking man in the bank Thursday who was threatening employees with a toilet plunger. Deptola was arrested after he was seen outside the bank carrying the plunger, police said. Police responded after two other banks had previously called authorities about a suspicious man entering their buildings. Deptola was arrested after a foot chase and charged with attempted third-degree robbery. It could not be determined Friday morning if Deptola had a lawyer.

Ranger Rich column

http://www.csindy.com/coloradosprings/finding-serenity-in-yoga/Content?oid=2134283

TV News broadcast assignment

Assignment: Write a television news script for a one-minute broadcast segment on the 1968 exhibit at the Oakland Museum. The script needs to be written in the split-page format used in TV news broadcasting. Your script needs to conform to TV broadcast style with the right half of the page telling the broadcaster (you) what to say and the left half of the page displaying technical details for audio, video and graphics. Your broadcast script will need to incorporate the 38-second promotional video found at the website www.the1968exhibit.org.
Click on the “Learn More” icon on the home page of the website and it will take you to the video. You will do a voice over during the 38-second video as part of your one-minute TV news story. You have 22 seconds to play with for your intro on the story and the conclusion after the 38-second tape ends.
Once the script is completed and approved you will do a one minute broadcast in front of the class using your script. You should time the completed script including the video portion so that it is one minute in length and not
a second less or a second more. 
Precision timing is important in TV news broadcasting so you're one-minute broadcast should be timed accordingly. Practice reading your script with the video included in the segment.