A Story Pitch

As I have mentioned before, Politico "Playbook" has become a must-read for the political community. Today's "Playbook" gives a nice example of how political figures pitch stories. Mike Allen writes:

BEHIND THE CURTAIN -- CONSERVATIVES PLAN TO USE EGYPT TO ATTACK OBAMA NEXT WEEK - E-mail with subject line "Developing story idea for you," from Joe Brettell of CRC Public Relations, which represents many conservative policy groups: "Dear Mr. Allen, Given the confluence of stories in the last couple weeks regarding Egypt and the Middle East, rising oil prices and challenging economic numbers, I wanted to suggest a story that looks at the parallels between the challenges faced by President's Carter and Obama. Obviously, there have been whispers about the similarities, but not a lot of actual stories that have taken it on objectively; it's a brewing angle and I think you should be the one to write it.... You can expect a big push on this from conservatives in the next week or so." (Joe and I know each other, so the 'Dear Mr. Allen' was the tip-off it was a mass pitch, not a personal e-mail. Let's see who bites!)

Not from OK! Magazine

Tweet and blog from Time.com:

Obama loses Internet connection. (See, he's just like us - except when this happens to him, it's "news")

Journalists Face Danger in Egypt

ABC reports:

A group of angry Egyptian men carjacked an ABC News crew and threatened to behead them today in the latest and most menacing attack on foreign reporters trying to cover the anti-government uprising.

While ABC News and other press agencies had been taking precautions to avoid volatile situations, the road to the airport had been a secure route until today. One of their two vehicles was carrying cameras and transmission equipment strapped to the roof, indicating they were foreign journalists.

Hartman says it was only through the appeal of Abi-hanna, who is Lebanese and a veteran ABC cameraman, that they were saved from being killed or severely beaten.

"We thought we were goners," Hartman said later. "We absolutely thought we were doomed."

Word of their harrowing ordeal came in a Twitter message from Hartman that stated, "Just escaped after being carjacked at a checkpoint and driven to a compound where men surrounded the car and threatened to behead us."

"The men released us only after our camera man appealed to the generous spirit of the Egyptian people, hugging and kissing an elder," he added in a subsequent tweet.

Time reports:

Sources have told TIME Magazine that Lara Logan, chief foreign affairs correspondent for CBS News, has been detained along with her crew by Egyptian police outside Cairo's Israeli embassy.

This detention comes only a day after Logan herself reported on the intensified efforts of the Mubarak regime to clamp down on foreign journalists covering the ongoing protests.

"The army just shifted dramatically to a much more aggressive posture, and they have absolutely prevented us from filming anywhere," Logan said Wednesday. She has been filing reports from the country since Jan. 31. She went on to note that even when Logan and crew left their hotel without cameras, they were followed relentlessly by officials.

Chicago Tribune on How It's Reporting

Interesting for me because I am from Chicago, but also a relevant article for our class on how the Tribune will cover the blizzard in Chicago.

« How the Chicago Tribune is covering this blizzard | Main

02/02/2011

How the Chicago Tribune is covering the 2011 Chicago Blizzard cleanup

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(Don't forget to click the Facebook like button on your way out!)

The Chicago Tribune, like the city we cover, is engrossed in the extent of the 2011 blizzard, and also dealing with its effects. In many cases, we weren't able to deliver our print edition on time today, so we've been offering the e-edition for free. (Our full blizzard coverage is here.)

In one particular case, we were intimately involved in one of the most dramatic stories of the storm -- the paralyzed Lake Shore Drive where hundreds were trapped as they tried to get home. One of those people was reporter Dahleen Glanton, who is writing a first-person story about being trapped with dozens of others on a No. 146 bus until 2 or 3 in the morning. Check out Brian Cassella's photo blog of the night on Lake Shore Drive.

But much of our focus is on the cleanup and the aftermath. We're looking at public transportation in Chicago, where towed cars are going, where the SNOW is going, the remarkable accuracy of forecasts and scope of the weather -- and what impact a "lame duck" blizzard will have on Chicago politics during a mayoral election year with no incumbent.

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/tribnation/2011/02/how-the-chicago-tribune-is-covering-the-2011-chicago-blizzard-cleanup.html

Rick Sanchez Reenacts Howard Beale

I meant to post this a few days ago when we watched the movie clip of Howard Beale in class, but here's a modern day reenactment by former CNN anchor Rick Sanchez with Lou Dobbs:

Reporting

Typical newspaper organization chart

Broadcast Titles

• Anchor One in the television studio who ties together the newscast by reading the news and providing transitions from one story to the next.
  
• Executive Producer The television executive with overall responsibility for the look of the television newscast.
  
• Field Producer Behind-the-scenes television reporter who often does much of the field work for a network's on-camera correspondents.
  
• Network Correspondent A television reporter who delivers the news on camera. Network correspondents may or may not do the actual news-gathering for their stories.
  
• Show Producer Television news specialists who produce individual newscasts and report to the executive producer.

The story of the cheese.

The story of the interview.

Interviews and attribution.

Egyptians Protestors Against American Media Coverage?

CNN's Anderson Cooper and Crew Attacked in Cairo by Pro-Mubarak Supporters

The Daily Beast Reports "We thought Mubarak’s crowd was supposed to be pro-American? Anderson Cooper was attacked by a pro-Mubarak mob in Egypt, according to CNN’s Steve Brusk. 'Anderson said he was punched 10 times in the head as pro-Mubarak mob surrounded him and his crew trying to cover demonstration.' Cooper was okay, as he soon returned to the air to report on the incident."

Watch Anderson explain how his crew was attacked in Tahrir Square.