An Artist, His Legacy

For this assignment, I was asked to find and analyse three online news story.  I chose this particular one from The Globe And Mail that uses the opening of a new art gallery in Vancouver to talk about the life, death and legacy of one of New York's most influential artist of today:

The first sentence is not that important to you unless you know who Tobias Wong was.  However, the paragraph that fallows is more exciting to look at.  It "talks him up" and makes him seem to have a god-like superiority in the realm of modern-day artists.  

As you read on, you are given the most important pieces of information you need to remember after shutting down and walking away from your computer:

1. He died prematurely and at such a young age. 
2. He was an inspirational and highly effective conceptual artist. 

These are some of the facts that we will most likely talk about in a casual conversation with our friends or co-workers when we begin to talk about different artists and their roles in society.

Next, the article gives us the Five W's of their news story.

When: This is a current news story.  He died at the age of 35, two years ago. 
Why: the article helps make the case that Wong is among the most influential designers of his time. 
Where: his art is on display in Vancouver, he worked in New York city.  
What: answers what he was know for: created works that scrutinized and poked fun at North American consumer culture, what he had done to the art scene.  
Who: Tobias Wong, the people who knew him personally, Andy Warhol (where he got his inspiration.)

There are many quotes in this news story.  One example comes from Viviane Grosselin, who talks about just how unique and vast his art style was:

“I think that’s a sign when people can’t put you in a box because your work can’t be easily defined, because you’re defining new terms, new boundaries. And I think that’s [part] of the evidence that his work and his career are exceptional and remarkable.” -Viviane Gosselin, co-curator of the exhibition and the MOV’s curator of contemporary issues

The ending is very moving.  It suggests that you should not be saddened by the loss of this great artist, or by the loss of the works of art that could have been produced in the years he had left, but that you should be made happy by the art and legacy that he has left behind before his dying breath.  His work will continue to inspire a generation.
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*Here is a link to the article, just in case you were interested in reading it yourself: [link]

Abused Infant From Edmonton: Still holding on...

For this assignment, I was asked to find and analyse three online news story.  I chose this particular one from The Canadian Press that discusses the court ruling involving the parents of a two year old girl who was brought to cardiac arrest and then into a comma after having been abused and neglected by the people who were supposed to care for her most:

The lead is effective because the idea of removing a girl off life support is such a tragic thing that it directs our attention to the page.  It is emotionally driven and makes you want to read more:

Alberta's top court has upheld a judge's ruling that a two-year-old child allegedly abused by her parents should be taken off life support.

Right from the get-go we are given the most important pieces of information we need to know after walking away from the paper:

1. What the parents are being charged for: aggravated assault, criminal negligence causing bodily harm and failing to provide the necessities of life.  
2. They will only get to spend 20mins with their daughter to say thier final goodbyes.  

These are some of the facts that we will most likely talk about in a casual conversation with our friends or co-workers when the topic of the incident and its hearing is brought up.

Next, the article gives us the Five W's of their news story.

When: This is a current news story.  The hearing and decision on charges were conducted this week.  
Why: Talks briefly about why they are being charged (doesn't give exact detail.)
Where: Edmonton, Alberta
What: The "what" in this story mainly answers the questions "what is going on?" and "what has happened?":  The girl is going into palliative care, the couple had been neglecting their children, etc.
Who: Involves the family (the girl, her twin sister, their parents), the court and the judge.  

There are no quotes in this news story.  It is very short, so perhaps it is not needed.

The ending of this news story is also nothing special.  Being a short article, it only says what it needs to, telling you all you need to know from the resent updates on the case.  It then ends abruptly after their is nothing left to say.
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*Here is a link to the article, just in case you were interested in reading it yourself: [link]

waking up to... WHAT?!

 

For this assignment, I was asked to find and analyse one online news story.  I chose this particular one from (abc) News that discussed multiple incidents of surgical mishaps that took place at Rhode Island Hospital in the United States:


The lead for this story provided us with a staggering statistical statement:

"...wrong-site operations have taken place five times since 2007."  

I feel that this was an effective way to really grasp the reader's wondering eyes.  It felt as though the page was screaming at us to simply "read more!"

Right from the get-go we were given the most important pieces of information we needed to know after walking away from the paper:

1. The amount of surgical errors in the relatively short amount of time: 5 in 2 years
2. The amount of money that the hospital has been fined: $150,000

These are the facts that we will most likely bring up in a casual conversation with our friends or co-workers when the topic is brought up.

Next, the article gave us the Five W's of their news story.

When: Between the years of 2007-2009
Why: Talks about the importance and the urgency of finding a possible solution to the situation 
Where: at Rhode Island Hospital  
What: Wrong-site surgeries
Who: gives us views from staff at the hospital and others from positions within the US medical field 

In the news story, the news paper quoted the chair of surgery for Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa, Arizona.  He commented on the use of cameras in in operating rooms, saying that it was like expecting that the use of cameras in the cockpit of planes will reduce errors the pilots make.  (You can see this in the image to the below.)

It is interesting to see how the writer of this story can make you want to choose to side with those who were being critical of the hospital, while still maintaining the article's neutrality until the end.  It gave us a quote. It does not come out and say it itself, but it is clear that it wants you to feel that they should have fixed the problem by now.

"It'll get fixed, but I would have said that when I saw the story two years ago." 
-Dr. Sidney Wolfe

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*Here is a link to the article, just in case you were interested in reading it yourself: [link]

Journalism History: America's First Newspapers

Taking these early North-American newspapers –Publick Occurrences & The Halifax Gazette- at face value, the one of the first things you notice is the absence of photographs.  At this point in history, the camera had not yet been invented, so the make-up of the newspaper was mainly textual.  Rather than pictures, copies of inked images made by artists line the tops or bottoms to decorated the page.

Artistic rendition of the first issue
of the Halifax Gazette being
published. Canada's first newspaper.

One of the two newspapers, Publick Occurrences in Boston, in which I was asked to look at, had once been shut down for being too critical about the United States.

Personal freedom is an import aspect of a democratic society, however, there are some instances where defensive protocols must be made.  Now, as seen in the recent events of the Arab Spring, revolutions are now brought about through personal publishing through the Internet.  Blogs, a distinct form of Journalism and social media, are very popular in the Middle East for the purpose that the government has no control over who says what if you post under a different name than your own.  In some countries, as in Egypt, certain websites had to be temporarily shut down because of the aid it gave to the protesters.

Yet, even more recently, we are provided with a very good example of a situation where the government must and does intervene: what happened with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge while in France.  

Malicious journalism existed back then, and it clearly exists in the world today.  Gossip and the need to retaliate to make change are deeply ingrained in human nature.  The absence of those two things can only ever subsist in the mind of an idealist.