News Story #5
A crash involving a runaway asphalt truck left four people injured, a house in flames and several cities without power in and around El Cerrito today.
The crash happened when the driver of the 10-wheel hauler lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a house on Moeser Lane. Five vehicles were smashed and one power pole snapped in two before the vehicle finally came to a stop after plowing into the residence, causing both the truck and the single-story house to go up in flames.
El Cerrito police Detective Sgt. Shawn Maples was one of the first rescue workers to arrive at the scene and said that he immediately heard cries coming from the burning house and truck. Maples began digging through the debris and found the driver of the truck mangled and unable to move. He and another rescue worker were able to grab his hand and pull him to safety.
Maples said, "We dragged him out in a heartbeat while the truck went up in flames. I just wanted to get him out of there."
The truck also hit a Honda sedan, which was left so crumpled that rescue workers had to slice and peel back its roof in order to free the driver trapped inside. Two other vehicles, including one with a man and boy inside, were also hit by the truck, but no other injuries were reported.
Ruben Sharma, who lives across the street from the house that was hit, said that at first he thought the crash was an earthquake. “This is unbelievable” he said while looking across the street and surveying the smoldering aftermath of the accident.
The driver of the truck, a San Jose man whose name has not yet been released, broke both of his legs in the crash and is currently listed in serious but stable condition at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek.
First of all, and most importantly, news agencies must not begin to charge their readers for content that they already receive for free. Doing so will only redirect readers to other news sources that offer similar content for nothing at all, especially now during the economic crisis. However, charging people to access a more expansive and innovate version of what they can already access for free is more likely to generate profits by tantalizing people into subscribing to it.
It is also absolutely imperative for news agencies to create creative and entertaining websites if they are to succeed. The more expansive and innovative a website is, the more likely it is to accumulate fans and loyal readers. To gain advertising revenue you have to first become popular and gain viewers; you can’t to that by being like every other news website!
After reading a handful of articles about the fiuture of journalism I have come to the conclusion that creating a small online news website could be a possible career endeavor for me. Judging from Ryan Sholin’s article, “Are we asking the right questions about online revenue models?” I realized that creating a news website dedicated to covering local news could be profitable. If you cover a relatively small area you can use local businesses to advertise on your site; that way they would be able to target people in the area and you would be able to profit from it. He also pointed out that craigslist.com hasn’t completely taken over classified ad sales, and that there is still a dollar to be made selling classified ads. People would also be attracted by the proximity of the stories featured on the site.
2) Lt. Cmdr. John Carpenter was a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy and served in the 7th Fleet. (4 pts. - this one's tricky, so give it some thought)
3) Twenty-one winners were named two days after the third annual Procrastination Awards Ceremony. (3)
4) It was a one-sided game, and he was a poor loser. After losing the playoff, when his ball went out of bounds, he made an off-color remark that could be heard in the stands. (4)
5) Hundreds of people attended Sunday's race to watch 75 top bicyclists pedal across the finish line. (3)
6) Every winter, the Joneses and the Kinneys pore over travel brochures, planning their summer trip together. This year they’re hoping to go to Panama City, Panama. (3)
The crash happened when the driver of the 10-wheel hauler lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a house on Moeser Lane. Five vehicles were smashed and one power pole snapped in two before the vehicle finally came to a stop after plowing into the residence, causing both the truck and the single-story house to go up in flames.
El Cerrito police Detective Sgt. Shawn Maples was one of the first rescue workers to arrive at the scene and said that he immediately heard cries coming from the burning house and truck. Maples began digging through the debris and found the driver of the truck mangled and unable to move. He and another rescue worker were able to grab his hand and pull him to safety.
Maples said, "We dragged him out in a heartbeat while the truck went up in flames. I just wanted to get him out of there."
The truck also hit a Honda sedan, which was left so crumpled that rescue workers had to slice and peel back its roof in order to free the driver trapped inside. Two other vehicles, including one with a man and boy inside, were also hit by the truck, but no other injuries were reported.
Ruben Sharma, who lives across the street from the house that was hit, said that at first he thought the crash was an earthquake. “This is unbelievable” he said while looking across the street and surveying the smoldering aftermath of the accident.
The driver of the truck, a San Jose man whose name has not yet been released, broke both of his legs in the crash and is currently listed in serious but stable condition at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek.
The Future of News
The problem with moving the news online is that so far we have not found a way to securely finance and profit from doing so. Judging from the readings we were assigned for this assignment I have come to the conclusion that journalism agencies will only succeed in their online endeavors if they do the following things.First of all, and most importantly, news agencies must not begin to charge their readers for content that they already receive for free. Doing so will only redirect readers to other news sources that offer similar content for nothing at all, especially now during the economic crisis. However, charging people to access a more expansive and innovate version of what they can already access for free is more likely to generate profits by tantalizing people into subscribing to it.
It is also absolutely imperative for news agencies to create creative and entertaining websites if they are to succeed. The more expansive and innovative a website is, the more likely it is to accumulate fans and loyal readers. To gain advertising revenue you have to first become popular and gain viewers; you can’t to that by being like every other news website!
After reading a handful of articles about the fiuture of journalism I have come to the conclusion that creating a small online news website could be a possible career endeavor for me. Judging from Ryan Sholin’s article, “Are we asking the right questions about online revenue models?” I realized that creating a news website dedicated to covering local news could be profitable. If you cover a relatively small area you can use local businesses to advertise on your site; that way they would be able to target people in the area and you would be able to profit from it. He also pointed out that craigslist.com hasn’t completely taken over classified ad sales, and that there is still a dollar to be made selling classified ads. People would also be attracted by the proximity of the stories featured on the site.
AP Style Exercise (M-R)
1) He hopes to make a billion dollars by the time he’s 40. Already he figures his net worth is between $2 million and $3 million, depending on current stock market prices. (3)2) Lt. Cmdr. John Carpenter was a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy and served in the 7th Fleet. (4 pts. - this one's tricky, so give it some thought)
3) Twenty-one winners were named two days after the third annual Procrastination Awards Ceremony. (3)
4) It was a one-sided game, and he was a poor loser. After losing the playoff, when his ball went out of bounds, he made an off-color remark that could be heard in the stands. (4)
5) Hundreds of people attended Sunday's race to watch 75 top bicyclists pedal across the finish line. (3)
6) Every winter, the Joneses and the Kinneys pore over travel brochures, planning their summer trip together. This year they’re hoping to go to Panama City, Panama. (3)
Runaway truck - 19+1=20/20
ReplyDeleteFuture of news - 17+1=18/20 (yes, I changed it to a 20-point assignment)
Sorry, no additional points on AP exercises.