Aftermath

In class yesterday I finished posting my audio story about texting while driving. My story basically explained house bill 323 that is being reviewed by the Maryland General Assembly.

 If the bill is passed in to law, it will prohibit texting while driving.

I liked this topic because it is a common occurrence among my peers. If I could get a dollar for each time I saw a  person texting on the road, I would be a very rich woman. Wouldn't that be nice? Oh well back to reality.

 Overall, my story explained the house bill and provided insight on how some of the students at  Towson felt about the ban. 

Thank you to Kayla, Mike and Joe who agreed to do the interviews. (You guys were very helpful)

If you like to listen to my audio story just click the this link. And sorry if I sound funny. Recording my voice to sound like a radio spokesman was a lot harder than I assumed.

Phase One: Brainstorming Topic Ideas

I've been thinking about a new topic for the next story and I keep coming to a dead end. I have no ideas. I would like to do a piece that relates to my blog topic, which is cheap eats and places to see in D.C. I hope that I will come across an interesting topic idea over the break.

3/23/2009

So after break I have come up with two ideas that could possibly work for this up coming assignment.

1.) texting and college students

A no texting while driving ban may get passed in the state of Maryland and I would like to get students perspectives on the new legislation.

2.) eating on campus versus outside of campus. I can determine whether students prefer campus foods oppose to fast foods off of campus and whether it is cheaper to eat on campus or not.

Reading vs. Listening

Summary leads for print/online stories slightly differ from audio summary leads. 

Print/online summary leads incorporates the 5ws and H, where as, audio leads narrow down the descriptions and give a short but sweet lead in order to keep the attention of listeners.

After scouring the Washington Post website I found three summary leads that can be narrowed down further for audio.

The summary lead for the  first article O'Malley Set to Move on as Death Penalty Repeal Sinks written by John Wagner  states, 

"Gov. Martin O'Malley is preparing to move forward with regulations to allow executions to resume in Maryland now that his effort to repeal the death penalty appears to have failed, a spokeman said yesterday."

Audio Summary Lead:

A spokesman says Gov. Martin O' Malley continues regulations for capital punishment to resume in Maryland after his attempts to repeal executions failed.

The summary lead for the second article titled  You Tube Video Has Gun-Toting Felon in Trouble Again written by Jerry Markon states, "People who commit crimes usually try to cover there tracks. But an Arlington County man posted his on YouTube--and it landed him in federal court."

Audio Summary Lead:

Arlington county man faces federal court after posting a self- incriminating video on You Tube.

Lastly, the third summary lead for the article Sentence-Reduction Hearing Is Allowed written by Ruben Castaneda states, "A man who was sentenced to life in prison after he admitted taking part in the murder of a D.C. police officer is entitled to hearing on whether his sentence should be reduced because of errors made by the then-Prince George's County judge who presided over the case, the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled last week.

Audio Summary Lead:

Maryland Court of Appeals ruled last week that man sentenced to life in prison for killing a D.C. police officer is entitled to a hearing  to determine sentence reduction.