Dirty Cops

By: Jessica Hartgers

During a traffic stop Friday two citizens claim to have been mistreated by two Des Moines police officers. Des Moines residents Octavius Bonds and Erin Evans filled formal complaints with the department. The case is now under review.

I think it is a very interesting as to what angle the reporter takes on this case. A wide range of evidence and facts are being left out of the report in order to protect the two Des Moines police officers under investigation. If the situation had been turned around and the police officers were the ones being mistreated the content of this story would be much different.

The reporter waits until the near end of the story to mention that the Des Moines residents were African Americans, while both the police officers were Caucasian. Either the reporter didn't want to draw attention to the race issue on behalf of the police or he didn't want readers to stereotype the alleged victims.

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Comedian Vs. Journalist

By: Erin Floro

To some, Jon Stewart is just a comedian. To others, Jon Stewart is both a comedian and a journalist. Jon Stewart is the host of Comedy Central's The Daily Show and is known for his humor of mocking people and politics. He says he is just a comic but a lot of journalists disagree. Nathan Kasper, a Stewart fan said "I see him as a journalist first and a comedian second. When he's reporting the news, he's still reporting. He's just making it funny."

Depending on who you ask some think that "The Daily Show" is a "news" program and some think that it is a comedy show. With the 2008 election coming up, everyone is tuned in to his funny style of journalism because he is unbiased. Some people think he has an impact on how the election will turn out. This is the third presidential election in which Stewart has been at "The Daily Show."

In a survey ranked in the public's favorite journalist, he is in a five-way tie for fourth overall with Anderson Cooper, Dan Tarther, Tom Brokaw, and Brian Williams. Mike Connell a college student at the University of St.Thomas in St. Paul said "And he rips equally on both parties. I think it's hilarious."

Almost one in four adults aged 18 to 29 are informed about the election from watching "The Daily Show." Also, "The Daily Show" scored higher on a campaign knowlege test than news viewers and those who read the newspaper.

So, if you want to be informed about politics and want some humor at the same time, check out the famous journalist and comedian Jon Stewart on "The Daily Show."

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Comedy Central Politics

By: Sarah Harl

Every day, 1.8 million people tune into Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with John Stewart". In comparison, 1.9 million people watch Fox News "Hannity and Colmes" show.

I know this question has been posed in this class before, but how much influence does John Stewart have in the wake of this upcoming election?

Stewart doesn't think much. During an interview earlier this year Stewart said that he felt no pressure to report all news stories, such as the Virginia Tech shootings.

But Stewart does report things like international news and politics. But as many citizen's interviewed pointed out, Stewart generally gives both parties the run around, getting a chuckle from both Democrats and Republicans alike.

I think that Stewart's witter banter provides a much needed relief for Americans in the heat of political races. By pointing out how ridiculous politics can sometimes be, Stewart gives a voice to the average American in a comedic and appreciated way.

As a sole source of news, "The Daily Show" provides an incomplete and uneducated view. But as a Pew Center research points out, you cannot understand all of the jokes Stewart makes without having a commanding knowledge of the news first.

So, Stewart isn't a journalist. He caters to a very specific crowd of news buffs who are looking for a break from the intensity of everyday news.

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False advertisments

By: Jessica Hamell

The University of Iowa ran an ad in Sunday’s Cedar Rapids Gazette that was misleading . It showed Sophomore Jarryd Cole slam-dunking a ball and in a line on the ad, it says, “Jarryd Cole's thunderous dunk brought the Buckeyes to their knees and the sellout crowd inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena to their feet.” The problem, Jarryd Cole was injured for most of the season and never played again Ohio State.

The University claims that it is a fictional ad that is meant to sell tickets. This ad is trying to see something not advertise a dunk against the Buckeyes so what is the big deal. Businesses use lines to advertise their services all of the time that might not be true. University of Iowa was just trying to show something you could see if you buy season tickets

This ad also ran in the Des Moines Register on Sunday. It was not created by either newspaper so neither one are responsible for the fictitious ad.

As said by the gazette “In this case, Iowa dropped the ball.”

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Comedy with my highlights please

By: Gabe Gilson

A couple weeks ago, everybody’s favorite ESPN show SportsCenter decided to make a slight change in the morning. In order to cover more breaking news, the hour long broadcast went from replaying for several hours the broadcast taped in the early morning to going on live for four hours in the morning.

Good idea SportsCenter. Poor execution though.

SportsCenter has many full-time and part-time anchors on the show. Some anchors are obviously better than others. The morning anchors (more well-known as the ones that I have to put up with) have been disappointing in the way they deliver the highlights.
Josh Elliot and Hannah Storm are the two that most often show up on the television screen in the morning. If it were not for Elliot’s ability to save Storm when she cannot think of anything to say during a highlight, which is too often, I would have to get my sports news elsewhere.

Both Elliot and Storm have amazing resumes at sportscenter.com. However, after watching critically one of their live broadcasts, one may start to assume that Storm was either a first-timer on live television, never been to an actual live sporting game of any sort, or just graduated from the 8th grade.

Maybe, just maybe, Storm was not meant for the live broadcast and would do better in a taped atmosphere. SportsCenter has many brilliant anchors that have a certain flow with how they speak that is easy to follow. Scott Van Pelt, Steve Levy, Linda Cohn, and John Anderson could make a boring highlight into something you talk to your friends about the next day just by their delivery alone. People most certainly talk about Hannah Storm’s highlights the next day, but
sadly, for her, more in a negative way.

Or maybe it is just the fact that I grew up in the Kenny Mayne, Dan Patrick era of SportsCenter. When hearing those guys do their broadcasts, I might as well have been listening to a regular Daniel Tosh routine. Hearing people like Stuart Scott yell “BOO-YA” early in the morning gave you that extra kick to start the day. SportsCenter is too far removed from having comedians like Craig Kilborn do the show.

Hannah Storm might be excellent for a television show like The View, or any other show that the 18-35 year old male demographic would never turn on. But for SportsCenter, us guys in that demographic want some pizzazz when seeing how the Cubs did in the game that went into extra innings; some fluidity when hearing about the shootout with the Eagles and Cowboys; and most importantly, some humor when watching those Clipper highlights. ESPN, is this too much to ask?

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Limits

By Kellie Green

Journalist are limited to write just enough for people to get the main information that the journalist is addressing but the journalist must be brief on what they say. What if this is not enough? What if the information that the journalist provides is not informing the reader of everything that they need to know?

I am referring to articles that just give you the basics and nothing else. While reading an article on CNN.com I came to the conclusion that I need more.

Journalists are taught to provide enough information to keep the reader interested. In the article 'Peace Corps temporarily out of Bolivia' that CNN.com put out recently it talks about how America has pulled the Peace Corps out and has sent them to Peru. There is no mention in the article about the Peace Corps members and how they are affected or if they were affected by anything that is happening in Bolivia.

Journalist should be limited to how much they put in an article but they should also give enough information out so people, like me who have friends in Bolivia with the Peace Corps, know exactly what is going on.

Limits on articles can cause lack of information for an article. Information is what makes and can break an article. The question is how do you know if it is to much or not. I guess that is what makes a good journalist.

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Cheap customers

By: Lexie Hagerty

I am a cheap customer. I will not buy jeans over $50 and will rarely buy a shirt over $20. However, when it comes to a good movie, I have no problem paying the full 10 to 20 dollars for it and I have no problem paying $1 for a song off iTunes.

Social Media released an article about the new legal ways to copy a DVD. It cites an article from PC Magazine about the "7 tools for ripping your DVD's." Basically, the cite helps customers copy and watch DVD's on their iPods and other sources.

This is not piracy, at least not yet. However, I am afraid that if customers can copy their DVD's and CD's to watch and listen to on any device, I am sure that they will find a way to completely cheat the system sooner or later.

There have all ready been many cases in which customers have downloaded music illegally. Why not movies as well?

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