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Old 04-25-2002, 10:00 PM   #9
Bruce Baker
Dojo: LBI Aikikai/LBI ,NJ
Location: Barnegaat, NJ
Join Date: Sep 2001
Posts: 893
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news and facts ... or what sells

Having personally been involved in reported news stories by different News crews, basically as being privy to facts before during and after a News story, I have seen a minor local story inflated to raging crime waves, or a crush of holiday traffic never seen before ... These particular storys aired on the New York news media in the 1970s, let alone various local South Jersey stories in the Philadelphia news.

The problem with descriptive prose for a News Story is that the reporter is selling words to make his/her paycheck. Depending how important the Padding of the Story becomes is the relevence to the the Story becoming News and makeing AirTime verses finding a home in a garbage can?

Be careful of observing the padding in news.

Sometimes the comedy of a situation is funny just because of the irony of what happens, but corrections are more helpful than making fun of misquotes about "forcefields"? (come on guys, a little help?)

Please don't let the topic of Women in aikido degenerate into a heckling contest?

Back to the topic.

Reporters, depending upon their own education and marketability, will indeed turn a mediocre story into a crime wave, but the very next week report the drop in crime upon the same subject? I guess your own comparitive research and knowledge will have to be applied to each type of story depending upon how many facts you find matching the story upon other reports from different news agencys?

Kind of like Aikido practice. The more you learn what works, the easier it is to pick out the humor verses the reality of Aikido practice?
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