CNN – Online Reporting, Research & Writing

The “Lede”, that is leading the way!

What Lede catches your eye?

We all know how important ledes are , and how they play such an important role to catch the readers eye. There is one however, that had caught my eye. There is a story concerning money, and well all know when money is involved , it trumps everything else. This particular lede is called , ” 3M is paying $850 million to end a years-long lawsuit claiming it contaminated water in its home state of Minnesota.

I would have to say that this lede gives us a very sufficient amount of information that would be needed. In such a small statement , it entails who it involves, what is going on , a time line of some sort , and where the situation took place. I believe that they give great details even later in the story , and that the lede gave the reader( me ) enough information to know what the story was going to be mostly about.

The story did not have any pictures on the actual blog, however, with the original story coming from CNN, it does give a strange sense of credibility. When I looked the lede up in several search engines, still no images appear.

All in all , I believe that this lede is a great one because it gives the reader a lot of valid information that they will know what to expect before indulging into he actual story.

This American Life’s investigation into the supposed immigration crisis

NPR has a unique quality compared to other news organizations. It is publicly funded which allows it far more room to do interesting stories that might not be competitive in the news market, but provides important information that may not get reported.

This American Life has been a radio show since 1995, but is highly prevalent among the most popular podcasts today. It is a personal favorite of mine.

Recently TAL did a story called “Our Town” about immigration, taking a deep dive into a small town that has been heavily affected by the “immigration crisis.” The story takes place in two parts, and analyzes all perspectives of those affected from illegal immigrants to politicians and everyone in between.

The story took eight months to collect and write and is accompanied by a data analysis of the affected area.

With so much talk about illegal immigration by politicians nowadays, hearing what the truth of the situation is, by those who are actually affected, provides an interesting perspective.

CNN makes content easy to absorb on YouTube

In a world where visual information is beating out written, CNN is publishing primary sources of news directly to YouTube.

On top of posting clips taken directly from the station’s many shows, CNN often posts videos of original news sources, (clips of actual events without a reporter digesting the information for the audience), to YouTube.

One example is the recent Larry Nassar trial, where a distraught father attempted to attack Nassar in the courtroom. The incident was caught on video, and uploaded to YouTube by a variety of news outlets, including CNN.

The video uploaded by CNN went viral, reaching YouTube’s trending video’s page.

Many internet viewers do not want the hassle of watching a 30 minute long television program in order to get their news. Information in its most digestible format is the preferred method of the internet.

And what is more digestible than a direct link to the source.