Spa shut down in prostitution probe

In West Bridgewater, MA a spa was raided because of it being a prostitution ring. According to the article, an undercover police officer went to the spa where he was offered sex for a fee, which caused the police to raid the facility.
The title of the article, which is the subject of this post, caught my eye immediately caught my eye as I was perusing the news section of the Boston Globe. When I read the story, I went through a mental checklist to see if this was news. It definitely has the novelty factor that you are looking for in the news.
I also looked at the lead which was
"A West Bridgewater spa under investigation for allegedly being a site for prostitution has been shut down following a raid by police and Department of Homeland Security agents on Tuesday, West Bridgewater police said."
This lead, though it did the job of the lead, was not very interesting or as eye-catching as the title.

Mostly the news I receive comes from ESPN or ESPN.com, which many might not consider this a real source of news, but sports news is important news to me. One thing that has worn be out about it though is the coverage of Michael Jordan turning 50 today. Now my birthday usually lasts a day, but ESPN has been covering this for a week straight now, and though it is almost impossible to get tired of watching MJ highlights, I am getting very close. But this makes me wonder about other stories I heard over and over again, and how this affected how I read, or listened to the news in general.

Car Accident story

Late last night, a car accident occurred on Mile Hill road in Belmont, MA. There were three people in the car when at 9 p.m. it swerved off the road and landed on its roof. 

Driving the car was 17-year old Jamie Peterson, according to Lt.. Judith Barkus of the Belmont Police Department. Along with Peterson in the car were two young females, who were trapped in the car for over 45 minutes before police could rescue them. Their names have yet to be released.

First to the scene was Tom Carroll, Jr., 17, who was driving on Mile Hill road as the accident occurred. Carroll arrived at the accident and “thought the worst. They were flying.”

According to police, Peterson was able to crawl from the wreckage, while the other two passengers had to be rescued by the Jaws of Life. The victims were taken to Belmont’s Memorial Hospital, where one is in stable condition and the other had to be airlifted to Mass. General Hospital in Boston.

According to a hospital spokesperson, a car accident victim from Sunday night was at Mass General being treated for a brain injury. The spokesperson would not identify the patient.

A witness to the scene, who phoned the police after seeing the accident stated, “I’ve never seen a car going so fast on this road,” she continued saying “It’s a dirt road, and it’s really easy to lose control.

This is not the first time a serious accident has occurred on Mile Hill rd., which has no streetlights. On Christmas Eve 2005, two local teenagers were killed driving on the dirt road.

Assignments

The unique structure of assignments in Newswriting has been a challenge so far for me. The way that the assignments are set up, with many smaller assignments rather than one larger one has made is difficult to really keep track of what is due when. Having the blog with step by step instructions has been hugely helpful though. I get to keep a check list of what I have done and what I need to do.

But the biggest challenge for me is the new story every week. I’m already dreading over how I am supposed to find 15 separate stories and do at least 3 interviews for each. I do understand the point of having us do this, to give us a taste of how working as a journalist will be. But with other classes, a job and a social life it becomes hard to keep up with it all.

Assignments

The unique structure of assignments in Newswriting has been a challenge so far for me. The way that the assignments are set up, with many smaller assignments rather than one larger one has made is difficult to really keep track of what is due when. Having the blog with step by step instructions has been hugely helpful though. I get to keep a check list of what I have done and what I need to do.

But the biggest challenge for me is the new story every week. I’m already dreading over how I am supposed to find 15 separate stories and do at least 3 interviews for each. I do understand the point of having us do this, to give us a taste of how working as a journalist will be. But with other classes, a job and a social life it becomes hard to keep up with it all.

Story Idea

I got the idea for my story when I was walking in the MUB, and saw yet another blood drive in the Granite State room. Though there are blood drives very frequently on campus, I still thought of it as newsworthy because of how important donating blood really is.

                According to the red cross website, the one pint taken from your body when you donate is enough blood to save up to three lives! I haven’t been able to give blood for a while, because you can’t for six months after getting a tattoo, but I always try to get my friends to donate.

                I was excited after my interviews because I got to speak with one of the people who deals with and collects the samples. It was a unique opportunity to speak with someone who is behind the scenes of the blood drive.

Writing Leads

A young girl and her sick grandmother survived a vicious attack by a wolf earlier this morning. The incident took place while the girl was on a visit to the grandmother’s house.