Top News of the Week #1

Postmaster General: Mail days may need to be cut - San Jose Mercury News

The Postmaster General requested that U.S. mail delivery be cut back from six to five days a week. Items mailed through the U.S. Postal Service have decreased by nine billion pieces in the past year alone. Two separate studies show that there would a 1.9 to 3.5 billion savings by cutting out one day's delivery service per week.

E-mail, online bill-paying and a reduction in advertising budgets have dramatically reduced the amount of first-class envelopes mailed. Even with postage price increases, Postal Service profits are lacking. Construction cuts and workforce reductions aren't enough anymore. The funds are lacking for future retirees.

With popular package-delivery competitors like UPS Inc. and FedEx, it's only a matter of time until the Postal Service is terminated unless there are drastic measures taken to restructure its business model. In a nationwide recession, Americans should be able to accept five days of free mail delivery instead of six. It's a small inconvenience to save our government's postal service.

News Values:

Timeliness: This lift of the required six-day mail delivery is being considered in Congress now.

Proximity: Affects all US mail deliveries.

Impact: A unexpected change for anyone who expects daily delivery of mail six days a week.

Novelty: A historical challenge of a law created in 1983.

Lead Exercises 1 and 2

Lead #1: Yesterday the Butte County Court ordered $150,000 to a local couple injured in a March traffic accident.

Lead #2: Snowfall is expected to hit the Sierras again today with more storms approaching in the next week.

Lead #3: Three firefighters were injured in a major blaze at 204 Union Avenue earlier today. Local police reported 41 families were evacuated from the six-story burning building.

Air Crash Lead: Upon approaching Pittsburgh Airport a US Air plane from Chicago fell short of the runway and ran aground, killing all 131 people aboard yesterday. This plane crash has been reported as the worst US air disaster in 3 years.

Copy Edit the World-Set #1: 1/21 - 2/21

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Here are some media typos/grammar mistakes I've found and their corrections.

1. On page 7 of Section S/Viet Mercury of the Jan. 24, 2009 edition of the San Jose Mercury News is a small text and photo ad for a future presentation "The Climate Project": the word "carbonfootprint" should be "carbon footprint".
   
2. On the top of page 3 of the January 2009 edition of the Cypress Older Adult Sevice Center Newsletter the word "there" should be "their".
3. Below: on Jan. 27, the Yahoo News Web site ran this article under the U.S. news category. The journalist used the word "ex-wire" instead of "ex-wife" in the 25th paragraph. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090127/ap_on_re_us/bodies_found
   
4. Below: on Feb. 4 an AP story was published on the Comcast Music Web site about a bait and switch tactic used to sell Bruce Springsteen tickets. In the first paragraph the word "them" actually identifies the tickets, not the ticket buyers. Though the writing could be tighter, simply removing the word "them" would save space and correct the grammar. Springsteen fans cry foul after Ticketmaster snub

I’m Finally Here!

Since I first learned to read, I wanted to become a writer of books and magazines. Though I'm still a major bibliophile, that path was pushed aside for more immediate responsibilities, career experiences and other misadventures!

Though I'm older now I am still deeply drawn to the world of writing, editing and publishing. I have also developed a new taste for electronic media. Besides the course objectives, I hope we'll learn how to choose profitable journalistic endeavors and create different types of digital presentations similar to the New Media in Journalism coursework. (After waiting so long to get here, I'm actually pretty excited about this class!)