A2- Jordan Elbridge Principal: We decided to lead with the story about the suspended principal of Jordan Elbridge High School filing a lawsuit against the JE school board. The principal, David Zehner, claimed that the school board met illegally behind closed doors. Zehner asked the court to throw out any changes the board made during these meetings, including the appointment of interim superintendent Lawrence Zacher. We led with this story because it was timely, as it happened Tuesday night, so many people had not heard of it by this morning. Also, it has proximity, because Jordan Elbridge is very close, so it has relevance to listeners. Furthermore, Zehner had been in the news previously when he was suspended, and the newly appointed superintendent Lawrence Zacher just began work two days ago. Maddie Dockery got great audio for an anchor actuality, with a soundbite from Zehner's lawyer.
A3- Buerkle Recount: Transitioning out of the story on the JE principal, we put an update on the race for the 25th congressional district next. The story was an update on the vote recount, which began the day before and was still ongoing. At the time of our newscast, they had discovered three more votes for Republican Candidate Anne Marie Buerkle, who was still leading Democrat Daniel Maffei.We decided to put this story in A3 because it was the most prominent and most followed story in politics over the last few days. Many people in the Syracuse area know the race is too close to call, and are familiar with the story. Also, it has timeliness, because the vote recount is still ongoing. We decided to put this in A3 and not to lead with the update because it was difficult to talk to anyone about the recount process, as both campaigns are still busy. The transition from A2 to A3 was because both stories were local, timely stories.
A4 Cancer Center: In the A4 spot, we went with a story about Upstate Medical University's plan to begin construction on the Upstate Cancer Center soon. Upstate announced that the $74 million project is set to begin in march. The plan will transform Upstate's Regional Oncology Center into a five-story building and connect to University Hospital's west wing. Kit Rodophele did a live wrap on the story, and interviewed the Assistant Director for the Cancer Center. This story was timely, because they just set the plans to begin construction in march. It is also significant because Upstate Medical University is close by, and affects many people in the area who may have been there for various medical reasons. Also, because Kit was able to talk to an official who is directly related to the project, the soundbites she got made the story more valuable and placed higher in the newscast. We stuck with the local theme from the two stories before to transition to the Cancer Center story.
A5 Car Accident in Manlius: Following the wrap, I put a short reader on a car accident that occurred in the morning of our newscast next. A woman who was driving on North Manlius Road flipped her SUV over, and was brought to Upstate Medical University where she was still being treated and in serious condition. Traffic near the accident was diverted to East Myers Road. This reader broke up having to put two wraps together or an anchor actuality after a wrap. The story was timely, because the accident happened in the morning before our newscast. I transitioned into this story because the woman in the accident was taken to Upstate Medical University, which was the story before this, so the two connected well.
A6 Bus Reduction: Next, we went with the story about the announcement saying Centro Bus Routes will be consolidated and reduced starting in January. The change is taking place because of lack of funding from the state. The CNY Regional Transportation Authority will hold two public hearings on November 23rd about the changes. For this story, we did a 20 second reader. The story was timely because the announcement happened Wednesday morning, and because it was significant. Many people living in the area use the Centro Bus system, so they would be interested to hear if their route was going to be consolidated, or if bus fares were going to increase. This story transitioned out of A5 because they were both about road transportation, and both local. Also, this story transitioned well into A7 because it was a policy change about cutting costs.
A7 Fire Proposal: Next, we went with the story about the Onondaga County Legislature's proposed cuts to local fire departments to cut costs. County Legislature Thomas Buckel proposed assigning a task force to examine response procedures and increase fire department efficiency. This story flowed out of A6 because it connects with cutting costs for local organizations. Gino Zarrillo did a live wrap on the story, and interviewed the fire chief of the Dewitt Fire Department, James Green. The story is timely, because the cuts were proposed Tuesday night, and it is significant to listeners because many surrounding towns have fire departments that would be effected by the cuts if they were to pass.
A8 Missile: After the fire department proposal story, we went with an anchor actuality from ABC newscall on the trail of smoke seen Monday night that some believe could have been a missile. Although the smoke was sighted Monday night, people are still buzzing about the story because the source of the smoke has not yet been identified. The story was prominent and timely, because people were still talking about it and care about the source of the smoke if it was actually a missile. The anchor actuality had audio from an expert who reasons why the smoke must be from a plane, and not a missile. Since it has still not been officially announced what caused the smoke, this story was not as important as the previous ones, and was placed at the bottom of the newscast. This story transitioned out of the previous story because it was about fires and fire departments, and this story was about smoke. This story was national, which did not connect to any of the other local stories in the newscast.
A9 Syracuse Special Olympics: For the last story in our newscast we did a reader on the announcement that New York's Special Olympic Winter Games will be held in central New York in 2011. Many of the games will take place at the Oncenter and the War Memorial. The story was connected locally and to the state, and the announcement happened that morning, so it was still recent enough to be included in the newscast. However, the story was not too important to all listeners, so we put it at the bottom of the newscast. This story was important to flow out of A8 because I wanted to end with a reader in case we had to cut anything, and not have to cut an anchor actuality. We ended up cutting this story during our newscast due to time restrictions.
B1 Syracuse Christmas: For our kicker story we did a 20 second reader on the change to Syracuse's Christmas tree lighting ceremony. Mayor Stephanie Miner announced Wednesday that she will hold a contest, where local children can write a letter about the theme "what the holidays mean to me", and three winners will be chosen to light the tree with Miner. The celebration will take place on November 26th at 6:30 p.m. in Clinton Square. This story was a good kicker because it is heartwarming for listeners, because many local listeners have children and is a feel good story. Also, it is timely because the change was just announced, and because the holiday season is just around the corner.
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