Fact Set 2: Myrna Jones, 27, of 402 N.W. 50th Lane, Lamar, Mo., and Ronald Stevenson, 19, Rural Route 2, Liberal, Mo.; Jones was driving a 1990 blue Dodge car west on County Road C in Barton County, near the town of Irwin, Mo., while Stevenson was driving east in a 1982 Chevy pickup; Barton County Sheriff Bill Griffith said Stevenson apparently crossed the center line and struck the Jones vehicle; Jones is in serious condition at Barton County Memorial Hospital; Stevenson was treated and released; no charges were filed.

Fact Set 3: A 45-year-old Denver, Colo. woman, Sheila Richards, was found dead in her apartment. Richards suffered a gunshot wound and police say they suspect foul play; Richards was found late this afternoon by a neighbor; coroners and police have not yet released the official cause of death, but police note Richards is the third woman to be found dead in her apartment building in the last three days.

Fact Set 4: NASA spokesman Joel Wells says Kennedy Space Center officials have been inundated with more than 4,000 requests for press credentials to cover the launch of the shuttle Discovery when it carries space legend 77-year-old former U.S. Sen. John Glenn into orbit 36 years after his last space flight; Glenn will be the first senior citizen in space; a record-breaking 3,000 journalists have been granted credentials for the historic launch; "Today" show host Matt Lauer secured press credentials for his wife, Annette Roque, a model who is listed on the NBC roster as a makeup artist; an NBC network spokesperson says Roque was on the roster so she could watch the launch; she did not work for the network and was not paid by NBC; the NBC network spokesperson acknowledged that some NBC journalists are complaining that Roque's inclusion on the roster meant the network sent one less legitimate journalist to cover the launch.

Note to instructors: The suggestions below further connect this assignment to concepts from other "Writing Across the Media" chapters. 1. Chapter 3: "Writing for Audiences" introduces the concept of audience involvement. (See "Writing Across the Media" pages 51-58 for a discussion of the involvement levels of print and broadcast audiences.) How might the involvement and interest level of the audience of television's "Entertainment Tonight" program affect the way that program might cover the incident described in fact set 5? On the other hand, how would the involvement and interest of the audience of "Modern Maturity," the magazine of the American Association of Retired Persons, affect the way the magazine might cover the incident described in fact set 5? In other words, while "ET" might focus on the celebrity news host and his wife, might "Modern Maturity" focus on the increased demand for press credentials to cover the launch of the first senior citizen in space? 2. Chapter 2: "Writing with Responsibility" discusses the ethical obligation of journalists to tell the truth. (See pages 38-39). How, if at all, should NBC's "Today" show cover the incident described in fact set 5? 3. Chapter 7: "Writing with Visual and Audio Images" discusses the need for moving images to accompany videotaped stories. (See pages 156-157 and 164-165). If you were writing a videotaped package about the incident described in fact set 1, but you didn't learn of the incident soon enough to send a camera crew to the scene when the incident occurred, how would you obtain the "striking pictures" (see page 164) needed to make your story come alive? What visual images would you try to obtain to accompany your story? 4. Another idea discussed in Chapter 7, is the need for radio writers to "create vivid images in listeners' minds" (see pages 168-169). If you were a radio writer assigned to produce a one-minute package about the incident described in fact set 4 for a public radio station's evening news program, what kinds of natural sound would you try to obtain for your story? 5. Chapter 7 also discusses how online writers need to include "hyperlinks" to related online sites so that readers can click to other sites for additional information about a topic. If you were an online writer preparing a brief story about the incident described in fact set 3, what hyperlinks to other sites would you include? Why?

ASSIGNMENT 2

From the facts provided below, write four types of openings:

1. an anchor lead-in to a reporter's videotaped package (discussed in "Writing Across the Media" pages 102-103 and 111)
2. a summary lead (discussed in the text on pages 103-111)
3. a suspense lead (discussed in the text on pages 113-115)
4. a scene-setting lead (discussed in the text on pages 117-118)

The plaintiff is 40-year-old Susie Jones who sued for alienation of affection. The defendant is 42-year-old Mary Smith. The plaintiff has three children and was married for 19 years to Joseph Jones, 43. He is president of a small insurance company. The defendant was the former secretary to Joe Jones and is now married to him and has been for the past eight months. Witnesses in the trial, which lasted seven days, said Smith and Joe Jones began going on business trips together while he was still married to Susie Jones.

The jurors decided in favor of the plaintiff. They said the woman who stole her man must pay. They gave her $1 million, which is one of the biggest cash awards in the history of alienation lawsuits.

Officials say about 200 such suits are filed yearly in North Carolina by both men and women. North Carolina is one of a dozen states that still accepts them.

"I'm not looking at this as getting back at anyone," said Susie Jones. "I'm just standing up for my family. The only way I could do that was file a suit against her."

The plaintiff had been divorced from her husband for 14 months. Divorce proceedings were initiated after Joe Jones came home from work one day and walked into the kitchen. His wife was at the stove cooking supper. She testified that he told her, "I don't want to live here anymore."

The defendant, whom he married, had changed her appearance while she worked for him. Witnesses said she replaced her matronly look with fashionable clothes, new makeup and contact lenses.

The defendant's lawyer called the jury's award "excessive" and said she will appeal the verdict. No date for the appeal has been set.