Great Stories/Bad Stories blog

Four major UAW locals approve Chrysler deal was an article provided by the Associated Press which appeared in the Toronto Star on Oct .25 , 2007. This article was poorly written since, it gave vague information about what exactly the Chrysler workers were voting on and the results of the outcome the vote had. This article also had a poor ending. Even though the article was a news brief and meant to be short, more information could have been provided or the information which was provided could of been written in a more in depth manner.

In order to make the article better quite a few things could have been done. The article could have mentioned the criteria of the new contract which the Chrysler workers signed with the company. The article could of also mentioned why 78 percent of unions members approved the contract while 22 percent disapproved. The article could of also mentioned why not all members of the union voted on the tentative agreement. The ending of the article is poor because the fact mentioned in the last sentence does not give any background as to why that fact exist.

If the article mentioned what the criteria of the new contract was readers may have been more likely to understand why some Chrysler workers signed the tentative agreement when others did not. By mentioning the reason(s) why not all union members voted on the tentative agreement readers may have been able to draw comparisons between why some Chrysler workers voted no on the agreement and why some did not vote at all. The last sentence in in the article states " Eight union locals have now turned down the landmark pact, while seven have approved it" (Associated Press, The Toronto Star). Overall, this article would of been made better off if the author structured it in such a way that there were reasons for the facts rather than just the facts by themselves. This article has a lot of underdeveloped information in it which cannot be a good thing. By providing the information as to why things are the way they are between Chrysler workers and the company the article would of flowed a lot better and been easier to read.

Election Night Reflection (Wednesday, October 10th, 2007)

Tonight, I attended an election night event for Green Party candidate Ted Shelegy. The event took place at Vegas World Lounge on Dalhousie Street. At the event many first year Laurier Brantford journalism students were eager to have their questions answered by Shelegy, who tonight was the most important person inside the lounge. I enjoyed my experience attending election night and can honestly say when it came to getting the information I needed for my Candidate Event story I succeeded in some areas but failed in other ones.

I got to the event early in an effort to have my questions answered by Shelegy before the lounge became too crowded. My planned seemed to work. I chose to place my focus on the Green Party’s opinion of the proposed new Highway 24. I was able to ask Shelegy why his party is against the construction of the highway which would run through environmentally endangered areas. I also asked of his opinions towards Liberal Candidate Dave Levac’s comment that Highway 24 is important to the area’s economy.

Shelegy was the only person I talked with while at the event. I could have and feel as though I should have talked to the campaign manager or one of the volunteers. This would have been especially important considering that I had a conversation with one of Shelegy’s volunteers sometime last week. This conservation took place at Shelegy’s campaign office which is also located on Dalhousie Street and I visited to get research information such as brochures and pamphlets. By asking a Green Party supporter for their opinion on the issues related to Highway 24 I would have been able to see if they agree or disagree with Shelegy’s stance.

I got my information in a variety of ways. As mentioned earlier I visited Shelegy’s campaign office. It was there that I obtained the brochures and pamphlets which outline Shelegy’s and the Green Party of Ontario’s policies and beliefs going into today’s election. The handouts are well organized and outline the various ways the Green Party will work towards improving important social issues such as education, the economy, health care and agriculture. I also picked up a handout which described how Mixed Member Proportional worked and the ways in which it differs from the First Past the Post system.

I thought Vegas World Lounge was a nice place to hold the event. The people there all seemed to be interested in the election results. People cheered as the number of votes for Shelegy scrolled across the bottom of the television screen and the results for the Brant riding were shown.


I was able to succeed in asking Shelegy the questioned that I wanted to know the answers to in terms of Highway 24. I failed however it came to digging for information from other sources. I think I would have done a better job tonight if I asked my questioned to people other than just Shelegy.

A 300 Word Blog About Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Throne Speech and the way in which the issue is treated in the Media

On Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2007 Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Throne Speech was read by Governor General Michaelle Jean. The speech outlines the Conservative government's plan for Parliament. During the past week from Wednesday through Sunday The Toronto Star has been focusing on the Conservative government's stance on crime, Liberal Leader Stephane Dion's reaction to the Throne Speech and how the Throne Speech is affecting Canadian women.

The Conservative and Liberal governments are at odds on the key issues put forth by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in his Throne Speech. According to The Toronto Star, The Conservatives are against Kyoto being used to battle greenhouse gas emissions, want Canada to continue being a player until 2011 in the Afghan war, and are fighting for required prison sentences for gun crimes.

The Liberals, on the other hand, want to involved with Kyoto until 2012, have Canadian troops out of Afghanistan by 2009 and have anti-crime legislation be amended.

In relation to crime, the throne speech has promised to introduce stiffer impaired driving laws, raise the age of sexual consent to 16 years of age and work towards denying bail to criminals accused of serious crimes.

The Toronto Star also reported on Liberal Leader Stephane Dion's reaction towards the Throne Speech. Dion was convinced by the Liberals to not challenge the Conservative minority government because of the Throne Speech. Even though, this is the case, Dion still wrote a Throne Speech which was made exclusive to the Toronto Star. In his Throne Speech Dion talks about an alternative plan for Canada which works towards making the country the richest and fairest in the world.

According to The Toronto Star, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government did not do much to sway female voters. Belinda Stronach, Liberal Women's Caucus Chair said that the silence on women's issues speaks volumes. According to her Harper may have worsened his chances of receiving votes from Canadian females. Also according to an Angus Reid poll which results were published in The Toronto Star , more men than women are in favour of what the speech had said.

The Toronto Star again also with the help of Angus Reid Strategies Poll, published an article which discussed the nation's disapproval ratings with Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Throne Speech.