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Homeward Bound

A southerner finds "home" in New Hampshire

A lesson in journalism

Quick, what's wrong with this headline?

Beef With Burger King Manager Gets Teen Shot

(CBS) NEW YORK A Burger King restaurant manager is being charged with shooting a teenage boy dead after the two argued and the boy spit in the manager's face.

Police say 16-year-old Shaka Walcott and 45-year-old Ronald Johannes had been arguing for more than a week. Police say the teenager returned to the Bronx Burger King Saturday night and was shot several times in the chest by the manager.

Witnesses say Johannes also was injured in the fight and he left the scene while the teen-ager writhed on the ground. Police say Walcott was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. They said Johannes was bleeding from gunshot wounds when he stumbled back to his home, where they arrested him.

Johannes is charged with murder, manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon.

Customers at the Burger King, however, said Johannes was difficult to deal with and used to kick them out.

 

Stop. Rewind. What did that say again? From the headline and first paragraph, we assume a murdering thug Burger King manager blew his top and gunned down a teenager for being rowdy. Only in the third paragraph do we find this:

Johannes was bleeding from gunshot wounds when he stumbled back to his home, where they arrested him.

No mention of how the manager came to be perforated and punctured. Even though it's been almost 25 years since I took "Introduction to Journalism", I'm fairly sure that details like that are covered under both the "what" and "why" questions, and possibly "how".

 New York? No thanks!
 

Published Monday, November 13, 2006 12:17 PM by KBCraig
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Comments

 

Mrs. Chili said:

Yeah, this is the problem I have with modern journalism.  Hello?  How about a COMPREHENSIVE coverage of the story?  UGH!  I don't read newspapers for JUST this reason.  Well, that, and the lousy grammar and writing skills of the people employed at our local paper....

November 14, 2006 10:35 PM
 

Pat K said:

I really Have to get out of here.

November 15, 2006 6:43 PM
 

KBCraig said:

C'mon "home", Pat. You know you wanna!

November 15, 2006 9:23 PM

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