K-9 story

This morning, I found two short, breaking news stories about a police dog that was wounded while searching for burglars in Maplewood. The stories are from:
The Star Tribune
The Pioneer Press

I like the lead in the Pioneer Press story the best because it sums up the most important parts of the story tightly and nicely. It is very straightforward, unlike the Star Tribune lead which uses a long, awkward lead that delays the real news until the second sentence.

Although I like the Pioneer Press lead better, the Star Tribune story is better overall. It has more information, quotes, and reporting. In this competitive news market, it's important to get as much info out as quickly as you can, and the Star Tribune does a good job of that with this story.

The winner this round: The Star Tribune.

News and Chocolate

While browsing the Web looking for stories to write about this week, I came across a some delicious stories about a chocolate exhibition that recently opened at the Minnesota History Center. One story is from one the well-known Star Tribune and the other is from Southwest Newspapers in Shakopee, Minn.

Although both stories were well written, I was far more engaged with the Southwest Newspaper version. This version was better mainly because it incorporated a story about a real person in the lead. The narrative lead paired with quotes got me to keep reading and kept me interested.

Despite the conciseness of the Star Tribune story, I wasn't as compelled to read the whole story. Furthermore, the lead was a bit too cutesy for my personal taste. It sounded more like the opening narration of a corny movie than that of a news story.

The winner this round: Southwest Newspapers