Actresses walkout as Roman Polanski wins best director at France's Cesar Awards

By Rachel Mills

Actresses walked out of the Cesars award ceremony in France Friday night after Roman Polanski was announced the winner of top awards, according to CNN.

Polanski's film "An Officer and a Spy" won him best director and best adapted screenplay, which prompted actresses to leave in protest of his win.

CNN reports the 86-year-old director, who was absent from the ceremony, plead guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl in the US in 1977, but fled before sentencing. Polanski has been a fugitive in France for the last half of his life.

Actress Adèle Haenel, who has said she was sexually abused as a child by another director, was one of the women who walked out of the ceremony after Polanski's win was announced, according to BBC.

Florence Foresti, the host of the ceremony, posted an Instagram story with a black screen and the word "digusted" after the awards. 

Before the ceremony, France's Culture Minister Franck Riester said it would be "symbolically bad" if Polanski were to win the prize for best director, "given the stance we must take against sexual and sexist violence," BBC reported. 

According to CNN, protesters also gathered outside of the venue ahead of the awards.

In today's episode of The Daily, reporter Astead Herndon interviewed Bishop Ted Meyers at a church in South Carolina about black voters' opinions before the South Carolina primary and how Joe Biden appears to have a lead in the state.
Herndon began by asking Meyers about his childhood and his experience growing up as a member of the black community in South Carolina. Meyer's answers gave us insight into why the black vote is important and in what direction it is leaning.
Then Herndon asks Meyers about how he has voted in the past, which tells us how black voters have a history of determining which candidate wins the primary election.
Herndon did a good job of building a story arc with his questions.
I might have asked more questions about what Meyers had heard from others in the black community or why others are voting for Joe Biden. We really only heard his perspective.

ABC News said Wednesday that they have suspended a veteran news correspondent after he was secretly recorded criticizing President Donald Trump late Tuesday, according to CNN.

"Any action that damages our reputation for fairness and impartiality or gives the appearance of compromising it harms ABC News and the individuals involved," an ABC News spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday.

CNN reports the spokesperson also said the correspondent, David Wright, will be reassigned away from political reporting after he returns to avoid any appearance of bias. 

According to The Washington Post, Wright was secretly recorded by Project Veritas, a conservative group that frequently records undercover footage of journalists' opinions to support its claim of media bias. 

In the footage, Wright appears to criticize the president. 

"We don't hold him to account. We also don't give him credit for what things he does," Wright said according to The Washington Post. 

Wright also criticized ABC News, which is owned by the Disney Co., claiming it blends news with promotion of Disney-owned movies and TV. 

The Washington Post reports his remarks about Disney would alarm ABC. 

University of Minnesota uses online notification system to alert students about crime on campus

By Rachel Mills 

University of Minnesota students' phones lit up on Feb. 18 around 12 p.m. notifying them of an attempted kidnapping on campus.

The University's Safe-U notification system had sent an email to students and faculty describing the crime. 

The email described the location, the victim's appearance and the crime itself. 

The University of Minnesota's Twin Cities campus frequently utilizes this notification system to alert students and faculty of potential safety emergencies on or near campus. At least one notification is sent out a month, according to the university's public safety page.

Sophomore Jenna Straw

Jenna Straw, a sophomore at the U of M, said the notifications are unsettling. 

“The reports are like 'this happened at East Bank light rail station,' and I’m like ‘oh, I’m there every day.’ It's a little concerning,” Straw said.

Karina Engler, a freshman at the University of Minnesota, said she likes the safety notification system, but questions whether every crime is reported.

"Night's a little sketchy, especially on West Bank," Engler, who lives in Middlebrook Hall, said. "I want to know what's going on around me."

The most recent data from the university reveals there were 71 reported incidents involving theft in 2018 on the Twin Cities campus, according to the university's 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report for Minneapolis and St. Paul Campuses. There were also 31 reported incidents involving assault, according to the report.

Junior Hannah Ihekoronye said the reports allow her to know which areas "like Dinkytown" she feels she should avoid.

 Junior Hannah Ihekoronye

Ihekoronye also said the police and campus security aren't doing enough.

“It’s one thing to alert somebody, but it's another thing to say what you're actually doing," Ihekoronye said.

She said she sees the police on campus patrolling, but rarely sees them actively engaging with the community.



                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

NPR reports Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced Monday that he is pledging $10 billion to fight climate change. 

Bezos claims the funds will go towards establishing a Bezos Earth Fund. 

Bezos is committing the money because he believes climate change is "the biggest threat to our planet," according to NPR.

"This global initiative will fund scientists, activists, NGOs — any effort that offers a real possibility to help preserve and protect the natural world," Bezos said in an Instagram post. 

His announcement comes months after Amazon employees publicly pressured him and the company to do more to address the issue, according to CNN.

Thousands of Amazon employees signed a letter last May asking how the company planned to respond to climate change, and many of them staged a walkout in September calling on it to do more.

CNN reports "It's going to take collective action from big companies, small companies, nation states, global organizations, and individuals," Bezos said.

Covering breaking news is a skill a reporter has to develop with experience. Because the work is so fast-paced, it can be very stressful.
One challenge is reporting the facts accurately while while still getting the story published as fast as possible.
A way to overcome this challenge would be to audio record any interviews or press conferences to ensure you're getting the information correct word-for-word. Another solution is to recheck your facts as many times as you can. This might mean using the internet or finding a second source. You can never be too careful.
Another challenge to covering breaking news might be the gruesome nature of the stories. Not all stories are difficult to stomach, but shootings, explosions, major traffic accidents and other tragedies are all breaking news.
A solution would be to focus on the humanity at the scene. If there's someone who tried to beat the odds to save others, then tell their story. If a great number of people turned out to help, then report on that. It might make the burden of being on the scene a little lighter. 

According to the StarTribune, members of the GOP introduced a slate of bills into the Minnesota House on Monday aimed at reducing violent crime in the Twin Cities and on the Metro Transit System. 
The proposals include higher penalties for gang members who use guns in crimes, additional funding to combat gangs and drug trafficking, requiring major sports and entertainment venues to have sufficient police nearby, and increased enforcement on the light rail system.
Lt. Bob Kroll, president of the Minneapolis Police Federation, said he hopes the bills will start a conversation on how the Legislature can support local law enforcement and, if needed, compel cities to direct more resources against gangs, violet crime and crime on the transit system, according to the StarTribune. 
The Pioneer Press reports House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt said at a Capitol news conference that while the DFL controls the House, Republicans hope their “Safety in our Cities” legislation will “jumpstart a discussion and combat the recent spike in crime in parts of the Twin Cities and on light rail.”
While the GOP lawmakers represent suburban and rural areas, Daudt said crime in the cities affects not only city residents but Minnesotans who travel to the cities for sporting events and concerts. “People’s safety when they visit Minneapolis and St. Paul is not a partisan issue,” he said, according to the Pioneer Press.
The StarTribune reports that Democratic Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey accused the Republican lawmakers of trying to make public safety a partisan issue, and accused them of spreading misinformation while providing too little financial assistance.

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock announced Friday that he will veto an ordinance passed by city council to repeal a ban on pit bulls, according to the Washington Post. 
Hancock said his decision was based on irresponsible ownership. The Washington Post reports that Hancock claims his decision has more to do with the regulation of dog ownership and licenses than breed-specific discrimination. 
"The reality is that irresponsible pet owners continue to be a problem, and it is the irresponsible owners and their dogs I must consider in evaluating the overall impact of this ordinance,” Hancock said. “We cannot diminish the very real, very traumatic experiences of those who have reached out to me to share their stories."
According to the Denver Post, this will be Hancock's first veto in three terms. 
The mayor heard from both sides this week. He claimed that hundreds of calls, emails and social media posts flowed into his office with valid points on each side, according to the Denver Post.
The Denver Post also reports that if the council is unable to overcome the veto in a vote Tuesday evening, Councilman Chris Herndon, who proposed the measure, said he will aim to place a similar measure on the city’s November ballot. An override would require nine votes, and it passed the council with seven.

In a recent story for NBC, reporter Elisha Fieldstadt wrote about a passenger who reclined her seat on board an American Airlines flight which led to the man behind her repeatedly punching her seat. 
Fieldstadt used the inverted pyramid story structure in her article. The article begins with the most basic facts and adds more detail with each paragraph. 
The first source she refers to is the woman who reclined her seat and posted a video of the incident on twitter. This makes sense as she is the "main character" of the story. 
A few paragraphs later, Fieldstadt sites American Airlines and how they are handling the situation. 
The last source she used was people reacting on twitter and what they had to say about the incident. 
This story is very straight forward and would not require a more complicated structure to convey the information. 

           A Catholic priest in Rhode Island denied communion to lawmakers who supported the state's abortion bill, according to CNN.
           The same priest is also suggesting abortion is a more heinous crime than pedophilia.
           CNN reports in an interview with WJAR, the Rev. Richard Bucci of Sacred Heart Church said that while abuse is a "horrible thing," the comparison between pedophilia and abortion is unfair because he believes more children have been aborted than abused.
           "Pedophilia doesn't kill anyone and this does," Bucci said in the interview Sunday. 
           According to The Washington Post, the bill passed in June enshrines the protections of Roe v. Wade into state law in Rhode Island. 
           In an interview on the “Gene Valicenti Show,” Bucci said he is not creating new rules by barring people from communion, only enforcing ones that have been part of the Catholic catechism for 2,000 years, according to The Washington Post.

Facebook and Twitter have rejected a request by Speaker Nancy Pelosi to remove a video posted by President Donald Trump that was edited to make it look like she was tearing a copy of his State of the Union address while he honored a Tuskegee Airman and other guests, according to the StarTribune. 
The 5-minute clip shows Pelosi ripping his speech in between shots of him paying tribute to the airman, Charles McGee, and other guests he had invited to the State of the Union, including military families. 
The StarTribune reports Pelosi had actually tore the speech after his State Of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday. 
The decision highlighted the tension between critics who want social media platforms to crack down on the spread of misinformation and others who argue that political speech should be protected, even if it’s deceptive or false, according to the New York Times.
The debate has accelerated during the 2020 presidential campaign, as Democrats in Congress have asked Facebook and other tech companies to take tougher action, while many on the right have fought back, arguing that censorship could stifle conservative viewpoints. 
The New York Times reports both companies have rejected requests for the video to be taken down. Many believe the media should at least be labelled as manipulated on the platforms. Twitter claims they may begin a similar practice of labeling "manipulated media" in the future.

CNN reported Saturday that Americans went to the library more than the movies on average during 2019. The reporter, Harmeet Kaur, referenced two reports in her story and made attributions to both several times.
The fist report was a Gallup poll from last year and the source of her data. She ended her lede with "according to a Gallup poll." a few paragraphs later, she paraphrased the report and ends the paragraph in "Gallup said." She attributed her information to Gallup this way about every other paragraph.
The second report she referenced was a Pew Research Center report from 2016. She both paraphrased and quoted the report. he ends the quotes with "the Pew report reads," or "Pew's research found." Most of her attributions end the paragraph, and she makes attributions in a very natural way.

CNN reports the Chinese doctor who was silenced for warning the world about the Coronavirus has died from the illness early Friday morning.
Dr. Li Wenliang died at Wuhan Central Hospital, where he worked, around 2:30 a.m. Friday local time. Wenliang became infected with the virus while treating infected patients at the hospital.
The New York Times reports that before he became infected, Wenliang was silenced by medical officials and police after posting warnings about the virus online before the epidemic. He was accused of “rumor-mongering.”
Wenliang has been called a whistleblower and a hero by many online.
The New York Times also reports Wenliang was 34-years-old and expecting a second child with his wife.
His death has triggered an outpouring of anger towards China’s ruling Communist party, according to the Washington Post.

The Star Tribune released a story about a man hanging from a cliff early Sunday. The lede of the story was "St. Paul firefighters rappelled down a cliff around 2 a.m. Sunday to rescue a man who was stranded 100 feet above the ground." 

This lede works because it concisely provides the right information. From this lede we learn what happened, who it happened to, where it happened, and when. The lede also follows AP style. It also works because it provides enough information to keep the reader interested. The lede makes you want to continue reading. I want to know how the man got there and if he is safe now. I would not change anything about this lede.