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Digital Journal — It was another week of news that showed the range of interests on DigitalJournal.com, from dangers of energy drinks to the wonders of the Great Pyramids. These are your top stories, buried stories and a recap of one monster party.
Several stories this week were reminiscent of The Simpsons’ quote, “Won’t someone think of the children?!” kml alerted us to meth manufacturers who dress up their drugs with candy flavours to attract kids. And the same writer continued the PSAs with the article Alcoholic Energy Drinks – Too Tempting for Teens? Something about marketing booze-filled caffeine drinks to kids should put any parent in the letter-writing mood.
Following the same theme,wolfman2001 deserves major kudos for his fascinating article on the risk of over-medicating children with anti-psychotics. It even sparked powerful comments from the likes of GotTheScoop, who revealed her own distaste for “the total mismanagement of the FDA.” In addition to providing strong arguments in this article, there is another praise-worthy aspect that is a first on DigitalJournal.com, as we saw citizen journalists collaborating as citizen editors. In this case, wolf’s piece was proofed by franklin, leading to a strong, solid editorial and a new trend in community blogging.
Scoop also took part in a similar duet with Brandigal, who, at the request of Scoop, wrote about the Iranian government freeing the British sailors. Not only was it the breaking news of the week, but the cooperation between DJ members should inspire other writer-to-writer connections. Soon you’ll all have to start sharing your monthly earnings.
Also this week, we’ve seen an increase in citizen journalists who work very hard to make their articles visually stunning, with embed photos moving their story along like a well-shot documentary. Perhaps one of the best examples of this belongs to franklin’s article on the mystery behind the Great Pyramids. Full of unique photos showing 3D models of how the pyramids were built, the article was also thoroughly researched by a writer who is truly passionate and dedicated. Chris couldn’t have said it better: “Where did you find the time for this encyclopedia entry?”
Articles on new technologies also deserved this week’s TopFinds: rob13 introduced us to the idea of drug dosages through teeth (does that make the Tooth Fairy a junkie?); malan discussed the limitless possibilities of cellphones that act as bar code readers; and Leah excitedly reported on a boob-job operation that transfers fat from other parts of the body. Hmm, I wonder if the story received up-votes for the content or for the cleavage-heavy pic attached to the post?
Turning to more political issues, many members posted stories on the always-newsworthy Middle East. Using an ABC News exclusive report, ziad broke a story on a secret U.S.-approved war on Iran. It was scary — and almost unsurprising — that the U.S. denies any role in helping a secret Pakistani tribe raid Iran. As well, fiery discussion complemented malan’s post on a soldier admitting to torturing prisoners at Abu Ghraib.
An important issue that should have sparked intense conversation was kaleigh2u‘s article titled Should Body Organs Be Legal to Sell? Reviving a long-standing ethical debate, the post acquainted us with frightening terms such as “transplant tourism,” where wealthy people buy organs from third-world countries.
Reading about sports is not usually why people visit DigitalJournal.com but this week saw a flurry of sporty news that would rival ESPN.com’s headlines. Courtesy of cgull, Forbes reported that Manchester United is the richest soccer club in the world, even without Becks; kurtrat posted a buried story on how referees are influenced by fans (now I’m definitely attending a Toronto Raptors game); and both wiccania and Ringwraith kept hockey addicts updated on the tight playoff race in the NHL. With stories about volleyball, swimming and even cheerleading seniors, it’s cool to see DJ writers reporting on fringe sports that rarely see action outside their hobbyist magazines. I wouldn’t be surprised to see coverage on darts, bowling and extreme pie-eating next week.
And now the moment you’ve all been waiting for — DigitalJournal.com’s weekly TopFinds Awards.
Our New DJ Member of the Week Award belongs to Andrewrw, who’s taken firm control of the gaming beat. Whether reporting on new Nintendo Wii games or the DVD release of an indie video game show, this writer posts short and sweet articles for those of us obsessed with console gaming. Actually, Andrewrw has a deep love for all things Nintendo, so perhaps the gaming company is hiring a fanboy to promote the Wii’s upcoming goodies. Andrew, confirm or deny? Where are the Sony ambassadors on this one?
Winning this week’s TopJournalism is none other than Carpenter S. Newton, who returned to our site after a three-week hiatus with an exhaustive and thorough report on the audio quality of DRM-free music. Using the news hook of the Apple-EMI decision to release higher-priced tunes without any restrictions, Carpenter delivered a powerful article complete with clear explanations, well-written opinions and MP3 examples. And this angle brought seriously unique editorial to the site with a topic that got zero coverage anywhere else.
It’s always refreshing to read creative story titles, and winning the award for TopHeadlines goes to museinspiredart. He gave us such gems as Hershey & Cadbury To Merge? Hershbury? and Pompoms, Pyramids and Peril (on the risks cheerleaders face in their jobs. Seriously.). But the most shocking headline from muse used a quote that should go down in DJ history — Keith Richards: I Snorted My Father. Geez, that sentence doesn’t even make sense but it caught my eye immediately. In journalism, there’s no better attention-grabber than a headline that makes you say, “What the fuzz? Is this for real?” The story made headlines around the world, but delivering a quick blow, museinspiredart got it on DJ before most major media could sneeze.
Finally, a sincere thank-you to all the DJ members who attended the latest “block party” this week. As expected, the DJ elite showed up to talk about what’s on their mind, and chat virgins got a good dose of what to expect in this lively site. Even though the party began with all the frenzied conversations of a late-night house jam, with everyone talking at once, it leveled off into a group discussion on news, gossip, features and just plain madness. And to our great surprise, it lasted an unprecedented five and a half hours. Let’s continue the late-night revelry, Digital Journalists!
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Catch DJ on TV this Weekend: For those of you who want to learn about a few rising stars in the online search industry (other than Google) tune in this weekend, Saturday April 7, at 8:45 AM EST on CBC Newsworld. Digital Journal Editor Chris Hogg will be doing a hands-on demonstration with CBC’s Marivel Taruc, as well as give a few simple tips to getting better online search results.
