Media Critique of WAVE3 Education Article

On September 20th Wave3 News posted an article to it's website about bus issues on the first day of school for JCPS. It was written by Cedra Mayfield. It was well written and comprehensible but there were a few things missing. Those things included newsworthiness, and truthfulness.

This article was not newsworthy because there was no problem. The article was literally reporting that there was no issue. The headline of the story was "JCPS: No major bus issues during first day." There was no purpose to the story because it was not delivering anything important. The most newsworthy part was where it quoted Hawthorne Elementary principle saying, " As our kids were getting off the bus, we put tags on them so we knew exactly how they were getting home." This would be a newsworthy fact if it was relevant but unfortunately, different schools have had similar procedures in place for years. In fact, on JCPS's 2009 online newsletter it explicitly states,"JCPS elementary students will receive a bracelet to be worn during the first week of school." Hawthorne Elementary having a new policy doesn't affect anyone outside the school. The only other important information given is JCPS contact information, which is already available on the JCPS homepage.

The article was lacking truthfulness and inclusiveness as well. It did this not by lying but by leaving out different sides of the story. In the article, the only people quoted were Ben Jackey( JCPS spokesperson), and Jessica Rosenthal ( Hawthorne Elementary Principle). This is leaving out the opinion of the parents and students, two groups directly affected by JCPS information. The journalist would have done better to get a wider variety of people and views before publishing the article. 

What Cedra Mayfield did do well was verifying information. It was very objective and she did not give her own opinion. There was also a forum section on their website, which is very important because it gives people the a place to make their opinions known and have a public discussion. 

Overall, there was no real story to begin with, and she would've done better to leave this particular story unwritten. It was written well but the story was missing purpose.

Critiqued Article: http://www.wave3.com/story/23197025/jcps-no-major-bus-issues-during-first-day
2009 JCPS Newsletter: http://www.jefferson.k12.ky.us/pubs/parentconnection/Archive/July%2009/Features.shtml