Misleading and Movie Fun

I heard people talk about it in class.  They watched as it unfolded. They couldn't believe their eyes.  A nine-year-old girl was about to get married.  

When I heard this, I automatically thought this was happening at a polygamist sect in Texas or something of that nature.  Even when I went to CNN.com to look at the story they had positioned it something to the effect of, "Nine-year-old marries in Texas." 

When I clicked on the story I was completely amazed to find out this had nothing to do with what I thought.

http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa090222_mo_dyingwish.41fc01bd.html

Turns out the nine-year-old is terminally ill, and dreamed of getting married.  Now, I am not here to position the morals or pass judgment of this event, but I am going to bring up the fact that journalist tend to hype headlines.   

CNN was telling the truth , a little girl was about to get married, but should they have included part of the detail in the headline?  Would that have caught peoples attention?  

I don't know whether or not it matters, but after reading comments , it seemed as though many people were thinking of one subject going into the story and then were surprised.  We are taught to use the surprise factor in journalism, but when does surprising almost to the point of misleading wrong?  

As I grow in my journalism career I will learn about headlines.  I already know they have a tremendous impact  on society, even to the point where events are given names because of headlines.  My hypothetical guess is newsrooms in all mediums of journalism do this to attract readers.  I was sucked in, they got me, I was interested to see what was this all about.  I think I would have been equally interested though if the extra details were given in the headline.  There is a movie by Nicholas Sparks called, "A walk to Remember."  Same scenario , the leading actress is terminally ill and creates a list of dreams and goals she would like to accomplish before she dies.  Well , she gets married , granted she is in her late teens early twenties, but after I saw the story of this nine-year-old that movie came to mind.  

This past week I spent a lot of time in Fulton.  I wanted to explore the connection between movies and the economy.  During the Great Depression , 9/11 and other tough times in American history, people tend to go to the movies to get away from reality.  With in the past two months, movie theaters have seen and increase in box office sale.  This is due to several things, first it's a cheap form of entertainment and it's also Oscar season.  

I went to the movies by myself two weekends ago and after I came out this idea came to me.  I felt stressed out and wanted to get away and step outside of my shoes.   I contacted  Fulton Cinema 8 and asked them if they had seen an increase in ticket and they said "yes."  I thought I was golden and could build a great story. 

Well I contacted experts( MU professors)  and many did not have the numbers or knowledge of this topic specifically.  Many were able to explain the "Golden Age" during the Great Depression, which was great, but I wanted more specific figures and numbers of  recent years. 

So I went to Fulton and checked out the theater and noticed people carrying in cans.  The movie theater set up a table underneath the marque inside the lobby and the table was very colorful with many cans.  

Come to find out the theater sent out coupons to Fulton residents  and if they bring in the coupon with a can of food they can receive a free movie ticket.  I thought this was interesting and found out the local food panty had an increase in people needing food.

I truly enjoyed meeting people in Fulton they were all so nice!  I find it interesting that SERVE, the Fulton food pantry, experienced lows, but put out a plea to local businesses and organizations and has since received a lot of food.  Lisa Brown the executive director of SERVE said they are beginning to see churches and other organizations slow down on the donations because instead of giving to SERVE they are giving aid to their own members, and volunteers.

My favorite thing out of this entire story was my shot of Lisa.  I thought it was one of the best shots I have ever done in my life!  I can't say the same for other shots in my package, but at least I am happy with one.  My interviewing skills are getting better as I am able to get longer answers out of people.  

I am looking forward to fixing mistakes in my next package so I can get better and build some confidence.

cheers,

-Sophia Beausoleil