The Lede (of the PBS WWII show)

I thought that lede of this story was the director didn't want historians or experts to be telling the story or getting information from them, with the story being told from the bottom up. The people that where wanted were people that lived during that time, where in the war, or anything along the lines of that. Those people would tell what the war was meant to them from a small town perspective, with the film being a "vast archive...from everywhere."

News Ideas

1 Rent going up in Orchard Park Apartments
2 Soccer Coach being mad at SCI newspaper
3 Cold front last week then higher temps this week
4 Local uniforms for schools
5 Current movies out
6 Movies coming out
7 High electric bills
8 Aarons furniture opening by CVS on corner of MacArthur and Wabash
9 Students attending class
10 Drunks choice of music, seem to want Hip Pop style
11 Rich looking people complain about paying a cover in a bar
12 Dennys' at 3 to 4 am
13 Cop rear-ending someone on South Grand (by Mcdonalds) during 8 am rush hour traffic
14 I-phone users
15 Guys attempts at picking up girls at the bar I work at
16 Sancho cart downtown all night, mainly on weekends (extremly popular)

Surprise

As I put in the quiz, Murray defines surprise is anything that you can keep your eyes out and open for...if you have a hunch, go with it, usually it will take you where you want to go and get you a story. As stated in the book, the best writers seek surprise and they treasure contradictions. To sum all this up, just keep your eyes open, be alert, and look for what isn't there.

I do agree, I think that you have a story in the restaurant. By doing the five-minute interview and then doing some research online, you can get yourself a story on the British animial activists. By having kept your eyes open, you got yourself a story on your own down time, eating a restaurant. As Murray said, surprises and stories are everywhere.

Mack. Wrap. Dog Story

I think this story was written in a humerus, light-hearted tone. Even though this is a serious subject, the reporter used some funny quotes, lines, and pop culture references to lighten the mood. It could have been written completely different than it was. However, the way it was written made it an enjoyable read. Many would think a story about seeing-eye dogs that flunk out of their schools to later become bomb-sniffing dogs in the Middle East couldn't really have any humor to it. It isn't the case with the story. The writer did a great job of livening up an otherwise serious story. I think that it was well written, and it made me want to keep reading it. If it was written seriously, then I think that it would have probably been more boring.