assignment #1

Assignment #1:

Pet Food Recall

On Friday, March 16 a major manufacturer of dog and cat food recalled 60 million containers of wet pet food after reports of kidney failure and deaths. The pet food was sold by stores operated by Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Safeway Inc., Kroger Co., PetSmart Inc., and other large retailers. The exact number of cats and dogs who suffered from kidney failure is unknown but about 10 died after eating the affected food.
One form of media where I got most of my information on the news story was the Internet. The Internet is quickly turning into the main source of news dissemination. Not only is it convenient, but breaking news and updates are reported promptly, much faster than any other news medium. In the case of recalls on many major brand pet foods, timeliness of news is a must. Pet owners can check the Internet for any updates or brands that may be included to the recall list. There is however one major con to the Internet as a source of news, some people do not have a Internet much less a computer. Many older people with pets are not as computer savvy and may not be able to find out about pet food recalls. Many of my sources were from news websites. I used abcnews.com to find news on the recall. http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=3013777
Another news medium is radio. Radio appeals to a mass audience of commuter traffic. People who are driving home from work and stuck in traffic only have the radio to keep them company. Radio is much more instant to newspapers also. While radio is instant, it is not very convenient. Sometimes there is a lack of the full story and it is very abbreviated. There is the inability to go back and re-read or re-listen to the news. Those driving do not have access to a pen and paper to write down the brands of pet food being recalled. For my source i used NPR. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9293454
Newspaper has always been a major news disseminator. It is inexpensive and portable. People have the ability to re-read, cut out or post the articles. However, newspaper falls short in reporting breaking news. If a new update comes out later at night, the story will have to wait to be published the next day. This could prove to be a problem if another brad of pet food is found to be affected. For my source i used The Press Enterprise which is the local newspaper from my hometown. I was able to find a story in the newspaper every day, whether it be a feature story or an update.