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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_writing

http://www.economist.com/research/styleguide/

http://www.bbctraining.com/pdfs/newsstyleguide.pdf

http://www.usu.edu/journalism/faculty/sweeney/resources/ap.htm

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N! News Daily for Marth 24, 2008

Nova Coma Patient Wakes Up On N-Day!

Yesterday at 5:18pm EST a Nova who has been identified as Jason Grant, of Olivet Kansas, awoke from a ten year coma. Sources close to the recovered nova claim that Jason lapsed into a comatose state upon erupting on the original N-Day ten years ago. He has been a ward of Project: Utopia since that time.

Doctors at the Havilland Institute of Manhattan, the Triton facility where the young man currently resides, could not be reached for comment. Jason's only surviving relative, older brother David Grant said only that "We are glad and thankful that he (Jason) is on the way to a full recovery and look forward to having him come home."

<Click for full story>

N! News, March 27, 2008

T2M's Pandora finally out and about

By Daniel Lewis

Addis Ababa:

T2M's Regan 'Pandora' McLachlan has finally been seen in public after the horrific earthquake last December in Genkei, Japan, which left her severely injured due to impalement by a steel pylon. Dressed in a new uniform that proudly shows off her scarring (and the heavy black tattooing which covers it), she stood by Caestus Pax as the leader of Team Tomorrow gave this following statement:

"Due to the significant injuries that she sustained during the course of her duties, Pandora has been reassigned to Auxiliary status with T2M Central until the age of twenty-one. This is through no fault of her own or any oversight by Team Tomorrow in her training, but to be certain that her physical rehabilitation will be complete."

When questioned on the decision to bump her back to Auxiliary status after becoming one of the youngest T2M'ers ever, Pandora replied: "I'm glad to have some extra time to myself. I might get that PhD I've always wanted."

April 02, 2008

High School Disappearances Shake Up Kansas Town
Bryan Hall - AP
DOWNS, KANSAS -- The sleepy town of Downs, Kansas was the source of a new wave of anti-nova emotion when it was discovered that six of its local high school students had gone missing. The parents of the students have requested that the names be kept confidential but have expressed a deep sadness and regret that formerly upstanding members of society have gone and done such a heartless thing as taking their children.

An intersection traffic camera as well as a number of other security tapes show, quite plainly, XWF Black Circle Champion and Superstar Duke "Core" Baron driving up to the students in a quite impressive SUV as they were walking away from the local McDonald's. The conversation could not be heard but the tape showed an ecstatic reaction from the students and shortly thereafter the students climbing into the vehicle with the champion. This is the last time any witnesses saw the students.

XWF Chief Executive and professional wrestling legend Ric Flair went on record saying "This is absolutely freaking ridiculous. Whoever did this is a liar and a coward. Core's a real man, he doesn't have to prey on little kids. He's got plenty of fighters in The Combat Zone every Monday to go after. And you can bet your behind that there will be a 'special guest' match when this punk is found. WOOOoooo!!!"

Duke Baron could not be reached for comment. More to come as this drama unfolds.

April 9th, 2008

New York City - Yesterday, at a construction site in Downtown Manhattan, a man fell from a 40th story scaffold. While co-workers and witnesses watched, Mr. Dillon Sayer stepped backwards a bit too far, and fell off the scaffolding. Unlike many others who have fallen before him, Mr. Sayer survived the fall by becoming something else. He is presumed to have erupted upon impact with the ground. While we couldn't get a clear statement from Mr. Sayer, witnesses report him as getting up within seconds of impact, looking up, then passing out. When the police and ambulances arrived, Mr Sayer had already undergone a massive change. He no longer looks like a normal "baseline." He seemed to be covered in steel. He was taken, in an ambulance to Utopia's Manhattan Rashoud Facility, where he was processed and is currently undergoing evaluation. Utopia's spokesperson commented only briefly by stating, "While Mr. Sayer has become fodder for the press, please retain some modicum of civility when speaking with him. He almost died. Further comments will be made through his family."

April 12th, 2008

The N! Network - Today a tragedy turns to hope. Good evening, this is Violet Cameron with Nova Planet reporting. On today's show we have special guest Nathan Black star of his own show here on the N!network. But first we have some breaking news about last nights eruption of a teen in Texas. The police and hospital are still withholding his identity due to his age, but we at N! have learned some details of the tragic situation that we will share with you. Just to bring our viewers up to speed, incase they haven't been watching; it seems the young man and his date were enjoying an evening out and were attacked by three gang members intent on murder and rape. They would have succeeded too if the young man hadn't erupted after being hit in the head in the head by a baseball bat and then beaten. According to the statement the young lady gave the police, the men first cracked his skull open then took turns beating him with the baseball bat. Afterwards they turned their attention to the young woman and prepared to assault her. That's when the young man erupted and killed two of the attackers and scared the other away. Police are still looking for the third attacker. According to Police Chief Darrel Walters, they do have a gun with a clear set of fingerprints. He urges the attacker to turn himself in. When I spoke with the Chief, he said that it wasn't likely that the young man would be charged with any crime since it seems pretty clear from the evidence that it was a case of self-defense.

The young man was admitted to St. Elizabeth's emergency room in critical condition. His list of injuries included a cracked skull, five broken ribs, three gunshot wounds, a punctured lung, and internal bleeding. Last night despite his eruption doctors were only giving him a 5% chance of pulling through due to the extent of his injuries. Tragedy indeed.

Here's where the hope I mentioned earlier comes in. Just before the show aired, I personally spoke to the hospital and the young mans condition has been downgraded to stable. Despite the fact that he is still in intensive care doctors are now saying that with a little time they expect him to make a full recovery! Yet another miracle of the nova age.
N!network will continue to report as details come in and keep you updated on his condition. Now stay tuned, after the break we will be speaking to Nathan Black about his upcoming book, Life with Novas.

*the camera pans across the audience as they applaud and fades to commercial*

“Terrible news tonight out from Manhattan. Police and Utopian officials are looking into a bizarre murder that took place in Harlem within an old abandoned church.

Utopian officials claim a homeless man discovered the body of the enigmatic nova known as ‘The Revenant’ earlier this morning. While officials refuse to disclose any details of the crime scene reports to say that he was impaled, through the heart with a stake.

Sources have told us that Utopian novas identified the murder weapon as a stake of pure magnesium. Attached was a sign reading: “Do Not Remove, You’ve Been Warned”.

Scary stuff. We’ll have more for you as the story develops.”

Search called off for missing teen

by Ralph Johnson - May. 7, 2008 10:43 AM
The Arizona Republic

PHOENIX - Two weeks after a Phoenix youth ran away from home, the search has been called off for him. "At this point, we have no expectation to find James Guhde alive, or to find his body," Detective Gutierrez said in a prepared statement. "If he did follow through on his claims in the note he left behind and jumped into the Grand Canyon, then had he survived, we'd have found him by now. At this point, I expect that the Park Rangers and the Coconino County Police Department will turn this into a recovery mission, not a rescue mission."

Dozens of experienced hikers have been arriving at the Grand Canyon over the last two weeks to help in the search. Dozens more were turned away because the Grand Canyon Park Rangers were worried about inexperienced campers hurting themselves trying to find Guhde. "We have lost one young light," Reverand Jerad Conners, the Gudhe family's pastor and one of the experienced hikers looking for Guhde, "we don't want to lose anyone else."

Another person barred from the search was Gudhe's ex-girlfriend Jael Carver, who made news herself after her eruption earlier this year. The police have refused to comment, but it is widely believed that Carver is the woman referenced in Gudhe's final note, in which he stated that he didn't want to live in a world "where she can do what she wants, and I have to be ok with it." According to classmates, Carver and Gudhe ceased their relationship the Sunday before his disappearance, which was the last time they talked. The police have not named her as a suspect but have not allowed her to join the search. Carver has given no comment about this situation.

His parents say they are not giving up. "My son isn't dead," Mrs. Gudhe said in an emotional statment to the press. "I'd feel it if he were. He didn't do it and is hiding, or he erupted, and something's happened. But he's alive, and we'll find him."

Mr. Gudhe added, "I blame the NQA for his disappearance. They made him think he had a chance." Several online pamphlets and other materials from the NQA site were found on his home computer. The NQA, short for No Quantum Accident, advocates the safe, intentional eruption of latents. At this time, the organization urges all those interested in forcing their eruption to take as many safety precautions as they can.

Those interested in helping look for Guhde should contact Jerad Conners through the God's Light Assembly Church. Reverand Conners and his church will continue to look for Gudhe. "We don't intend to stop," he said, standing with the Guhde family. "We will look as long as it takes to bring Jimmy home."

Terat Ex-Lover Denies Slider's Murder
Associated Press, printed with permission, New York Times

In wake of the tragic and too-recent loss of international Team Tomorrow heroine Jennifer 'Slider' Landers and the suspicious and chilling events that followed at her subsequent wake, all eyes have turned outward, asking who could have been responsible for this horrible crime. Suspects are are anything but in short supply, many of whom claim allegiance to Divis Mal's terrorist group, the Teragen. One nova, specifically, was among those top suspects sought for questioning in not only the murder of Jennifer Landers, but the 2007 murder of Tibetan nova Tenzig 'Sutra' Norge, the former Team Tomorrow nova and ex-lover of Slider, Henry 'Cain' Jeager.

The infamous prodigal son of Project Utopia dated Landers four four years, between 2000 and 2004, followed by a private but reportedly tumultuous breakup. Henry then joined the Teragen shortly after the public announcement of their existence, in November of 2005. Since then, Jeager has been linked to a string of characters in the Teragen wanted for crimes ranging from robbery to murder to international terrorism.

While both Project Utopia and INTERPOL are keeping their list of suspects close to their chests, a representative from the latter agency, Director Raymond White, described Jeager as "low priority". This seemingly inexplicable exoneration came after a video tape provided to the agency by a source who remains anonymous was leaked on the OpNet, showing Henry Jeager at the Amp Room in Ibiza, Spain, for the duration of the evening's events. "We don't know everything Mr. Jeager is capable of", remarked White, "though considering what we do know, and taking into account the events that have transpired since this incident, Mr. Jeager is currently not a suspect in this crime, though make no mistake, he is still a fugitive from justice."

Shortly after this declaration, a letter addressed to the Staff Editor of the New York Times arrived at [their] offices in Manhattan, allegedly written by Jeager himself. The handwritten letter, reprinted below, reads:

"I wish to express my deepest and sincerest despair at hearing of Jennifer's murder. I cannot articulate, in mere words, the depth of sadness and anger this news provokes in me. Speaking as someone who knew her intimately, I can affirm for anyone who did not that she was every inch the person people believed she was, and then some. Her kindness, sincerity, warmth, and passion were unmatched in the world of baseline or nova, and the world is and shall be a darker place for her being taken from it.

Of course, one cannot mention Jennifer's death without addressing the cause. Many fingers have been pointed already, and by virtue of my relationship with Jennifer and my current political affiliations, I knew that some would be pointed at me. I am writing this letter chiefly to let you, the people who loved her, know that I had nothing to do with this despicable, revolting, wicked, and dishonorable deed. While Jennifer and I had a parting that left many raw emotions for quite a while, we never wished each other harm or had anything but caring and respect for each others' wishes. Ideology kept us apart, but we remained admirers unto the other. Furthermore, I also wish to state that to my present knowledge, no member of the Teragen was responsible for this act. While the Teragen and Project Utopia differ in their perspective, Jennifer was a credit to nova and baseline humanity alike. If it is revealed that any member of our organization was responsible for this heinous deed, I wish to emphasize that said individual does not speak for myself or the Teragen as a whole, and that any such person would be dealt with most harshly by his nova brethren.

It is my hope that the person or persons responsible for this action will be found and killed. Seeing as how most people figure I'm a terrorist and murderer already, I'm not going to sugarcoat it: I want the sons of bitches dead. Whoever did this has extinguished one of the brightest flames our humble history had ever sparked. Not being a church-goer, myself, I humbly submit that whatever waste of life did this suffer so slowly they'll think they're in Hell. If I find them first, I shall be their Devil.

.H Jeager"

Response to the letter has been varied. A USA Today online poll found that while only 36% of readers believe Jeager had nothing to do with the murder, a staggering 69% agree with the assertion that whoever committed the crime should face capital charges. Prior to the Slider Funeral, a full 18% of readers charged Jeager with the murder itself, but after those events, Corbin and Project Utopia have taken up the lion's share of the suspicion, leaving the Teragen with a humble 22%, and Jeager himself virtually out of the running.

What did you have to say about this? Here's what some of our readers thought, sounding off on our web log, soundoff@ap.op:

Model87: It's dumb to think that Henry would be in...

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