Journalism and our world

Every December, American journalists spend hours preparing reports on the top news stories of the year. On Sunday, Dec. 11, members of the library's Talk Lab English Club took on such a job as they nominated and voted their choices for the most important and interesting events of 2011.
There were four categories: global, Ukraine, Kherson and personal.
Here are some of the nominations from the 25 participants of Sunday's meetings and the winners in the vote on top news stories of 2011:
GLOBAL
~ Japanese earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster. (First place, 12 votes.)
~ Rebellions in northern Africa, including ending the regimes of Egypt's Hosni Mubarak and Libya's Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.
~ Thousands of demonstrators take to the street to protest recent elections in Russia, largest turnouts since fall of Soviet Union.
~ European financial disasters.
UKRAINE
~ New stadiums developed for Euro 2012. (First place, 13 votes.)
~ Ukrainian unemployment.
~ Upcoming Dec. 19 meeting between European Union representatives and Ukraine.
KHERSON
~ Plans for a race car competition at the Kherson oblast desert in April 2012. (First place, 3 votes.)
~ Recent annual public report by Mayor Volodomir Saldo.
PERSONAL
~ Vacation to a Carpathian village changed a life. (First place tie, 10 votes.)
~ 85th birthday of eldest sister brings together many relatives. (First place tie, 10 votes.)
~ Ran in a charity race that raised money for the children's hospital.
To those reading this report, what events of this past year would you choose as the top news stories of 2011?
The Dec. 11 session of Talk Lab included a vocabulary exercise to learn and explain some of the special words and phrases used by journalists. Journalists, like people in many professions, have their own jargon. The word “jargon,” by the way, refers to overly obscure, technical or bureaucratic terms that are not used in everyday language.
Here are examples of words and phrases used by American journalists:
~ Beat – subject or area that a news reporter writes about.
~ Cub – inexperienced reporter.
~ Breaking news – a news story that is developing at the moment.
~ Source – person who provides information for a news story.
~ Bite the story – reduce the length of a story.
~ Lay out the paper – determine the placement of stories.
~ Byline – the name of the reporter who wrote the story.
The last meeting of Talk Lab for 2011 will be held on Sunday, Dec. 18, at 11 a.m. and will feature a presentation on winter holiday celebrations in America, including Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa and New Year's.
To everyone, have a joyous, fun, safe and healthy holiday season with family and friends! More photos.