Exercise 3: Writing Basic News Leads

INSTRUCTIONS: Write only a lead for each of the following stories. As always,
correct errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation and AP style if necessary.
Consult the directory in your textbook for the correct spelling of names used in
the scenarios.

1. There was an accident occurring in your city at 7:10 this morning at the
intersection of Post Road and Rollins Avenue. Charles R. Lydon was driving north
on Post Road and proceeded to enter the intersection in his van at a speed
estimated at 40 mph. His van struck a fire engine responding to an emergency
call, with its lights and siren in operation. Two firemen aboard the vehicle were
hospitalized; however, their condition is not known at this point in time. Lyden was
killed instantly in the serious and tragic accident. Authorities have not yet
determined who was at fault. The truck was traveling an estimated 25 mph and
responding to a report of a store fire. However, it was a false alarm. Lydons van
was totally destroyed. Damage to the truck was estimated at $50,000.
2. There was a report issued in Washington, D.C. today. It came from the Highway
Loss Data Institute, an affiliate of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. It
shows that there are advantages to driving big cars. A study by the institute found
that small two-door models and many small or midsize sport or specialty cars have
the worst injury and repair records. Many of these small cars show injury claim
frequencies and repair losses at least 30 percent higher than average, while many
large cars, station wagons and vans show 40 percent to 50 percent better-than-
average claim records. According to the analysis, a motorist in a four-door
Oldsmobile Delta 88, for example, is 41 percent less likely than average to be hurt
in an accident.
3. An article appeared today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The
article concerns the dangers of hot dogs. "If you were trying to design something
that would be perfect to block a childs airway, it would be a bite-size piece of hot
dog," says a researcher. He concluded that children under 4 should "never be
given a whole hot dog to eat," and that hot dogs should never be cut crosswise.
The hot dogs are so dangerous that every five days, it is estimated, someone,
somewhere in the United States, chokes to death on them. Other risky foods for
young kids up to 9 years of age include: candy, nuts, grapes, apples, carrots and
popcorn.
4. The family of Kristine Belcuore was grief-stricken. She was 51 years old and died
of a heart attack last week. She left a husband and four children. Because her
death was so sudden and unexpected, an autopsy had to be performed before the
funeral last Saturday. It was a big funeral, costing more than $7,000. More than
100 friends and relatives were in attendance. Today, the family received an
apologetic call from the county medical examiner. Mrs. Belcuors body is still in the
morgue. The body they buried was that of a woman whose corpse had been
unclaimed for a month. The error was discovered after the medical examiners
office realized the month-old corpse had disappeared. Someone probably misread
an identifying tag, they said. Also, the family never viewed the remains, they kept
the casket closed throughout the proceedings. A relative said, "We went through
all the pain and everything, all over the wrong body, and now we have to go
through it again."
5. Its another statistical study, one that surprised researchers. For years, researchers
thought that advanced education translated into greater marriage stability. Then
they discovered that marital disruption is greater among more highly educated
women than any other group (except those who haven't graduated from high
school). Now a sociologist at The Ohio State University has conducted a new study
which explains some of the reasons why women with graduate degrees are more
likely to be graduated from their marriages as well. The key fact seems to be
timing. Women who married early, before they began graduate school, are more
likely to have established traditional family roles which they find difficult to
change. When the wife goes back to school and no longer wants to handle most of
the housework, it causes resentment on the part of the husband. If the husband
refuses to pitch in and do his share, it creates tension. Such unhappiness on both
sides often leads to divorce. Indeed, a third of the women who began graduate
school after they were married ended up separated or divorced. By comparison,
only 15.6 percent of those who married after they had finished an advanced
degree ended up divorced or separated. They seem more likely to find husbands
supportive of their educational goals.
6. The Department of Justice, as it often does, conducted a crime-related survey. It
questioned long-term prisoners. It found that new laws limiting the ownership of
guns do not discourage handgun ownership by career criminals. The report
concludes, however, that even though curbs on legitimate retail sales of guns have
failed to attain the goal of keeping weapons out of the hands of criminals, the laws
still may serve other useful functions. The report explains that criminals get their
weapons most often by theft or under-the-counter deals. The department
surveyed 1,874 men serving time for felonies in 11 state prisons and found that
75 percent said they would expect little or no trouble if they tried to get a handgun
after their release from prison. Fifty-seven percent had owned a handgun at the
time of their arrest. Thirty-two percent of their guns had been stolen, 26 percent
acquired in black market deals, and others received as gifts from family and
friends. Only 21 percent had been bought through legitimate retail outlets.
7. Thomas C. Ahl appeared in Circuit Court today. He pleaded guilty last week to
robbing and murdering two restaurant employees. In return for pleading guilty
prosecutors promised not to seek the death penalty. He was sentenced today. Ahl
is 24 years old, and the judge sentenced him to two life terms, plus 300 years. It
is the longest sentence ever given anyone in your state. Ahl will be 89 before he
can be considered for parole. The judge explained that Ahl had a long history of
violence and brutality, and that the public deserved to be protected from him.
There had been no reason for him to shotgun the two employees to death. Ahl
himself admitted that they had not resisted him in any way.
8. The International Standardization Organization, which is composed of acoustics
experts, today opened its annual convention. The convention is meeting in
Geneva, Switzerland. Delegates from 51 countries are attending the convention,
which will continue through Sunday. An annual report issued by the organization
warned that noise levels in the world are rising by one decibel a year. If the
increase continues, the report warned, "everyone living in cities could be stone
deaf by the year 2020." The report also said that long-term exposure to a noise
level of 100 decibels can cause deafness, yet a riveting gun reaches a level of 130
decibels and a jet aircraft 150.
9. A 19-year-old shoplifting suspect died last Saturday. Police identified him as
Timothy Milan. He lived at 1112 Huron Avenue and was employed as a cook at a
restaurant in the city. A guard at Panzer's Department Store told police he saw
Milan stuff 2 sweaters down his pants legs, then walk past a checkout line and out
of the department store. The guard then began to chase Milan, who ran, and 3
bystanders joined in the pursuit. They caught up with Milan, and, when he
resisted, one of the bystanders applied a headlock to him. A police officer who
arrived at the scene reported that Milan collapsed as he put handcuffs on him. An
autopsy conducted to determine the cause of death revealed that Milan died due
to a lack of oxygen to the brain. Police today said they do not plan to charge
anyone involved in the case with a crime because it "was a case of excusable
homicide." The police said the bystanders did not mean to injure Milan or to kill
him, but that he was fighting violently—punching and kicking at his captors and
even trying to bite them—and that they were simply trying to restrain him and
trying to help capture a suspected criminal, "which is just being a good citizen."
10. Several English teachers at your citys junior and senior high schools require
their students to read the controversial book, "The Adventures of Huckleberry
Finn." The book was written by Mark Twain. Critics, including some parents, said
last week that the book should be banned from all schools in the city because it is
racist. After considering their complaints and discussing them with his staff, the
superintendent of schools, Gary Hubbard, announced today that teachers will be
allowed to require reading the book in high school English classes but not in any
junior high school classes. Furthermore, the superintendent said that it will be the
responsibility of the high school teachers who assign the book to assist students in
understanding the historical setting of the book, the characters being depicted and
the social context, including the prejudices which existed at the time depicted in
the book. Although the book can no longer be used in any junior high school
classes, the school superintendent said it will remain available in junior and senior
high school libraries for students who want to read it voluntarily. The book
describes the adventures of runaway Huck Finn and a fugitive slave named Jim as
they float on a raft down the Mississippi River.
If you have successfully completed Exercise 1 on intro writing, you are now
able to go ahead and write the rest of the story from the information below.
Remember to list your key points, put them in order of priority then write in the
system of the inverted pyramid. Again, assume that all these events happened
within the area served by your newspaper, radio or television station.

Although there is no single right answer, we provide a link to suggested news

stories to check after you have done the exercise.

Story 1

Dr Michael Kai is a scientist with the Papua New Guinea Department of Primary Industry.
He has been working for ten years on a project to breed larger pigs. One of his pigs, an
adult male, has been weighed at 350 kgs. This is the heaviest pig ever to have been
bred in Papua New Guinea. Mr Kai hopes to use this animal to breed other very large
pigs.

Story 2

A school bus ran off City Road in Suva, narrowly missed an electricity pole and came to
rest in a garden. Most of the bus windows were smashed. There were more than 30
children on the bus. They were going to Martyr School. It was a 36-seater bus. All the
children escaped serious injury. Some of them jumped out of the bus and grazed
themselves. Eye-witnesses said the children were helped from the bus screaming and
shouting and in a state of panic. This happened this morning.

Story 3

In July last year, Mr Sione Tuanuku went to work for the Royal Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) in Nuku`alofa, cleaning out the dog pound and
caring for the dogs. Yesterday he was sacked by the manager of the dog pound, Mrs
Anita Chan. She said that he had mistreated one of the dogs.

Mr Tuanuku said: "The dogs always barked at me and sometimes they tried to bite me. I
didn't like it. Yesterday I got fed up with one dog that tried to bite me, so I bit the dog in
the leg to teach it a lesson. Now I have been dismissed from my job."

Story 4

Mr John Erikub and his wife, Laura, were driving to their home in Majuro yesterday
afternoon, after shopping in Uliga. Mr and Mrs Erikub were in the front of their Toyota
pick-up. Their three children were travelling in the back - Paul, aged nine; Rachel, aged
seven; and Miriam, aged three.

Driving past the cemetery, they met a truck travelling in the opposite direction. This was
a semi-trailer belonging to Pacific Earthmoving Inc, carrying a 12-ton bulldozer. The
truck was driven by Mr Lewis Kili, who comes from Jaluit Atoll. The pick-up ran out of
control and collided head-on with the semi-trailer.
Police and ambulance were sent for. Mr and Mrs Erikub and their two elder children died
instantly. Miriam was taken to hospital with serious injuries and died later. The pick-up
was a write-off. The semi-trailer suffered only minor damage. Mr Kili was also taken to
hospital and treated for shock, but was later allowed home.

Police have interviewed Mr Kili. They say they are unlikely to charge him with any
offence.

Answers to writing the news story exercise

Here are suggested answers for the news story writing exercise. These are not
the only way news stories could have been written from the information you
were given, and your stories may be correct even if they differ from ours in
some details. Compare your stories with the following suggested answers, to
see if you can improve what you have written.

Story 1

A government scientist has produced the biggest pig ever to have been bred in Papua
New Guinea.
The adult male pig weighs 350 kgs.
It is the result of a ten-year breeding project by the Department of Primary Industry.
Scientist Dr Michael Kai hopes to use the animal to breed other very large pigs.

Notice how, even though the information was about a pig, we have included people by
talking about the scientist who bred the big pig. Also, see how we have limited the story
to a maximum of two concepts (ideas) per sentence.

Story 2

More than 30 children escaped serious injury when a school bus crashed in Suva today.
The 36-seater bus, which was carrying children to Veiuto School, ran off Queen Elizabeth
Drive.
It narrowly missed an electricity pole and came to rest with most of its windows
smashed in a garden.
Eye-witnesses said the children were helped from the bus screaming and shouting and in
a state of panic.
Although none of the children was seriously hurt, some of them were grazed jumping
out of the bus.

Notice how we started with the most important key point - the children. We told our
audience that the children had narrowly missed serious injury in a crash. Because a lot
of people might want to know who the children were, in the second paragraph we gave
them details of the school they attended. Finally we told the story in chronological order,
the order in which the event happened.
Story 3

A cleaner at the Nuku'alofa dog pound has been sacked for biting one of the animals in
his charge.
Mr Sione Tuanuku was an assistant at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals pound.
He said he had bitten one of the dogs to teach it a lesson.
"The dogs always barked at me and sometimes they tried to bite me," Mr Tuanuku said.
"I didn't like it.
"I got fed up with one dog that tried to bite me, so I bit the dog in the leg to teach it a
lesson."
Mr Tuanuku had worked at the RSPCA pound since last year.
Manager Mrs Anita Chan confirmed that she had sacked Mr Tuanuku for mistreating one
of the dogs.

As we said in the Writing the intro exercise, this is the classic "man bites dog" story,
with the added human angle of Mr Tuanuku's sacking. Notice that we kept the title of
the RSPCA out of the intro, and gave it almost a whole sentence to itself because it is so
long and complicated that it might otherwise have confused our readers or listeners. We
later used the abbreviation, for those people who only know it as the RSPCA. We used
Mr Tuanuku's quotes in full because they were so lively.

Story 4

A Majuro couple and their three children died when their pick-up collided head-on with a
semi-trailer.
Mr John Erikub, his wife, Laura, and their three children were driving home yesterday
afternoon after shopping in Uliga.
Their Toyota pick-up was passing the cemetery when it ran out of control and collided
with the semi-trailer.
Mr and Mrs Erikub, their son Paul, aged nine, and daughter Rachel, aged seven, died
instantly. Their youngest daughter, Miriam, aged three, died later in hospital.
All three children had been riding in the back of the pick-up.
The semi-trailer, which was carrying a 12-ton bulldozer, belonged to Pacific Earthmoving
Inc.
Driver Mr Lewis Kili, who comes from Jaluit Atoll, suffered only minor injuries. He was
treated in hospital for shock, but later allowed home.
Police have interviewed Mr Kili and say they are unlikely to charge him with any offence.
The semi-trailer was slightly damaged, but the pick-up was a write-off.

Notice how again we focused on the human tragedy and put the damage to the vehicles
at the bottom of the story. Although we named the family in the second paragraph, we
did not give the names of all the children until the fourth paragraph, to avoid
overloading any sentences, especially those early in the story. There were lots of details,
but notice how we spread them throughout the story, again to prevent overloading.
Exercise 1: Copy Editing

INSTRUCTIONS: Use the proper copy-editing symbols to correct all the

mechanical, spelling and AP style errors in the following sentences. None of the
possessives have been formed for you.

During the 1990s, a nine year old girl in Ruston Louisiana won a trophy, 5000 dollars,
and a trip to the United States Capital Bl;dg.

Thomas Shriver Junior an employee of the Roess Company in Fairbanks Alaska has a
Ph.D. in economics and will be here Mon, Tues., & Wed.

Prof. Rebecca Malone of Forty-two Fifth Avenue works in the History Department and
shares an office in Rm. 247 of the Humanities Bldg.

Afterwards, 7 persons, all United States citizens, testified that the US navy payed the
Westinghouse Corporation $14,200,000 dollars.

“The Washington Post” reported Tue. That the suspect is White, in her 30’s, about 5 ft.,
2 inches tall, and weighs about one hundred pds.

Only one media reported that the President of the National Rifle Assn. met with sixteen
members of the US Congress on August 23, 2008.

During the 1960’s, a committee of the United States Congress estimated that the
program would cost $7 to $8.4 billion dollars.

The boy, age 7, had 42 cents and said his mother, the Mayor, will attend the P.T.A
meeting Nov. 28 if the temperature remains above 0.

It was an unusual phenomena. During the twentieth century, the odds were 9 to 1 that
80 % of the Mayors would be reelected to a 2nd term.

Moving backwards, the 14 yr old babysitter in martin Tn. Said goodbye, then picked up
the bible and ran towards her home on Roe St.
Exercise 3: Copy Editing

INSTRUCTIONS: Using the proper copy-editing symbols provided on the inside

cover of your textbook, correct the errors in the following stories. Except for
some obvious errors, the stories’ style (the abbreviations, punctuation and
spelling, for example) is correct. There is one exception, however. You will
have to form all the possessives. None have been formed for you.

Girl Scouts

the countys Girl Scout Council no loonger will acept any checks during its annual
cookie sale-a-thon.
During its last sale-a-thon, the council lost $4,284 due to worthlesschecks.
“That may not sound like a lot, but its a serious loss for us,” said Linda Goree, the
Girl Scoust county executive. “It cuts into our profits, but al so wastes too many hours
of our timme.”
Next year, Goree said, thecountys Girl Scouts will accept only cash
Two factors agravated the prov problem during the scouts last sale-a-thon, Goree
continued. first, more pepople paid by check. Second, a larger percentage of the
checks teh Girl Scouts received bounced.
“Some people pay by check beause they don’t have the cash, ” Goree said. “Or,
they want to place a large order. We have people who place orders for $100 or more,
and thosse poeple are especially likely to pay by check. we also receive checks for a
little as one or two dollars.”
Scout leaders call people who signed the checks that bounce and, in most cases,ask
them to mail neW checks to the cty. office. The scout leadesr are unable to reach
everyone, however. Smoe People have moved. Other s do not have telephones—or do
not seem to answer their tele phones.
“usually its an honest mistake, ad andpeople are embarrassed when we call
them,” Goree said. “THey want to take care of the problem right away. Other people
say they want to pay but dont have the money, and we can usually work something out
with them. Unfortunately, there are other people who get mad at us, like its our fault or
something, and refuse to pay. Or, they write new checks that also bounce. It puts our
leadess in a terrible situaton. A Girl Scout leadershouldn’t have to deal with problems
like that. Also, its not a good situation or example for our girls, and that’s the reason for
our ne w policy, why we’ll no longer accept any checks.”

Men’s Longevity Being a middle-aged man and single can be deadly, too
sociologists at your college warned today
The sociologists, Margo Matos and LeeAnne verkler, found that middle-aged men
who remain single double their chances of dying.
For 10 years, Matos and verkler tracked one thoussand men in the state. All of
the men were 40 old years at the start of the study, and half were married. Matos and
Verkler fuond that 11.7 percent of the men who remained unmarried died before their
50th birthday, compared to only 5.9 percent of themen who remained married.
Some of the maried men were divorced or widowed during the study, and 7.1
percnt of those who remainedd alone for at least half the period also died.
“We arent sure of all the reasons,” verkler said. “That’s what we’ll look at
next. WE think poor diet plays a role. Also the use of alcohol, smoking, a lack of
exercise and low incomes. Men who live by themselves seem to do more drinking and
smoking, and many don’t PREprepare good meals for themselves. Plus there’s the
absence of social support. It ehlps to have someone to talk with, someone who shpares
your li fe and is there to provide help when you need it.”
Matos and Verkler found that men also live longer if they have a roommate. “It
doesn’t matter who the persn is, a parent, child orfreind,” Verkler said. “We’ve found,
however,that none of the alternatives are as conducive to a long life as a stable
marriage. those are the man who live the longest, the men who are happily marrried.”

Outstanding Teacher
Wilma DeCastro is an English teacher at Kennedy High Schol and, six months ago,
was named the city’s “Teacher ofthe Year.” Today she resigned.
“All my life I wanted to be a teachher,” DeCastro said. “Ive really enjoyed it, but I
have two little girls and Can’t afford it any longer. I want a good live for may family,
and now wecan’t afford to buy a decent house in a good neighborhood, a newcar, nice
clothes, or so many of the other things we want. wee skimp on everything, even
food.”
There years ago, DeCastro began to sell real estate during her sumer
vacations. For th e last year, she has continued to sell real estate part-time, primarily
weakends
“I can’t do it any longer,” she said. ”I can’t wrok two jobs, do a good job at both of the
jobbs, and a.lso have time for my daughters, so I’ve decided to go into real estate full
time. I can triple salary my salary. INN a few years, if I work hard, I should be able to
do even better than that. eventually, I’d like togo into businss for myself.”
Greg Hubbard, superintendent of the city’s school system, said: “Of coures we’re
sorry to see her leave. We’d like to keep her, to be able to pay all our teachers mr
more, espec ially our best teachers. But there’s no moneey for higher salaries. NO one
wants to pay higher taxes.”
DeCastro is 28 and started teaching at the high schoo0l six years ago. she aws
named “Teacher OF The Year” because of her popularity, but also because she inspired
several studentsto start a literary maga zine that has won adozenprizes

Heroic Girl
while walking to school this moningmorning, an 11-year-old girl noticed a gunman
robbuing two clerkS in a convenence store on Colonial Drive
The girl, Kathryn Kunze of94 Jamestown Drive, raran to a nearby telepone, dialed
911, then returned to the store and noticed an empty car par ked naearby withits motor
running. she reachedd inside, shut off the cars motor and took the keys.
“Imagine what the rober thought when he ran out of the storee, jumped into HIS
car and realized the keys weregone,” said Sgt. Tammy Dow. “she was one smart girl,
and Brave, too.”
The Gunman went bavck into the stoer and asked the clerks there for the keys to
there cars. Bothclerks, however, said that they had walked to work and did not own a
car.
The gunman then walked to a near,by park, and the police Aarrested him there
five minutse later.
William j. Chuey, 27, of 57l0 michigan Ave was charrged with armed robbery.
Polic e officers later questioned the girl at school. “I saw this man with a gun, just
like on telivision” she said. “Then I saw thecar. It was running, and I just figured it was
the robbers, so I took his keys and ran here.”
Kathryn’s mother, said she was p””proud—and frightened—by her daughters
actions. “I’Mm proud she thought so quickly,” Mrs. Lauren Kunze said. “But I don’t wnat
her to trfy anything like that ever again.”

Roadbed Trails
RAilroads have abandoned hundreds of m iles of old roadbeds in the state, and the
governortoday revealed plans to convert the roadbeds into trawils for bicyclists hikers,
horseback riders and runners.
The govenor said her budget for nxextt year will include an extra $10 million for the
Departmentof natural Resources, which will use the money to ac quire and maintainn
the trials “The initial outlay is modest,” the gov. said. “But we hope the program
will expand so, in five or 10 years,we’ll have hundreds of miles of these
trials. Eventually, the people using themshould be able to hike or ride from one end of
the state to another.”
A representative for the states railrods said that most will probably agree to sell
their abandoned roadbeds tothe state, provided they receive a fair pricee,
“We aren’t us ing the roadbeds for anything,” he said, “and there aren’t many
other buyers. they were our leasst profitable routes, and that’s why we abandoned
them.”
During a press Conference this mohningthis morning, the governor added: “We
need more land for recreation, and this is the prefect solution. wee think we can acquire
the roadbeds for a reasonable price, annd we’ll start with some of the mmost
scenic. We’llalso concentrate, at least initialy, on roadbeds near the state’s population
centers, os they’re conveni ent for a majority of the people using them.”
THE governor said the
biggest expense, after acquiri;ng the roadbeds, will be improving their bridges.. “We’ll
need better flooring and railings to protect the public, and that will cost some money,”
she said. The railoads havve already tor n up the tracks,o selling them for scrap.

Repossessing Cars
Police Chief Tony sullivan Wants to ebgin seizing t he cars driven by drunken
drivers.
While testifyingbefore a legislative commmittee in the state capital this morning,
Sullivan said police oficers in the state need the authority to to seize the vehicles used
by motorists convicted three or more times of drunken driving. Sullivans pproposal
would al so apply to motorists convicted of driving with a license suspended or revoked
because of drunken drving—and to motorists convicted of driving undre the Influence of
drugs.
“Were runninng across too many repeat offjenders,” sullivan said. “They ignore
the laws now in eff ect, and its time to do something about it. It doesn’t do any good to
just take away their lcenses. They’ll drivewithout one.”
Sullivan said some motorists in the statehave been convicted of drunken driving more
than a dozentimes . “Weve gott peopel who’ve served a year in jail, some who’ve served
five years,” Sullivan said. “It doesn’t seemtodo any good. weather they have a liense
or not, they star”t to drink and drive again as soon as they get out. If wetake away
their cars, they’ll havetostop. U nless they’re ultra-rich, there’s a limit to howmany cars
they can afford to buy.”
Tobacco Ban
Beginning next fall, students in the citys public shcools will have to leave their
cigarettes and other tobaco products at home.
The School Board last night voted 6 to 1 to BAN the possession and use of all
obacco tobacco products on school grounds.
“The boards policy will apply to evferyone,” said gary Hubbard, superintendent
of schools. “its not just for ourstudents. The policy will also apply to our teachers, other
school personnel and, in addition, to any visitors using our facilities.”
Students found smoking on school property will be reprimanded for a firs t ofense,
detained for a secnod and ex;pelled for three days for a third. School personnel will be
reprimanded by their principal. Other people wlil be asked to stop using the tobacco
products or to leave the school grounds.
“Previously,” hubbard said, “we allowed stud ents to smokee inn some designated
areas both inside and outside our bldgs.: in our football stadium s, for example. Its
badfortheir health, and we decided last night that we weren’t being consistent. It
doesn’t make any sense for us to tell students, in their classes, about the dangers of
smoking, andthan to allow them to smokeunder our supervision. Besides, We were
geting a lot of complaints from nonsmokesr.”
Topics for Editorial Writing

Global warming effects on earth

♦ The causes of, symptoms and treatment for swine flu
♦ The ways recycling affects our environment
♦ What caused the subprime crisis?
♦ Should gay marriages be allowed?
♦ Should gambling be outlawed?
♦ Should capital punishment be allowed?
♦ NBA season review (or preview)
♦ Major league season review (or preview)
♦ Should marijuana be legalized?
♦ Should cigarettes be banned?
♦ How necessary is a college education?
EDITORIAL - Rebuilding Marawi
(The Philippine Star) - June 30, 2017 - 4:00pm

The battle for Marawi is expected to be over soon, according to the government. The next phase will be the
tortuous road to recovery. With much of the city razed by war, and with the lingering threats posed by those
who staged the siege, the task can prove to be more challenging than the reconstruction of Tacloban City and
other areas devastated by Super Typhoon Yolanda.

In shifting from war to reconstruction, the government may want to take a page from the military’s
counterinsurgency playbook: “clear, hold, build.” Clearing Marawi of Maute and Abu Sayyaf terrorists is still
ongoing. Once the AFP considers its mission accomplished, the government must move in and ensure that the
victory is sustained. The terrorists must not be allowed to regroup and rebuild their strength for another strike
anywhere in the country.

This entails cooperation from the local political leadership all the way down to the grassroots. The military
offensive, backed by police commandos, indicated that the Mautes received support from a segment of the
Marawi community, which provided funds, guns, ammunition and other supplies to the terrorists. The local
supporters might have also had links with fighters of the Islamic State, whose commander in the Philippines, the
Abu Sayyaf’s Isnilon Hapilon, could have escaped the government offensive in Marawi.

Now that Marawi residents – and the rest of the nation – have seen the atrocities that the Mautes are capable of
perpetrating and the suffering inflicted on the city, there should be greater readiness to work with the
government in permanently neutralizing this threat.

Residents’ cooperation is critical in rebuilding Marawi from the ashes of war. The Mautes and their supporters
may try to derail reconstruction work. City residents should be at the heart of efforts to thwart any such attempt.

In Tacloban and other areas ravaged by Yolanda, the mantra was to build back better. This can also be done in
Marawi. As President Duterte has vowed, the city will rise again. The sweetest victory, and the best way to
reject the Islamic State and its gospel of violence and hatred, is to show that Marawi not only recovers but also
becomes a better city.