Verification Handout

Verification & Data Visualization

• Story Verification
• Objectivity involves verifying facts.
• Techniques of Verification
• Edit with skepticism (aka Prosecutorial Editing).
• Adjudicating (act as a judge) a story line by line.
• When Editing, Ask Questions
• How do we know this?
• Why would a reader believe this?
• What is the assertion behind the sentence?
• Tip: Editor and reporter sit side by side to edit the story.
• Keep an Accuracy Check List
• Ask More Questions
• Is the lead of the story sufficiently supported?
• Is the context of the story complete?
• Are all stakeholders in the story identified?
• Have other sides of this issue been contacted?
• Does the story pick sides or make subtle value judgements?
• REMEMBER: When a journalist has an agenda going into an interview the story them becomes propaganda.
• Final Questions To Ask
• Have you attributed (given credit to) all of these facts in the story?
• Do the facts back you up your story?
• Did you double check the quotes and make sure they are in proper context?
• Data Visualization / Information Graphics
• Information graphic is a set of information organized in a visual manner.
• Information design makes complex information understandable to more people than traditional text.

Online Journalism Job Analysis

Company:	Patch.com
Position:	Local Editor, Encinitas (San Diego) Patch
Location:	Encinitas (San Diego), California
Job Status:	Not Specified
Salary:	Not Specified
Ad Expires:	July 12, 2011
Job ID:	1260053

Description:Are you a passionate and entrepreneurial online journalist? Want to be part of a dynamic and innovative team of journalists, engineers, designers and business pros who are creating a bold new solution for our industry? Do you think that traditional news media just don't get it anymore?  Would you like to run your own local news Web site, where you'll tap the multimedia and social media skills you've mastered to transform community journalism and connect with communities? If you answered 'yes' to any of those questions, keep reading

We're Patch.com, a start-up that's radically reinventing community journalism. We launched in February 2009 and we now operate hundreds of local news sites in towns with populations under 70,000, and we continue to expand! Patch is founded on two core principles: that news matters in towns across the country and that we can create a successful business model to sustain it. Even as many newsrooms have been downsized or shut down, Patch is investing millions to create a nationwide network of news sites using our dynamic platform to produce meaningful daily and enterprise journalism and pioneer new forms of storytelling to serve communities. We have won acclaim in the industry and coverage in The New York Times, Forbes Magazine, Bloomberg, NPR's "Talk of the Nation," "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer," and numerous industry blogs and Web sites. We've recently also announced Patch.org, a new initiative that will allow us to collaborate with local foundations and journalism schools to cover under-served communities.

Patch.com is looking for smart, innovative journalists to join our team as full-time site editors. We see this as nothing less than the future of online journalism. Visit patch.com to learn more about our mission and to visit our news sites.

Job responsibilities (to include, but not limited to):

    *    Run a local news site - reporting, writing, taking pictures and video; finding, assigning and editing freelancers and local columnists, and connecting with the community to attract user-generated content

    *    Provide an invaluable source of trusted news and information that will improve people's lives

    *    Drive your site to become a landmark in the community

    *    Work collaboratively with colleagues in a region to produce impactful breaking news, features and enterprise journalism and storytelling, and create new ways to connect with  and engage communities

    *    Collaborate with the business team to build and maintain your town's directory of key officials,  organizations and business listings

Required skills:

    *    Recent community journalism experience

    *    Ability to manage, direct, and motivate a team of freelancers

    *    Ability to manage a budget

    *    'Bull-doggish' reporting instincts and willingness to ask tough questions of important people

    *    Experience in online journalism

    *    Experience editing video, producing a Web site and/or excellent photography skills

    *    Must have a firm grasp of AP style

    *    Great news judgment

    *    Adept with a variety of social media tools

    *    Unparalleled organizational, time management, and interpersonal skills

Desired skills:

    *    Passionate about the web, social networking, and of course community journalism

    *    Be able to quickly grasp the interests, rhythms and identity of a community

    *    Thrive in a fast-paced environment

    *    Entrepreneurial spirit and drive; start up experience a plus

Bold Qualifications are things I feel fit with my skills and apply to what we have discussed in this class.

I feel that some of these qualifications that are not bold would be quite easy to get a handle on. 
I never thought of myself as being at all capable of acquiring a job in journalism, but now I see that if I were ever compelled to work professionally as a new media, online, or other sort of journalist, I wouldn't have that much trouble landing a job. 

Getting a Job as a Multimedia Journalist

Response to week 10 reading:


I like this:
A student of the author of our book once told the author that they didn't feel that they had not entered a career, they had embarked on a way of life. I think I need to look at my life in this way, not be scared of a career but embrace it as a new way of life.


The comparison of journalism to the music industry is interesting and totally relevant. It's hard to establish oneself as a staple in a world full of people/things/etc that in a constant rotation of importance. As it is hard to grow in the music industry and become an artist that is seen as important, it is even harder to become an established journalist. This is mostly due to the fact that anyone and everyone can and does blog.


Freelance seems to be the way to go in new media journalism for now, at least. These types of journalists need to be aware of how constantly changing the job market is, and be constantly molding themselves to what the industry needs.


The list of capabilities 21st journalists needs grows and grows but includes these, among others:

• write news AND feature copy for print AND online
• visualize stories for magazine and web packaging, and interplay between the two
• blog
• record interview audio and video
• be an active participant in their own community online and off

Coming out of this class, working through this book, I believe that if I truly wanted, I may be able to land a journalist job. Or at the very least, get an article published for myself. 

Dave Jenett: A regular guy who will change your life.

by Amy Hufnagle & Justin Walker

Listen to the enhanced story
that includes audio clips from our interview!
[5 min 54sec]

Recently we had the pleasure of getting to interview Dave Jenett, a man who in his lifetime had done many amazing and wonderful things. Our initial reaction upon meeting Dave was, simply and collectively, “wow.” We all felt in the instant in which we locked eyes with this man, the enthusiasm he holds for life. It radiated from his eyes and out of every movement and word he spoke. We quickly concluded and confirmed that this man would touch our hearts.

Having grown up in New Jersey, Dave, at the age of seventeen, was looking for a change. An introverted individual, he surprisingly decided to joined the armed forces. Being seventeen, he needed parental consent to join, which after some persuasion he was able to get from his mother. Dave recalls how he felt in relation to fear, or the absence of the feeling, about joining the Navy at such a young age. When he joined, World War II had already begun, and because of this, Dave would have been most likely drafted the following year anyways.

Dave was kind enough to open up to us about his experiences in WWII and the Korean War. While serving in WWI, he fought on the front lines. One of the battles he describes at the longest, deadliest, and most costly battle of the whole war. Despite all of the horrific events that Dave had experienced during the war, he always kept a positive attitude. He describes certain events where he and his comrades simply laughed because that’s all they could bring themselves to do in such hard times. It was truly moving and eye opening to hear how he was able to remain positive despite all of the adversity that he faced. Even in recounting all the monumental experiences he had, however devastating they may be, he never lost that spark in his eyes of of hope and appreciation for life. That was a great inspiration to not only our group, but it seems our whole Multimedia Journalism class as well. Dave briefly touched on his philosophy of living in our interview. He believes that life should always be preserved and embraced.

Returning home from WWII in 1946, Dave initially found it hard to readjust to civilian life. He recalls how he was not able to wear civilian clothes for several months. Eventually he was able to get back into the swing of things. Taking advantage of his knack for things of a mechanical nature, he enrolled in a vocational school to learn machining and eventually took a job making metal dyes for a jewelry company.

While no longer in active duty, Dave remained in the Naval Reserves and was called back for twenty-two months of service during the Korean war just six months after he got married. Fortunately he did not have to fight on the front line and was put to work on naval ships in the Atlantic. He worked as support, hopping around to the various ships fixing machines and working on mechanical equipment.

Reflecting on his time spent serving in both wars, it was touching to see the pride that Dave felt about being able to serve his country, as well as how fortunate he felt that he made it out relatively unharmed. We all took away something from our interview, and we all feel that we have grown and bettered from learning of Dave’s experiences and his passion for life.

Starcrossed Lovers Sneak Peak

Nicole Fahey directs a new short film, a sort of greaser/noir Romeo & Juliet.

They say, never try to rewrite Shakespeare. They also say, in order to be a great artist, one must bend to break all the rules.

Up and coming director/producer Nicole Fahey has broken the Shakespeare rule of writing by adapting the famous love story Romeo & Juliet into a 7-minute film set in the 1950's. At first hearing of this, I was skeptical of the turnout of such a task. Being lucky enough to have a chance to sit in on the filming, I was pleasantly surprised, blown away even, by the professionalism and dedication that could be seen in the eyes of all on set. 

Director, Nicole, knew exactly what she wanted from her actors. She successfully pulled her characters from deep inside of them by treating them as if they actually were her characters, not just actors portraying them. Actors and actresses reacted accordingly, by giving her exactly what she was pulling for. 

Actor Garret Holmes had the perfect 50's look about him, the mysterious confident eyes hidden in shadows under the brim of his hat. Actress Tessa Flores brought a Hepburn-esque sophisticated, classic beauty to the scenes, it seems this part was written for her. Deer-eyed and innocent, she nailed her every take beyond satisfaction of the crew. 

When asked about her experience with her actors, Director Fahey responded,

I got really lucky while I was looking for actors, Roland (who plays The Cap) played a big part in helping me secure them for my shoot. They're student actors, as I am a student film maker, which brought great ease and fun, since no one had a big head or uncontrollable ego.

Even the extras seemed a perfect fit for this type of 50's noir. If one were to walk in on this set with no previous knowledge of what was going on, it would be hard to convince oneself that they had not just time traveled. Costume design, a collective contribution on the part of all involved, included leather jackets and fedoras. All on set were smoking and holding alcoholic-looking beverages, playing cards around a table or bouncing from corner to corner dancing moves straight out of a classic John Travolta film, finger snapping and all.

I, for one, am more anxious that I previously had been before this one of a kind sneak peek into the making, to see the final result of the dedication and work put into making this short. It is sure to be a crowd pleaser, and leave the audience begging Fahey for more. I inquired with Nicole about whether or not there would be a sequel, or continuation of Starcrossed Lovers:

I would absolutely love to be able to rewrite the entire play of Romeo & Juliet in noir form, but I wouldn't do it without the same cast and crew working with me. Everything just rolled so smoothly, I would hate to try again and be disappointed. I'm definitely considering it, and thinking about talking to my cast & crew about it, because it would be something I would be extremely proud of and excited about.

More information on a release screening will be available and posted here as it is released.

Handout Notes: Good vs. Bad Questions

Good Question Types:

• Open Ended: Doesn't allow a one word or yes/no answer. Lets the intervieww approach it from whichever angle they feel appropriate.  Answers will be rich, personal and thoughtful.
• Neutral: Doesn't suggest a tone for the answer, allows more thought on the interviewee's end.   
• Specific: Start generally, then narrow. 
• Wrap Up: asked at the end of an interview - provide an opportunity for the subject to add anything they may have missed, or that may not have come up naturally in the interview.

Bad Question Types:

• yes/no questions: don't present a challenge for the interviewee, no room for thought or reflection. usually only used for fact checking purposes.
• leading questions: questions that are often confrontational, which steer the interview in the direction of their own purposes and goals. confrontation is not conducive to a successful interview.
• double barreled: when two questions are phrased in one. Often confuses the interviewee, and allows them to ignore a point if they so choose. Ask questions separately.

More Book Assignments: Interviewing Summary (week 4 & 5)

P. 104
How audio can be used:

Audio clips accompanying an article is a way to push any article further, to appeal even deeper to the reader. The sound can correspond to the article by illustrating the story that has been written - a dramatic sound clip or quote from the interviewee would be of great interest to a reader invested in the subject of your article. 

The audio package - includes a number of clips that have been edited together into a report 2-3 minutes long. Often, the package will be introduced by the reporter, sometimes the interview and sound clips can even be narrated. The sounds allow the reader a deeper connection with the article, the ability to visualize and place themselves in the moment the interview had taken place.

P 115-18
How to conduct an interview:


Approach 1: Begin with an initial interview, forming a clear idea of the story's structure. Once this is done, a formal structured and recorded interview can begin.  A drawback of this method is that spontaneity can be lost, snippets of interesting information that would be divulged in a less structured environment may never be revealed.


Approach 2: Begin recording at the first moment. To create some sort of rhythm, a list of questions and a structure to follow throughout the interview should have been previously worked out. 


The best approach (3) is to mix and match the first 2 approaches, find a compromise between the two that works best for you and stick to it.




How to phrase questions:


Open questions are best in interviewing, keeps the interviewee from answering in one word, and allows for follow up questions to be formulated as the interview progresses. 


Asking questions in the order you plan to report them is the best approach, unless more difficult questions are to be asked - those can be saved for later. To avoid a termination of an interview due to heavy emotions being stirred up, start with the light ones. 


Before you begin:

• Know your goal.
• Have a focus.
• Form clear, open questions.
• Get to the point.
• Allow room for follow-up questions.
• Don't ignore unexpected, interesting facts to slip through the cracks.
• Tell your intervieww how long it will take, roughly.
• Check recording equipment to make sure it's working.
• Keep eye contact, nod encouragement - don't speak.

P. 203-218 - Week 5
More Interview Notes:

Check & double check spelling of names and places.

Think often about whether or not a photograph is needed.

Make sure subjects know how to get in touch after the interview is conducted.

Clarify vague answers. 

Thank them genuinely, more than once. 


If taking notes in a notebook, don't let yourself get buried in it. Keep engaged with the subject. 

When taking account of an incident, allow the subject to start at the beginning and recount everything as it happened in a chronological fashion. 


When interviewing about an incident, ask a a lot of questions before filming in order to have a lot of information you can choose from to address the most important points.



Email Interview:

• Most appropriate for obtaining a few quick quotations for an article.
• Make sure not to be too casual. 
• Include a concise and robust list of questions (15-20) in the first email, don't rely on back and forth correspondance.
•  Be extra careful of the wording of open questions. Leave no room for yes or no answers.
• Allow more room than normal for backup of information through facts and figures.
• Always mention that a phone interview is an option, include a contact number.

Difficult Interviews:

If a subject wants to make an off-the-record statement, they must make that request. 
It is always worth asking why a subject wants to go off-the-record, try to reassure them.
Be reluctant to promise not to report anything, the closest to this promise would be to assure them that the information they don't want reported would only be reported if it came from another source that didn't ask for it to be kept from the public.


Don't let a subject see the story before it is published, they may become self conscious and ask for certain things to be withdrawn. A contract may, however, be drawn up, if completely necessary. 
It may be a good compromise to allow the subject to "review quotes for accuracy".

Book Assignments

week 2, website (from p. 49) response:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/correspondents/nickrobinson/

The header to this page is quite visually appealing. Simple, but engaging as Nick's face is featured against a dark gray background color. The tag line reads:

Political editor
Welcome to Newslog - come here for my reflections and analysis on what's going on in and around politics

This gives a viewer a quick summary of what this web page holds, allowing them to decide whether or not they are interested in browsing further.

I really like the layout of this website. The headlines and quick blurbs in the main body of the page allow the reader to quickly scan through and choose which articles they are most interested in. Upon clicking a headline, the full story is presented to the viewer along with a photograph or two and an option to view comments or post a comment. On the right of the article is links to Nick's other articles, and a list of the most popular BBC articles. At the bottom of the article is a widget with links to articles that relate to the article the viewer has clicked, which is really helpful to readers that are searching for as much information as possible.

On the main page is an about me section on the right side of the page is great insight to where Nick came from, which is helpful in allowing to allow the reader to learn about his background in order to further understand how he forms his thoughts.

My Chemical Romance at The Fox Theatre - Bakersfield, CA

This past wednesday, May 25th, in Bakersfield, California, a group of the most intense and loyal fans, arguably, on the face of the planet, filled the sold out Fox Theatre. 

 

My Chemical Romance's Gerard Way motions for the crowd to liven up and join him in a sing-a-long.

  

Having arrived late, I unfortunately missed the set of Kansas City, MO band, The Architects. I was quite disappointed with my timing, since I have heard many good things about this band.

Until this night, I have had a sort of silly and biased bitterness toward PA band, Circa Survive. I learned this night in Bakersfield no never assume or hold a band accountable for their fans' actions ever again. Simply, Circa Survive blew me away and out of the water. I'm pretty sure my jaw was literally on the ground in awe 90% of the set, and the other 10% it was jumbled in a sort of whimpering smile. Singer, Anthony Green, hit a chord somewhere deep inside of me that I've only recently discovered. His eyes seemed to look right through me the few times I managed to catch his eye from the 2nd row of the crowd, making me feel both uncomfortable and at ease at the same time. As for the music, his voice is angelic in an unnerving way, how you would imagine a fallen angel to sound after the long journey from heaven to earth. Sounding more like an instrument than a voice, Anthony writhed his way through the set and around the stage, commanding the energy of his band, the crowd, and seemingly of the whole earth with a wave of his hands. As a ringmaster of sorts, this man was very much the most captivating aspect of the band as a whole. 

 

Circa Survive: Anthony looking toward the sky seemingly harnessing the powers of the universe to explode out of his body and back at the crowd.

 After Circa Survive vacated the stage, the crowd's anticipation built incredibly. Not one body in the whole 1500 capacity theatre seemed to be still. Legs were bouncing, girls were fixing their hair and makeup, children were pestering their parents. 


Finally, the house lights retreated and screams that seemed to blast past the theater roof and into deep space erupted from, not just the teen girls in the crowd, but everyone in the whole building. From the minute the band took the stage, My Chemical Romance effortlessly held onto every thread of every human's attention for the entire set. 


Opening with the ever-catchy, always-stuck-in-your-head "Na Na Na", MCR rocketed through an 18 song setlist without really taking even a second to breathe. Fans were pogoing and dancing maniacally, even in the seats, not letting themselves be confined, letting the music take them over. 

The boys in the band were not disappointed, and further encouraged everyone to just let loose. The two bouncy dance songs, "Planetary(GO!)" and "Destroya" brought out the most energy from the fans, as well as the most sweat. The historic theater vibe was temporarily turned into a vibrating electro-night-club feeling, everyone moving in the same ways to the same beats and bonding through and through due to a shared love of this band.

 

Quick clip (shot by me) of the band playing "Summertime".

A very heartfelt moment came when Gerard dedicated "Summertime" to his wife, Mindless Self Indulgence bass player LynZ. The whole crowd seemed to let out a collective lovestruck sigh at the sound of this. Another moment that pulled at my own heart strings was when Gerard stated simply, "Bakersfield, it's alright to be proud of where you're from. But it's also alright to run away and never turn back", launching the band into performing one of my favorite songs "SING", where the climax of the song became a collective cry of assurance to "keep running!".

The band closed out the set with "Bulletproof Heart", and left the crowd pleading for more. As houselights rose again, some fans scattered while some waited around with hopes to catch a guitar pick, drumstick or setlist. Those lucky few let out squeals of satisfaction, throwing their arms in the air with excitement.  If ever you have the chance to catch this band live, whether or not you are a fan at the start, you will certainly be by the end. They bring a belonging to everyone involved, without even trying they just relate to everyone.

"Learning to love the new media" response

In reading this article, a lot of concerning things caught my eye. The first being how focused on the here and now that the whole of the country is becoming. To quote the article, 

"Sometimes it's difficult to keep everybody focused on the long term. The things that are really going to matter in terms of America's success 20 years from now, when we look back, are not the things that are being talked about on television on any given day."

This hit me pretty hard because I am not super involved in learning about "what's going on" in the world - I don't watch the news much and I am very picky about the "news" that I do let myself read. I believe that this quote is a good part of the reason I don't pay much attention to the television news, or the front page of yahoo.com (or other news sites). They are too busy reporting about Britney Spears' new haircut, or which celebrity couple has broken up, gotten together, or exploded in a firey drunken rage at so-and-so's hip-and-happening club on the boulevard. 

These are not things I concern myself with, and if I'm being completely honest, it makes me terribly sad that a lot of the general populous fool themselves into thinking that they do care about these things. That in their daily life, the style of boots that Bratt Pitt is wearing will affect how they go about doing their chores. They believe, since they are told to believe, that these are the things that matter.

I'm not sure if this is to do with the obsession with celebrity that America has, or that America is trying to distract the populous from the real news, the real issues, the things that will, in fact, inform a citizen's daily life. It is probably very much to do with both of these things, the celebrity obsessed probably stems and grows from the want of the government (and others in power) to keep citizens at ease, controllable, and easily impressionable.

I'm currently re-reading the book Farenheit 451, and it is fascinating how a book published in the 50's could speak so well to how actual life has turned out to be abouf 60 years later. The populous with the "seashells" (headphones) in their ears, listening to what the government and the social media wants us to know. Paying most attention to what they want us to feel is important. Watching their television-walls and relating to their "family" of characters being projected at them. 

It also fascinates me how this book is a required reading in many high schools, and still nothing is changing. It seems that readers do realize and recognize the similarities and frightfulness of those similarities between the book and our current world, but somehow can shrug it off as coincidence, or as something that isn't to be concerned with. It seems so unlikely that we will ever have "firemen" who burn our books and arrest us for owning books and thinking on our own, but I'm not sure if that thought is actually such a ridiculous one at all.

I'm certainly getting off track, here, I'll try to reign myself back into my response to the article "learning to love the new media", while still relating it to my previous almost-rant.

Another quote in the article,

"We have created a technology that has wonderful potential, but increases our ability to lie to ourselves and forget it is a lie."

This is a particurlarly scary thought. And a thought that has already proven itself true many times, through the quick spreading of rumor on the internet. Many times already have people read and heard wrongs on websites and passed on the information to others, believing it to be truths. Whether or not the website has made a mistake, or whether it is a cruel joke, many internet rumors grow and grow, are passed and passed (similar to the childhood game "telephone") until they are however skewed and very much believed to be truth until, hopefully and finally, they will be proven to be either true or false.

An upside to the internet being always editable is that when a rumor has grown into what is believed as a truth - it is usually just as easy to set this rumor to rest by posting the actual truth to the internet, where the cycle starts over and hopefully passed along and along through the same sort of path and correcting everyones' previous untruthful beliefs.

As far as I forsee, there isn't really a solution to this problem. The internet exists, and every individual will just need to be more and more aware of where they are getting their information, and whether their sources are trustworthy.

Roberta Morris Pannel Notes

Story Is Everything.



Greek Storytelling - Builds up to a crisis moment in the middle, winds down from crisis into solution.

Interactivity in journalism (and everything) gives the user control - the user likes to be in control.

Trouble with interactivity: a story sometimes takes us places we don't want to go.

Trouble with "choose your own story" the author always writes every outcome, the user never writes their own story, just chooses an already written direction.
 
In an interview, silence allows an interviewee to sit in awkward silence, while breaking down their resistance to answering the posed question.


Blue is a color that people trust - it is natural.


Roberta said this, "We (artists) tend to get there before we figure out why we are there." This speaks so much to my life, I am always arriving at my destination before I know why I've brought myself there. I speak and act before I think. I make art in certain ways, then figure out why they work afterwards.


She also said "we can be smart, instead of nosy" in relation to interviewing - but I wish more people would apply this to real life as well. I am always trying to get stories out of people, not because I am being nosy but in order to learn things through their experiences. I know I can't have every experience in the world, but if I can learn through others' experiences - I know I will have a more rounded knowledge of the world whether or not the knowledge was obtained by me or passed on to me by they who had experienced it.




end.

Journalistic Standards

 

Additions:

Intellectual principles of the science of reporting:

1)  never add anything that was not there.

2) never decieve the audience

3) be as transparent as possible about methods & motives (explain why)

4) rely on own original report

5) exersize humility

Dave Jenett Research

Korean War:

The Korean War (25 June 1950 – armistice signed 27 July 1953^[28]) was a military conflict between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China (PRC), with military material aid from theSoviet Union. The war was a result of the physical division of Korea by an agreement of the victorious Allies at the conclusion of the Pacific War at the end of World War II.

The Korean peninsula was ruled by Japan from 1910 until the end of World War II. Following the surrender of Japan in 1945, American administrators divided the peninsula along the 38th Parallel, with United States troops occupying the southern part andSoviet troops occupying the northern part.^[29]

The failure to hold free elections throughout the Korean Peninsula in 1948 deepened the division between the two sides, and the North established a Communist government. The 38th Parallel increasingly became a political border between the two Koreas. Although reunification negotiations continued in the months preceding the war, tension intensified. Cross-border skirmishes and raids at the 38th Parallel persisted. The situation escalated into open warfare when North Korean forces invaded South Korea on 25 June 1950.^[30] It was the first significant armed conflict of the Cold War.^[31]

The United Nations, particularly the United States, came to the aid of South Korea in repelling the invasion. A rapid UN counter-offensive drove the North Koreans past the 38th Parallel and almost to the Yalu River, and the People's Republic of China (PRC) entered the war on the side of the North.^[30] The Chinese launched a counter-offensive that pushed the United Nations forces back across the 38th Parallel. The Soviet Union materially aided the North Korean and Chinese armies. In 1953, the war ceased with an armistice that restored the border between the Koreas near the 38th Parallel and created the Korean Demilitarized Zone(DMZ), a 2.5-mile (4.0 km) wide buffer zone between the two Koreas. Minor outbreaks of fighting continue to the present day.

With both North and South Korea sponsored by external powers, the Korean War was a proxy war. From a military scienceperspective, it combined strategies and tactics of World War I and World War II: it began with a mobile campaign of swift infantryattacks followed by air bombing raids, but became a static trench war by July 1951.

(from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_War)

PTSD:

Posttraumatic stress disorder (also known as post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD) is a severe anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to any event that results in psychological trauma.^[1][2][3] This event may involve the threat of death to oneself or to someone else, or to one's own or someone else's physical, sexual, or psychological integrity,^[1] overwhelming the individual's ability to cope. As an effect ofpsychological trauma, PTSD is less frequent and more enduring than the more commonly seen acute stress response.

Diagnostic symptoms for PTSD include re-experiencing the original trauma(s) through flashbacks or nightmares, avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma, and increased arousal – such as difficulty falling or staying asleep, anger, and hypervigilance. Formal diagnostic criteria (both DSM-IV-TR and ICD-10) require that the symptoms last more than one month and cause significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.^[1]

Military experience

Schnurr, Lunney, and Sengupta^[40] identified risk factors for the development of PTSD in Vietnam veterans. Among those are:

• Hispanic ethnicity, coming from an unstable family, being punished severely during childhood, childhood asocial behavior and depression as pre-military factors
• War-zone exposure, peritraumatic dissociation, depression as military factors
• Recent stressful life events, post-Vietnam trauma and depression as post-military factors

They also identified certain protective factors, such as:

• Japanese-American ethnicity, high school degree or college education, older age at entry to war, higher socioeconomic status and a more positive paternal relationship as pre-military protective factors
• Social support at homecoming and current social support as post-military factors.^[52] Other research also indicates the protective effects of social support in averting PTSD or facilitating recovery if it develops.^[53][54]

There may also be an attitudinal component; for example, a soldier who believes that they will not sustain injuries may be more likely to develop symptoms of PTSD than one who anticipates the possibility, should either be wounded. Likewise, the later incidence of suicide among those injured in home fires above those injured in fires in the workplace suggests this possibility.^{[citation needed]}

(from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptsd)