Here is the rough draft of my lede for my story:

College students tend to rack up the most frivolous credit card charges at the bars and restaurants after they have been out drinking.

Credit Card Debt

I think that three people who would be great to interview for the topic of college students & credit card debt include a student who does actually have some credit card debt, the parent of a student with credit card debt, and someone who works for a credit card company (it would be quite ironic if this employee was a student who did, in fact, have some credit card debt).

I talked to a girl that I work with who isn't exactly in debt, but she does have a little bit of outstanding money owed to her credit card company. It frustrates her because she wants to pay off the bill, but she slowly but surely continues to dig herself a deeper hole. When she gets a paycheck, she spends it on bills. She's pretty much stuck between a rock and a hard place.

For my news story, I want to talk about how even if students get themselves in debt, it isn't just because of irresponsibility. Sure, there are students out there who spend their money like it grows on trees and then complain about the bill later, but there are also those students who pay for everything themselves and find it difficult to balance everything.

Credit Card Debt

Credit card debt is a horrible thing to deal with, especially if you're a college student. According to MSNBC, about 75% of the 17 million college students have credit cards. In 1998, 67% of college students had credit cards. 

The number of credit cards isn't the only number that has changed, however. MSNBC also says the "freshman 15" is no longer just a phrase to describe the beer and pizza pounds packed on in the first year of college. It now represents the thousands of dollars that some students have in debt. That's right -- $15,000. Only a few students have gone this far, thank goodness.

Young Money says that the average credit card debt of a college student is around $2,700 and only 10% of these credit card holders have gone above $7,000. They also provided some pretty interesting facts about these big spenders. Nellie Mae, a leading provider of higher education loans, analyzed last year's applicant information. Most students have about three credit cards, and 32% had four or more. I personally don't understand why people need that many.

All I have to say is that I'm really glad I don't have a credit card. I'd be packing on the freshman 50 if I did.

Oh No They Didn't!

A great example of a well-written and designed blog is Oh No They Didn't. Created only a few years ago, ONTD has blown up into a widely known celebrity gossip blog with over 100 million viewers. This blog is run by an administrative team and its members. Any member of the community is allowed to post an entry, and the admin approves it. Repeated articles rarely show up and the information sources are always listed to ensure credibility. As long as you are a member of the community, you are free to post and comment. Not to mention, it is highly addictive. ;-)

This blog is different from other types of news writing for quite a few reasons. As mentioned in class, people can comment on these articles and edited as needed. There is a very distinct sense of humor that is present in the blogs as well as the comments which makes them fun to read. While this is the only blog I read regularly, I'm sure there are others out there that are just as entertaining!

To be honest, I do not know many students that read blogs. The closest thing to a blog that I know is enormously popular among students is Facebook. There are just so many blogs out there and it is hard to pinpoint one that appeals to you (I learned about Oh No They Didn't through a friend). I think that blogs would be a successful tool for journalists and public relations professionals to use if they are advertised in a very public place, such as a magazine or ad on a popular website. If no one has heard about it, the chances of multiple finding and reading it are very slim.