Week 9

Week 8

This week I am writing my own article about a teenager's experience in Venice Italy.

A Young Teenager in Venice

I went to Italy to stay in Venice for a week. As I travelled between the islands via the vaporetto I was able to experience firsthand, a side of Italy that I had never known was there.

Kate Jackson 

As a teenager, I've never possessed a great desire to go to such a historical city as Venice, and my family usually opt to holiday in resorts. Not long after I flew into Venice Marco Polo Airport the heavens opened and lashings of rain flooded the pavements, and as far as I could see, Venice wasn't exactly the white sand beach I was used to. However, about 20 minutes later I was cruising up the Venetian Lagoon towards the Lido, leaning out of a vaporetto as I multi-tasked not dropping my iPhone into the water and snapping photos of brightly painted buildings, their pastel coloured fronts reflecting on the water. A scene of such beauty was not at all what I had expected. For the rest of the journey, I took to keeling on my seat, right at the bow of the boat, snapping photos out of the window.

Our hotel sported an extraordinary multi-coloured mosaic facade, which the porter told us, had been created in 1913 and is the largest in the continent. The hotel overlooked the Gran Viale Santa Maria Elisabetta and was a few minutes’ walk from the dock. As the hotel is an exclusive early 19th century residence, it has its original furnishings, which were created more than a century ago by an Italian designer. With its antique style and modern comforts; it offered a historic residence with a one-of-a-kind atmosphere.

We took the vaporetto to San Zaccaria, and went to the Piazza San Marco. We sat out in the sun, drinking coffee and enjoying the live music at the famous Caffè Florian, a coffee house established in 1720, making it one of the oldest in the world. We then toured one of the main landmarks of Venice, the Palazzo Ducale; a palace built in Venetian Gothic style that housed the many Doges of Venice and political bodies of state for centuries. I have studied periods of history in school that match those surrounding the history of the palace and I found it very interesting. Another building that we toured on the Piazza San Marco was the Basilica di San Marco. I had been learning about the renaissance in school and the descriptions my teacher had given in class of churches from that period were brought to life through the basilica’s magnificent design and gold ground mosaics. We sailed up the Canal Grande to Rialto and the Pointe di Rialto, a beautiful bridge home to many shops and restaurants. One day it was very stormy and we took the vaporetto to Murano Colonna and toured one of the Murano Glass factories before window shopping the rainbow of glassware. Probably the most magnificent building I came across in Venice was Chiesa di San Maria della Salute, a church located in the Dorsoduro sestiere. The dome of the Salute has become an emblem of the city and the exterior is richly decorated by statues of the four evangelists. Whist visiting the Salute, I viewed the final painting by the famous Italian painter Tintoretto, The Last Supper.

The many historic sites that I saw were very much a big part of my holiday, but I think that the trip would not have been complete if I hadn’t found the answer to the question that had pried away at the back of my mind before; why would a teenager want to visit Venice? When I did find the answer, it felt like it had been staring me in the face since my first boat ride. We were travelling back to the Lido one evening, the air had a humid tinge to it and as the sun cast its warm, orangey glow across the lagoon and the water’s surface seemed to shimmer in a way I had only thought possible in children’s fairy-tales, a few gondolas bobbed about in the water, the gondoliers, dark silhouettes against the glow. My mind’s eye captured the scene the way a camera does and in that moment I realised why a teenager would want to visit the City of Water; to witness a simple moment of that overpowering beauty themselves.    

Week 8

Week 8

• Paper 1: The Guardian

The story that I am looking at in the The Guardian this week is "Big bet pays off for McIlroy's dad". This article is by Ewan Murray of the Royal Liverpool Golf Club.

Rory McIlroy won the Open Championship on Sunday 20^th July. When his father Gerry was a bar steward in Belfast 10 years ago, he placed a £200 bet at the odds of 250/1 that Rory would win the Open within 10 years (before the age of 26) which evidently ran to the end of 2015. A further £100 was bet at 150/1 that the golfer would win the Open before turning 50. As 25-year-old McIlroy raised the Claret Jug aloft at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club after winning by two shots, his father found himself £100,000 richer.  

Ladbrokes said that two of Gerry's friends had placed similar bets, which will cost the bookmaker's a further £80,000. Jessica Bridge of Ladbrokes said: "This is the most expensive Open result since Tiger Wood's heyday in 2006, but although we're facing heavy losses we can't help but admire the foresight of Rory's dad and his pals a decade ago." Rory said: "I don't think it matters so much to my dad any more but the mates he did it with, I think they're a little happier."

• Paper 2: Daily Mail 

The story that I am looking at in the Daily Mail this week is "£50K for dad - from bet 10 years ago." This article is by Arthur Martin.

Rory McIlroy's father Gerry won £50,000 from a bookmaker on Sunday night, ten years after he and a friend placed a bet on his son winning the open. When Rory was 15, Gerry and his friend placed a £200 bet that Rory would win the tournament before he was 26. It was their last chance to win the bet because Rory's 26^th birthday is on May 5^th next year, which is before the Open. Boolmaker Ladbrokes will now have to pay Gerry and his friend £50,000 each after offering odds of 500-1 a decade ago.

• In Conclusion...

This week, The Guardian has surprised me by having a bigger story. They have used quotes from three different people; Rory McIlroy, Gerry McIlroy and Jessica Bridge. They author of the article is a primary source as they are from the golf club where the tournament was held.
The Daily Mail's article was a bit disappointing content wise. It was very short, touching lightly on the subject. Not much information was given, and that given was very brief and vague. 

Week 7

Week 7

• Paper 1: The Guardian

The story that I am looking at in the The Guardian this week is "Man planned to eat 14-year-old, court told". This article is written by the Press Association, and looks at a man formerly from Canterbury, Kent, who planned to eat a 14-year-old girl he met on the internet.

A nurse, Dale Bolinger,57, used the Dark Fetish Network to discuss beheading and eating women and girls for sexual gratification. Bolinger was propelled to do this by his cannibalism fetish. On 17^th September 2012, the day before he was due to meet his alleged victim he bought an axe from Broadstaires, Kent, and told the girl that all she needed to do was get on a train to Ashford International Station. 

The New York field office of the FBI, which was investigation chats about the rape, killing and cannibalism of women, found chats between Bolinger and who he thought was a a 14-year-old Mexican girl called Eva, who was living in Germany. During these chats, Bolinger proposed to meet the girl, as well as discussing the sexual acts he would perform before and after her death. Police seized Bolinger's phones and searched his home. They found computer discs containing indecent images of children. The prosecutor Martin Yale told the jury that "He said he would murder her with an axe or a cleaver and then he would eat her." The court was told that during chats with other users, Bolinger also claimed to have eaten a 39-year-old woman and a 5-year-old child, and statements were made to the police admitting that the images found on the computer discs, were his. It was also discovered that an email address, meatmarketman@rocketmail.com was being accessed from a computer in Kent.

Phone records have shown that on the day he arranged to meet Eva, 18^th September 2012, Bolinger was in the Ashford area between 11.56am and 12.08pm. Eva, whose identity has never been established, never arrived, leaving Bolinger to return home. Yale said, "It's clear from the chat logs that Mr Bolinger believed he was speaking to, and was going to meet, a 14-year-old girl." Bolinger said that he had only gone to Ashford because he feared for the girl's safety following the conversations they'd had, claiming if she had arrived he would have gone straight to the police. 

• Paper 2: Daily Mail 

The story that I am looking at in the Daily Mail this week is "Male nurse 'told girl of 14 that he would kill and eat her'". This article's author was Chris Greenwood, the Crime Correspondent. 

Greenwood starts the article with the sentence, "A nurse told a 14-year-old girl he planned to kill and eat her as he groomed her for sex online, a court heard." Dale Bolinger, 57 even went to a local DIY shop and bought an axe the day he was due to meet his victim. However, the girl didn't turn up and he was arrested after his sick boasts were discovered by investigators on a sinister internet chatroom. Bolinger went by the name of "meatmarketman" next to a profile picture of model Naomi Campbell.  

The NHS hospital nurse was a regular user of the Dark Fetish Network where he chatted about rape, murder and cannibalism, grooming young girls for sex. He claimed to have eaten a 39-year-old bkack woman and a 5-year-old child, saying the meat of children is much more "tender". 

In September 2012, he exchanged messages with a girl called 'Eva Gonza', whose true identity has never been discovered. The pair agreed to meet at Ashford International rail station, but the teenager did not turn up. 

Bolinger, a nurse since 1979, has been arrested at the Kent hospital where he worked. Police found photographs of himself posing with the axe on his computer. 

• In Conclusion...

I feel that, as I've noticed before the article in The Guardian touched lightly on the subject, whereas the Daily Mail on the other hand, as usual went into greater detail, using more quotes and providing a lot more information within the quarter-page article. 
I found the Daily Mail's article more enjoyable to read as I learnt new information that The Guardian hadn't told me. They communicated the information in an informal way that seemed chatty.

Week 6

Week 6

• Paper 1: The Guardian

The story that I am looking at in the The Guardian this week is "We believed he would be safe, parents of teenager killed by polar bear tell inquest". Steven Morris is the author of the article, which looks at the death of a sleeping British teenager on an Arctic expedition. A starving polar bear ripped open the boy's tent before dragging him out, causing fatal head injuries. 

The parents of Horatio Chapple, 17, told the inquest in Sailsbury, Willtshire that they were wrongly assured that a number of safety measures would help keep thier son safe. A former high court judge highlihted a string of mistakes and equipment failures that may have contrubited to the tragedy. Horatio's parents, David and Olivia said that, "we had been concerned about bears before our son went on the trip to the remote Svalbard archipelago in Norway and discussed what he would to if he encountered one." They said "we would not have let him go if we had known that safety equipment was missing or defective." 

Olivia Chapple said she was "more anxious" than her husband and son and went through every detail in the expedition's risk assessment to reassure herself. The risk assessment itself referred to flares being available to all expedition members to help them frighten away bears. However, as David states, Horatio had to defend himself with just his bare hands. Olivia said: "The trip was an expensive trip, I believed that they would have proper equipment...I was naive." Horatio's father carried on to say: "We believed that the staff would do as they said and act responsibly to protect the children under their care. I believed and trusted the things that were listed, otherwise I wouldn't have let him go." 

Horatio, an Eton College student who had planned to follow his parents into medcine, was part of an expedition organised by the charity the British Schools Exploring Society (BSES), which was created by a member of Scott's fateful expedition to the Antartic in the 1930s to give youngsters a tase of adventure. As the party slept on the morning of 5^th August 2011, a few miles inland, the bear struck. Former Judge, Sir David Steel's report gives a vivid account of the chaos that happened, "It would appear likely that the bear must have ripped open the tent on Horatio's side. It then dragged Horatio out causing serious, indeed probably mortal wounds to his head. The screaming and shouts of 'bear' woke the rest of the camp. Horatio appeared to try and sit up or even attemp to stand whereupon the bear reared up and slammed into him. He fell to the ground. He was not seen to move again." The expedition's science leader had fired four or five shots at the bear from the party's rifle, which dated back to the second world war, as the creature rampaged through the camp but the bullets fell harmlessly to the ground as it had been set up wrongly. The bear turned on the man and mauled him about the head, causing him to drop the gun. The mountain leader of the group diverted the bear by throwing a stone at it, but the bear turned on him too and mauled him badly. The science leader found one of the edjected bullets, loaded the gun and shot the animal dead. 

The chief leader of the expedition for BSES, Richard Payne says that it has now completely revamped its standard operations procedure for polar reigons.

• Paper 2: Daily Mail 

The story that I am looking at in the Daily Mail this week is "Eton boy killed by polar bear after vital tripwire fail". The author is Eleanor Harding, who starts off the article with the sentence, "An Eton schoolboy was mauled to death by a polar bear after a trip wire which had been mended with paper clips failed to trigger an alert, a report has found."

Horatio Chapple, 17, was dragged from his tent while on a £4,000 adventure holiday in Svalbard, Norway, with friends in 2011. The horrific details were laid bare in a report which concluded that the death was "not unforseeable". It was told how trip organisers had realised the tripwire kit was defective only once the expedition had started, leaving the group to improvise with paper clips and safety pins. 

Sir David Steel, a High Court judge, said, "the group were camping on a remote glacier and had been using a tripwire which should have triggered if crossed." But at 7:30am on August 5^th the bear broke in while the group were asleep, and the devices failed to trigger. The 39-stone animal ripped open Horatio's tent and dragged him outside, causing 'mortal' head wounds. As his horrified companions screamed 'bear', others in the camp left their tents and witnessed Horatio being mauled by the animal.

Sir David wrote: "Horatio appeared to try and sit up or even attemp to stand whereupon the bear reared up and slammed into him. He fell to the ground. He was not seen to move again." It is reported that one of the expedition leaders, Michael Reid, tried four times to shoot the bear with a rifle, but the bullets were simply ejected on to the ground. The bear then launched itself on him, and he dropped the gun as he was being mauled. When a secon leader threw a stone at the bear, it mauled him too before attacking others in the group, injuring four in all. Witnesses said it kept going back to the "prone body of Horatio", which was lying life-less on the ground. 

Sir David stated: "A significant number of parts were missing for the tripwire, and there were not enough pen flares - which can be used to scare away polar bears - to go around. And despite the equipment being defective, it had been decided not to implement a 'bear 'watch', in which members of the group would stay awake to guard the camp." Richard Payne, from the BSES, who was 'ultimately responsible' for the children's safety, left chacking the pallet of tripwires until the last minute, when a 'substantial shortfall' of items was discovered, it was said. Vital parts were missing, including half the stakes needed to set up a boundary and two-thirds of the alarm triggers.

To conclude, Sir David said: "This tragedy was caused by the rare occurance of an intrusion of a starving polar bear into a camp situated well inland. It was a remote possibility but not unforseeable."

• In Conclusion...

I feel that the article in The Guardian gave a more personal account of what happened. Buy frequently quoting Horatio Chapple's parents and giving their thoughts and opinions, we're able to see how the family were affected. 
The Daily Mail on the other hand, gave a very detailed account of the actual attack. Some of the images created, although quite gory, enable the reader to get a bigger picture of what actually happened to Horatio, and why the BSES have been making such a fuss about safety and equipment standards since the accident.

Week 5

Week 5

• Paper 1: The Guardian

The story that I am looking at in the The Guardian this week is "Graham Chapman and me". The article's author is Ken Levy. The atricle holds Levy's recollection of how "a chance to encounter backstage led to an unlikely friendship". 

Monty Python are are a British comedy group that created Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that aired on the BBC almost 50 years ago! The Python phenomenon launched the members to individual stardom, and developed from the television series into touring stage shows, films, numerous albums, several books and a stage musical. The group's influence on comedy has been compared to The Beatles' influence on music.

Ken Levy was a fledging reporter for his university's newspaper in the year of '76. He went to see Monty Python live at New York's City Centre and talked his way backstage, hours ahead of showtime. He was lead through a maze of dressing rooms to the great Graham Chapman himself, who - Levy reports - "greeted me affably and invited me to sit while he prepared for the evening's first skit". 

Levy spoke with Chapman during the breaks in the show and then again few days later when he met him at his hotel to conduct a longer interview. Levy writes, "He was softly spoken, down to earth, yet incredibly idiosyncratic and, well Pythonesque. I was dumbstruck when he offered his phone number with the suggestion to 'ring us up if you're ever in London' "

In the summer of '76, Levy travelled to London and was invited to visit Graham in Highgate, North London. Levy, Chapman and his partner David Sherlock chatted about politics and the couple's recent holiday over red wine and homemade moussaka. Levy was invited to stay the night and from there, the unlikely start to a years-long friendship with Graham, David and John Cleese began. Once Levy returned to the USA the two fell out of touch. Levy heard that Clapman fell ill with throat cancer and passed away very quickly in 1989 at 48. 

To end, Levy quotes a note he once saw in Chapman's office, that was written in the graet comedian's hand. The note read, "When I get upset I have a tendency to bit scaffolding which is bad as I've already had three teeth capped this week".

• Paper 2: Daily Mail 

The story that I am looking at in the Daily Mail this week is "And now for something completely shameless". This article is by Sam Creighton and is about the lauch of Monty Python's farewell show.

The show was lauched on Monday, 30^th June. The survivng Pythons now in their seventies have hired 20 dancers - ten male and ten female, all of whom are young enough to be their grandchildren. The show has a ten-date run at London's O2. The routines are based around their many sketches, such as their 1970 sketch "Blackmail". 

John Cleese (74), Terry Gilliam (73), Terry Jones (72), Eric Idle (71) and Michael Palin (71) star in the £4.5million show, which features appearances by Professors Stephen Hawking and Brian Cox. The Pythons will also show a video of Sir Mick Jagger (70), discussing the production wih Rolling Stones bandmate Charlie Watts (73), saying ironically: "It's a bunch of wrinkly old men trying to make a load of money."

• In Conclusion...

I feel that the article in The Guardian gave a very one-sided view of the Pythons whereas the Daily Mail's article gave an all-rounded view of the group. However, Sir Mick Jagger's comment was - in my opinion - quite rude, I can't comment on whether that was intentional.

As The Guardian is more of a politically based newspaper, I didn't expect them to have a double spread on the matter as I felt that, as the Daily Mail has more of a more formal, chattier tone, it would be the one with the longer article, not just a couple of paragraphs squished in at the right-hand corner of a page.