MA Coursework: photos, action and identification

Action:

Indian plane crash

 

 

Millbank student riots

 

 

 

Belfast pipe bomb

Identification:

 

Ikechukwu Tennyson Obih was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2004.

 

 

 

Tariq Aziz

 

 

 

Murdered bride

 

 

 

Writing exercise wk 4

The writing exercise about the Southsea fire.

"Police have launched a mobile phone appeal after a Southsea dinosaur was destroyed in a blaze.

An unexplained fire in the small hours of this morning destroyed the model dinosaur on Southsea common.      Police were alerted by Fire and Rescue crews who attended the incident.

A police spokesman appealed to members of the public whose mobile phone footage could hold vital clues to the cause of the fire.

Journalism week 6 homework

The task was to identify categories of features in a current magazine - mine is the November edition of Rugby World.
- Feature Interview (Martin Johnson pp 48-53, Alex Goode p 41, Alun Wyn Jones p 42, etc))
- Response (Competition p 54, Letters pp16-17)
- Pictorial (Costume Drama pp12-13)
- Profile (30 minutes with Byron Kelleher p 21
- Column (Lawrence Dallaglio p 23, Frank Keating p 33
- Profile (Racing Metro pp 62-67, Cardiff Blues 68-71, etc)
- Reviews (Bobby Windsor: The Iron Duke, p 152
- News Features (Side Lines p 18 onwards)

News stories from Press releases - week 5 journalism exercise

Hampshire Country Council recently hosted its Business Conference to consider the impact of the spending cuts on local companies.

The conference took place against a background of the Council having to cut £19M off its annual budget, and provided an opportunity for business leaders to have their say in where the axe should fall.

Councillor Ken Thornber, Leader of Hampshire County Council, said: “In the current financial climate it is more important than ever that the public and private sector work together to support the economy. It was useful to see that there was general agreement over what the top priorities and areas for collaboration should be, such as improving broadband access and encouraging entrepreneurship.”

Delegates at the conference said their key messages to the Council while it is looking to reshape its budget are to make it easier for local businesses to provide goods and services for the Council and to keep business informed of the main issues the Council is facing and the changes that are planned.

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Young people from Basingstoke celebrated the opening of the new Oakley Skate Park on Thursday October 28.

The opening followed a £30,000 refurbishment project funded by the Youth Capital Fund administered by Hampshire County Council. 

Councillor Roy Perry, Hampshire County Council’s Executive Lead Member for Children’s Services, said: “The new Skate Park reflects the hard work and efforts of a group of enterprising young people who wanted to make improvements to recreational facilities in their area. The new-look skate park will provide a safe environment but one that is physically challenging and encourages an active lifestyle.”

The youngster involved, advised on the type of equipment they wanted to see at the site and worked alongside the contractors to develop and design the new layout. As part of its continued commitment and support to the area’s young people, the Parish Council has put in place a 3 year maintenance schedule to ensure the Skate Park remains in good condition and continues to meet the needs of the area.

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Hampshire County Council’s Cabinet, at its regular monthly meeting, has been looking behind the headlines of the spending cuts to see just what it means for the county.

Although the average cuts to local government funding over the next four years will be 7.25%, the cuts will be greater in the first two years with an average loss of 10.1% in 2011/12 and 8.6% in the following year.

“These figures are the average grant cuts across the country. Hampshire could see larger losses depending on how the grant is distributed between councils. If we take our past funding levels as an indicator then Hampshire will be one of the hardest hit” said Councillor Ken Thornber, Leader of Hampshire County Council.

He went on to say that “Over the next couple of months we will get a clearer picture of the funding that Hampshire will actually receive and this will coincide with this phase of our work to secure reductions in our expenditure. We will also be asking business and residents where they feel cutbacks can be made, and all of this combined will help us to identify priorities for the future and draw up our budget for 2011/12. We are facing turbulent times and we will do what we can to reduce uncertainty for residents, staff and partners.”

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Hampshire County Council will celebrate the life of former County Councillor, David Kirk on Tuesday 16 November at a special Thanksgiving Service at Winchester Cathedral.

David Kirk, the former Executive Lead Member for Children’s Services died suddenly on 16 August. He was aged 63 and is survived by his wife Tracey, their two sons Marc and Alex and two older daughters from a previous marriage.

Inviting people to attend the service Councillor Ken Thornber, Hampshire County Council’s Leader, said: “David was a larger than life character, well-known and well-loved by a vast number of people who came into contact with him professionally and personally. I hope many of those who knew him and worked with him will join us in a celebration of thanksgiving for his life at Winchester Cathedral. David, I know, would not want it to be a sombre occasion – he would want everyone to join together in celebration of his life.”

The Thanksgiving ceremony will start at 2pm and will be attended by the Lord-Lieutenant of Hampshire, Dame Mary Fagan, the High Sheriff of Hampshire, Alan Lovell, County Councillors and other local dignitaries. Formal tributes will be paid by Councillor Thornber , the Director of Children’s Services, John Coughlan, Liberal Democrat spokesman on Children’s Services, Councillor Brian Dash and Hampshire’s Chief Fire Officer John Bonney.

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Writing exercise wk 4

The writing exercise about the Southsea fire.

"Police have launched a mobile phone appeal after a Southsea dinosaur was destroyed in a blaze.

An unexplained fire in the small hours of this morning destroyed the model dinosaur on Southsea common.      Police were alerted by Fire and Rescue crews who attended the incident.

A police spokesman appealed to members of the public whose mobile phone footage could help to resolve the mystery of the cause of the fire.

Bad weather is hindering forensic experts in their search for clues."

Grinding through Teeline

That's how I've spent the past couple of days, going back over what was taught, but this time doing it at my own pace.  It's more than 30 years since I was formally taught anything that matters and it's been interesting to see how I best work.

The first thing to say is that two-hour Teeline sessions without a break just don't do it for me, and it appears that I'm not alone.  Talking to teachers and lecturers that I know, coupled with a bit of internet research, it appears that the consensus view is that somewhere between 45 and 60 minutes is the optimum time to teach - after that and the Law of Diminishing returns kicks in.  If you've a two or three-hour session, the advice seems to be to break it up and let the students grab a coffee, pop to the loo, get a breath of fresh air, talk to each other and so on - in other words, encourage their minds to wander off the taught subject so that they return to it fresher and with renewed enthusiasm.

Grinding through the Teeline book yesterday, I found that is exactly how it works for me: I get much more done in three 40-minute sessions than I would in a single two-hour session - that's obviously how my mind works best.  Besides, after two hours of non-stop Teeline I'd need to have all sharp objects kept well out of my reach!

If we stick with the macho two-hour slots (why not miss lunch and just hammer through for a straight five hours?), then I'm going to stand up every 45 minutes or so and have a wander around, for no reason other than the fact that I'm still rehab'ing from an arthroscopy on my ageing knee, and two hours of sitting down becomes damned uncomfortable!

I remember Rick Stein once saying, when he was laughing at the breed of young chefs who shout, f' and blind, hit their sous-chefs, and generally set out to demonstrate just how much excess testosterone they have in their systems, that the view seems to be that 'You're not a real man until you've been hit with a Sautoise thrown at you by a Michelin-starred chef'!  I'm afraid I feel a bit like that now and I've decided that from here on in I need to learn Teeline in the way that works best for me, and that involves taking the occasional break.