Top-10 News Stories of 2010-2011 - Essay Example

WWW Top 10 News Stories of 10. World Cup Organisers will not ban vuvuzelas This article starts with stating that vuvuzelas will not be banned during the 2010 Football world cup and then tried to explain what the noise from a vuvzela is equivalent to. It then provides some opinions and provides justification as to why there will be no ban. The article is effectively written and conveys the idea across well. The lead is followed and the details that follow are all relevant. I chose this article because the Football World Cup was watched by millions around the world and vuvuzelas seemed to steal the limelight quite a lot due to the noise they produced. 9. Georgian luger dies in Olympic training crash This article begins with an introduction to the individual who died and goes on to describe the crash. The track on which the crash took place is also debated. This is followed by reactions from other lugers and the president of the Olympic committee. There is also a mention of an investigation that will take place. This article effectively provides the details that it promised it would in the lead. There is one picture and that is of the luger who died taken just prior to his death during a training run and this seems appropriate. I chose this article because this was a tragic event that occurred during an event that is watched globally and was much anticipated. 8. Royal Wedding: A day to remember This article starts off with a look at the Prince Charles and Diana wedding and then talks about the Prince William and Kate Middleton wedding that took place recently. It mainly talks about the government and the general population and attempts to look at how this wedding actually affects the average person, if at all. The marriages of other royals are also mentioned in passing. There is one picture with the article and that is of the massive crowds that gathered to watch the wedding. It seems an appropriate picture in this case as the article does discuss the people who watched the wedding and their attitudes towards the monarchy rather than give details of the wedding itself. I chose this article because this was an event that was watched by millions around the world. 7. All free in Chilean mine miracle This articles starts with a reaction from Chile’s president followed by a details of a major face in this event-the shift manager who tried to keep things organised underground when the miners were trapped. There is a brief description of the events that led to this rescue followed by the names of the men who were trapped underground. The article is effectively written. There is one picture and that the men celebrating coming back on to surface while one embraces the president. It is the perfect picture for the article and captures the jubilant mood. I chose this article as this was in the news every day for two months and there has never been a case where people were trapped underground for so long and made it out alive. 6. Haiti devastated by massive earthquake This article describes the destruction in Haiti as a result of the earthquake that occurred. It provides information about what other countries have said about their staff in the country and also the scale of the destruction. There are three pictures and the first is a schematic showing the epicentre of the earthquake. The second and third are satellite images of two cities affected by the earthquake. The first picture is appropriate for this article as are the other two. I chose this article because there was such a large scale of destruction due to this earthquake and world responded by trying to help in many ways. 5. Japan quake, tsunami cause major damage. This article is very effectively written. The lead provides us with an indication as to the scale of the event by mentioning that this is the biggest earthquake and tsunami in Japan’s history. The article goes on to discuss the concerns over the nuclear plant, reports on Japan’s main city Tokyo and provides information of international concern about the disaster. In addition, there is some background information at the end on previous earthquakes that have occurred in Japan and how this one compares to those. There are 20pictures in total in the article including a slideshow, all of which provide a good representation as to the scale of the destruction. This article was chosen because the biggest nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl disaster was caused by this event. To date, Japan is still attempting to contain damage from the nuclear plant and people still continue to live in temporary shelters. There was a high death toll due to this earthquake and tsunami and even more people were affected in other way. 4. How revolutions happen: Patterns from Iran to Egypt This articles looks at several revolutions in history and talks about the most recent one in Egypt. It first examines how a relatively small event can spark a revolution and has done so in the past. It describes how there was an attempted revolution in China but this failed. It then goes on to detail how some revolutions may end. The article started off well but only stayed true to part of the title. It did discuss how revolutions happen but the only example really discussed was a failed attempt in China and not the ones mentioned in the title, showing the pictures, or the dates of which are given in a sidebar. There one picture that is present on the article has a chronological representation of pictures of revolutions starting with Iran and the most recent one in Egypt. I chose this article because the revolutions in the Middle East were so unexpected and possibly changed the course of history. 3. Tunisia security forces shoot dead protester This articles starts off with details of how there have been protests in Tunisia. It goes on to give the official version of events as stated by the government and says one protester was shot dead. There is some background information provided at that point as to how the demonstrations started. It was due to the attempted suicide of a student the previous week and tensions have been high ever since. The article then talks briefly about the political repression in the country which has given rise to all these events. This article appears well written. It gives sufficient background so as to allow for comprehension of the story even if a person has no background information. There is one picture with the article and it is not the most effective picture. It is supposed to show protestors but if it wasn’t for the caption, this fact is lost. It merely looks like a crowd of people. I chose this article because it set in motion a series of events that are still going on to this day. The demonstrations in Tunisia eventually caused the overthrow of the government and led to a domino effect in several other countries in the Middle East. It was completely unexpected and few can argue that they saw this happening. 2. Bin Laden death ends 10-year manhunt This article starts off saying that the most wanted terrorist in the world, Osama Bin Laden has been killed. It follows with a direct quote from what President Obama’s speech when announcing the death and details of the raid that killed Bin Laden. This is followed by a description of the mood in New York, where Bin Laden carried out some of the worst attacks in American history. Finally, the story concludes with remarks from Canadian prime minister, Stephen Harper. There are a total of 14 pictures included with this news article. The first is a picture of Bin Laden followed by a slideshow which has 12 pictures. These pictures mainly show American celebrations at the news of the death of Bin Laden. The last picture is a map and shows the place where Bin Laden’s hideout was. While the first and the last picture seem appropriate, the others do not actually keep in line with the headline so are not necessary. While this article started off well, it appears that the lead was somewhat misleading. Rather than give details about Bin Laden’s death, it went on to describe the mood in New York mainly. I chose this news story because Bin Laden has been in the news for almost the past decade and it definitely impacted the world when he was killed. 1. Wikileaks founder awarded peace medal This article first lets the reader know about the award that was given to the Wikileaks founder and then provides some information about the exclusive award that was given. There is a brief description of what the Wikileaks founder has done in the text too. The article is well written and follows the lead though a little bit more background information would have been useful. There is one picture of the Wikileaks founder holding up his award and that seems like a fitting picture to go with this article. I chose this article because the Wikileaks caused a major scandal in politics globally which is still going on today. The scandal that was caused affected the world in many aspects unlike the other stories which mainly affected one region or one particular domain. List of websites where the articles were obtained from: 10. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2010/8737455.stm 9. http://sports.ca.msn.com/olympics/article.aspx?cp-documentid=23448256 8. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/royal-wedding-a-day-to-remember-2135926.html 7. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/10/14/3038348.htm 6. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8455629.stm 5. http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/03/11/japan-quake-tsunami.html 4. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12431231 3. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12076532 2. http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/05/01/us-obama.html 1. http://abcasiapacificnews.com/stories/201105/3213468.htm?site=gippsland Read More