Terrible puns and crazy stories - what the media reported about the Chilean miners

There has only really been one story dominating the headlines across the world this week, and that is the Chilean Miners.

The live coverage that played nonstop and had reporters and psychiatrists speaking endlessly about...well not a lot really... was played to an audience over 1 billion people.

While some of the controversy focussed on how the BBC (one of the world’s biggest media organisations covering the world’s biggest stories of the year) had sent twenty five reporters to the Chilean desert to cover the story, the red top tabloids took a different look at it.

“FREED HOT CHILE FELLAS” screamed The Sun, in a really bad attempt at a pun on the Red Hot Chili Peppers (I think, I am very open to correction!). While the headline was bad, and it was, what followed up inside was positively cringe worthy.

The tabloid went on to describe how the freed miners were planning to “romp” with their wives, and in some cases their mistresses. Maybe it is just me, but if I had been stuck underground for two or more months, I would want a nice long sleep in an actual bed.

The Daily Star went one better, with their front page splash today exclaiming that “CHILE MINE TO OPEN AS THEME PARK”. The story was similar to a story that circulated on joke website The Spoof.

While the tabloids were having a field day, the 24 hour news channels were doing their best to keep things going as man after man came out of the mine, hugged their families, hugged the President, who must be one of the most popular presidents in the world right now.

An honourable mention must go to the coverage from Al Jazeera, whose coverage was once again exemplary, and to Jonathan Miller of Channel 4. The much vaunted channel were the first UK channel to broadcast an interview with a miner. It seems it is a coup for 21^st century journalism as it appeared that the film was made on a mobile phone, yet was still of broadcast quality.

On Tuesday night I attended the Frontline Clubs debate on the future of television. There, Channel 4's technology correspondent Benjamin Cohen described how television is still the only way to watch a live event, and this story showed it, with over a billion people watching the events unfold live on television.

Why compact newspapers are the way forward - even for the quality press

Everyone has done it. We walk into a newspaper shop, and as we reach for the Telegraph, or the Guardian we have that quick though flash through our head: We want to read these bigger broadsheet papers but the others are just so much more appealing. Smaller size is easier to read on the bus, tube, anywhere.

Many publications have thought of this in recent times. The Independent took the plunge and went compact with favourable results. The Times soon followed, even the Guardian changing their size to a more manageable 'Berliner' format.

Finally, it seems, Ireland's media have got with the programme. While the Irish Star's 'Ireland RIP' front page may have grabbed all the headlines in the past week, it may have gone unnoticed that The Sunday Tribune have changed their size to a compact.

Now, I would have bought the Sunday Tribune quite a lot and even contributed a few small stories. It is a paper that I would have a lot of time for, not least for its in depth sports coverage. Miguel Delaney, Ewan McKenna and Malachy Clerkin are all in the top notch bracket of journalists in the country.

The format isn't hugely different, same columns from the same people, but the reading experience certainly was. As I travelled round the country at GAA games last summer I found it very hard to read the broadsheet size, so this new paper is a joy.

So the message is clear: Change the size, it doesn't diminish the quality!

MA International Journalism - new city, new life!

Seven months ago I got word that I had been accepted on to the City University's International Journalism MA. The relief at getting the place soon changed to a nervous excitement at the thought of living in one of the most exciting cities in the world.

Getting here was a shot to the system. OK, dragging suitcases through the tube at rush hour wasn't the finest idea I have ever had, especially as my previous experience of public transport was a thrice daily bus to Armagh. From my nearest bus stop I am sure I can get a thrice minutely bus into town.

However, despite being in this place a mere three weeks, I have already fallen in love with it. The hustle and bustle may not be to everybody's taste, but it is finding a place in my life already.

It has been a crazy three weeks already. On my second weekend here, the Pope arrived in town, disgracefully large entourage in tow. While we waited on the cavalcade to arrive we decided to take a detour, running head first into the massive protest as it was snaking its way from Piccadilly Circus to Parliament Square. Never being one to miss a journalistic opportunity, myself and Jessica Abels decided to stay and watch. An interesting array of people protesting at everything from the Popes policy on Condoms, to his response to the child sex abuse scandals. There were banners, people dressed as the Pope, even an umbrella covered in condoms. The protest was interesting, showing the anger that many people feel at the Catholic Church.

Luckily, we got a good view for the Pope's cavalcade, which for me wasn't hugely exciting. I am a Catholic, but didn't really feel as pious as I probably should have. Maybe in later years I will have been glad for the experience.

A week of getting settled in later and it was Uni time. Put simply, City University's journalism course is nothing if not impressive. TV studios, radio studios, editing and production rooms of the highest quality litter the specifically built department. With the quality of lecturers on show, it promises to be a fantastic year!

How have the media covered the Haitian earthquake

The plight of Haiti has been brought to the world through television sets, radio, newspaper pictures and the internet. No sooner had the earthquake shattered Port Au Prince and Sky News had a man on from Port Au Prince via skype.

Over the last ten days the story has saturated the news networks. All the big names have been reporting off the runway of the damaged airport; Jon Snow, George Alagiah and Robert Moore have all brought the harrowing stories to the people of the UK.

The different styles have been apparent. The BBC have been making great factual packages, and people like Matt Frei and Orla Guerin are on the ground telling harrowing stories. Guerin's package last night on the port and its damage was an informative piece.

Channel 4's coverage was harrowing in the extreme. Pictures of trucks dumping dead bodies in mass graves were shocking, but we were well warned that the pictures were as such. It is one of the striking images of the horrible natural disaster.

The story now is aid. Why is it not getting in enough, what is happening when it gets there, and how will the survivors live. The camera's and reporters will leave, the world of news will move on but for the three million or so people who have been affected the story will always be there.

The danger of reporting war is brought home with death of UK journalist

“Tragically, it was a matter of time.”

A succinct analogy of the death of Rupert Hamer, and one that will ring true with journalists across the UK, and across the world. The news that Sunday Mirror Defence Editor had been killed by a roadside bomb in Helmand province was, while a tragedy, also something that was inevitably going to happen.

War reporting remains one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. Many journalists have lost their lives in the pursuit of a story from a war torn corner of the earth. This was, however, the first British casualty since Terry Lloyd in 2003.

War reporting is one of the under appreciated forms of journalism and in 21st century Britain has been one of the most important. With the UK involved in two wars, the public crave news from the front line. They rarely take a second to think how dangerous the profession is. Journalists more often than not will be embedded with the Armed forces, as Hamer was when he was blown up in Afghanistan.

For the journalist there is the age old debate of 'safety v getting the real story.' There is no doubt that being embedded with the army takes away the power of impartiality. When you depend on these men for your safety you will tend to side with the guys that are watching over you. However, being with the army doesn't guarantee safety, as we have so tragically seen in the past week.

War reporting and its risks are highlighted in John Owen and Heather Purdey's “International News Reporting – Frontlines and Deadlines.” Purdey and Owen, lecturers at City University in London have gathered people from all walks of international journalism to contribute their own experiences and insights.

Chris Cramer's chapter is an interesting read. In it, he talks of the need for war reporters to get the help they need when they come home, and the cases of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that can be caused by the reporting. He describes how CNN staff who are deployed to active war regions have to go through a five day 'hostile regions' course, run by UK company AKE Limited.

The book itself is a fascinating read and a must for all budding journalists. It is brutal in its honesty, and portrays the difficulties and indeed severe conditions that war reporters face when they try to bring the news from the front line. Rupert Hamer was not the first and certainly will not be the last journalist to be killed in action. His death does bring the plight of the war reporter to a higher stage however. The next time we watch the television or open the page of a newspaper we should all remember the effort taken to get the story.

With Al Qa'ida seemingly spreading, where will the next front on terror be?

It started off in Afghanistan, then moved to Iraq and in the last year it has focused on Northern Pakistan – and now the terror threat of Al Qa'ida is moving to Yemen.

As has been reported, the country is fertile breeding ground for terrorism. A massively destabilised government, tribal infighting and vast swaths of desert mean that terrorist training facilities, guns and ammunition are all easy to come by.

Its position in the Middle East is also a cause for concern. It borders Saudi Arabia, and Al Qa'ida have long wanted to attack the Saudi Royal family. Its seas are also facing towards Somalia, and many ships that travel through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea travel past Yemeni waters. Of course, Yemen was brought to the attention of Obama and co. long before the failed Christmas day attack, but in the 2000 attack on the USS Cole on the Gulf of Aden.

So are we seeing the spread of Al Qa'ida across the Arabian peninsula and if so, where could be next on the Global terrorism front?

Well, one look across the Red Sea and you find Somalia, as lawless a state as you likely to find in the world at the moment. It has been hitting the headlines with its pirate activities, but it is ripe for terrorist activity.

Other areas of Africa such as Sudan and Nigeria may also fall under the same threat, with political instability and strong Muslim extremism in each country.

Of course, the more traditional areas such as Pakistan and Afghanistan will not be left alone by the Americans and the British, which means the fight to end world terror may become very stretched all of a sudden.