Future Learn Introduction to Journalism course. October 2014
Assignment 1. Write a Lead on fictional scenario “The Blackout: Day One.”
Millions more people have been affected as the power disruptions experienced in Glasgow yesterday spread to London, Birmingham, Manchester and Newcastle. The power outages involve disruption to power supplies, phone networks, broadband as well as other public services such as water supplies and today, traffic signalling resulting in traffic chaos in the capitol. These have had an impact on schools, hospitals, businesses and private residencies.
It is not yet clear why these interruptions are occurring, although power suppliers have rules out local excavations as being the reason behind these issues. Government officials are facing criticism for so far refusing to comment on the reasons behind the outages. Media outlets have so far produced conflicting theories on why the outages are occurring, but there is no solid evidence of any one reason so far, however with the infrastructure affected now including further public utilities such as water and traffic signals, more and more pressure is being put on hospitals, schools and businesses to continue to deliver vital services.
Dr Murray Lough, a general practitioner at the Airdre Health Centre in the Glasgow region commented yesterday that "in theory people could die" and that the mode of operation at the surgery he practises in is to "...do nothing and choose to do nothing". This is due to an inability to access patients' medical details on the computer systems.
As the nation continues to struggle through these momentary power outages, the question remains as to the reasons behind the interruptions.
Writing a Feature Article:
We had been there for over an hour. I surveyed the population of the A&E waiting room at 6.45pm on Wednesday 15th October. I looked at my husband’s swollen face; a crevice about 3cm long cut across his lower lip and his right hand had swelled up to about three times the size of his left, rendering it almost comical. Anthony Dunn, 35 of Bristol had become the latest in a long line of victims to what has locally become known as ‘The Cheese Grater Bridge’.
The bridge has been the cause of several accidents that have resulted when riders’ bikes have slipped on the metal surface of the bridge in wet weather.
This gleaming stainless steel bridge, perforated with holes that illustrate its local nick-name is on private land, owned by GVA facilities. Joanna Ziegler, who had an accident in January 2014 has been in contact with GVA since then has reported that GVA have put up warning signs and are waiting for a structural survey to be completed after which the bridge will be made safe. Nine months on, with the wet weather setting in, there has been little change.
The Better by Bike website lists the bridge as one of the first ‘Cycling City’ projects to be completed in 2009. The bridge is designed to take cyclists and pedestrians from Temple Meads station to the Bristol-Bath Railway Path, one of the National Cycle Networks flagship paths. The council’s recent Cycling Strategy, launched in July this year, outlines their aims including the claim, “a better connected network of segregated, safer routes will be a priority”; Bristol wants good bike paths.
The Bristol cycling community is a tenacious one and Toby Bridgeman set up a petition on Thursday 15th October to ask Bristol City Council to take action, despite the bridge being on private property. Since the petition has gone live, BBC Radio Bristol, the Bristol Evening Post and BBC Points West have all approached the Bristol Cyclists Facebook group for stories. Sustrans, who campaign for safe pedestrian and cycle routes have tweeted that they back the petition but are aware that the council is not liable in this case.
As public interest in the story grows, my husband practises his new sore lisp, readying himself to take on the media early on Monday morning.
Opinion Piece:
I have decided on the 'one sided' approach:-
Is the ‘blackout’ on the blackout from the government a result of failing to adopt renewable energy swiftly enough?
In the wake of the recent blackouts first experienced in Glasgow three days ago and now being experienced on a national and international scale why is there still silence from the Government on a local and national level?
The reason may be that they are loathe to admit to failing to take charge of an energy crisis that has been widely predicted by government bodies and national media, who have all given clear guidelines as how to avert exactly the situation that we now find ourselves in.
Headlines as recent as April 2014 were screaming at the government to take account of the increasing likelihood of blackouts as the margin for spare capacity has fallen to as little as 2%, and in the recent week, none. This follows decisions to mothball gas power plants as they grow too old to comply with the Large Combustion Plant Directive, issued by the EU, whilst failing to invest in renewables to make up the shortfall. The timescale for these closures has accelerated due to the worldwide increase in demand for cheap American Coal that has flooded the European market due to the success in the US of shale gas, as was outlined as recently as February of this year in Energy; Power Down, in the Financial Times on the global pressure being placed on energy supplies. The coal-fired plants in the UK that fail to comply with the EU Large Combustion Plant Directive are given a set number of hours to use up, after which they must close. Due to the influx of cheap coal, they have been using these hours more quickly than anticipated, resulting in an increasing gap in supply and demand in the UK and Europe. In addition, the government have done little to warn and prepare the population of a need to decrease energy usage and to expect increased cost due to a shortage of energy caused by a gap between using fossil fuel resources and failure to adopt renewable supplies.
The privatisation of the energy sector in the UK and in other effected countries also does little to incentivise the providers to focus on the development of renewable resources, which may be seen as riskier investments by shareholders. The focus of the big six is not on the power needs of the population, but on delivering the best profits.
Essentially the silence from the government on the causes of this disaster can be attributed to embarrassment. The government are currently scrabbling around, trying to find a scapegoat by which they can explain away an avoidable disaster that they have been warned about repeatedly.
Instead of trying to bend the truth to fit the desire for low priced and plentiful energy from the electorate, the government need to confess their short-sightedness and lead the country into a brave new world of increased price for a valuable commodity.