Digital Newsroom Skills Test: Data Test

The cost of the War on Terror

The War on Terror began almost as soon as the 9/11 plane attacks happened and in October 2001 the official invasion of Afghanistan was launched by US and British forces. Reasons for the invasions were said to have been that the Taliban government of Afghanistan failed to turn over Osama bin Laden, the alleged mastermind behind 9/11, and al-Queda leaders operating in the country.

The 2003 invasion of Iraq began on March 20th and ended on the 1st May of the same year. It was led by US forces but heavily backed by British forces under Tony Blair’s labour government and marked the beginning of the current Iraq War. According to Blair the reasons for the invasion were ‘to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, to end Saddam Hussein's support for terrorism, and to free the Iraqi people.’

As the pressure now mounts on current Prime Minister Gordon Brown to withdraw troops from Afghanistan and Iraq I have come up with a bar chart representing the amount of British soldiers that have died since the War on Terror began using the data-store section on the Guardian website.

To view the data yourself and more visit the Guardian data-store website at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2009/sep/17/afghanistan-casualties-dead-wounded-british-data

To read the Daily Telegraph's story on number of deaths in Irag/Afghanistan reaching 300 visit: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/onthefrontline/3453048/The-300-British-dead-in-Afghanistan-and-Iraq.html

The hand of Henry

After tonight's game that saw Republic of Ireland fail to qualify for the World Cup next summer losing on aggregate 2-1 thanks to a great peice of handling play by Thierry Henry, who's reputation as one of the best strikers in the world is sure to be heavily tarnished.

Personally I am struggling to come to terms with the incident, not as an Irish fan, not as a passionate football fan or as an Henry hater but as someone who is a firm believer in fair play and sportsmanship.

The Vince Lombardi ethic of 'winning at all costs' is certainly the mindset Henry took on board when he touched then patted down the ball before passing for Gallas to head in. While accepting that footballers sometimes handle the ball as an instinctive response and throughout the post match coverage hearing the phrase 'other players would have done the same', which may or may not be true and cannot be proved, it questions the integrity of professional footballers.

Thierry Henry could have stopped - turned to the referee and simply said, 'sorry ref handball there, no goal'. But as he turned and headed for the stands it was clear with his celebrations the thought of owning up to the crime he had committed hadn't even crossed his mind.

The impact of the winning goal aided by the hand of Henry is huge - it's sent a team that didn't deserve to qualify through but has also destroyed the dreams of the Irish players of playing in the World Cup.

The goal will also once again spark the on-going debate on the need for video technology in the game for decisions such as the one that presented itself tonight.

Defender Sean St Ledger said: "Now is the time to use them it's costing a lot of people their dreams. As a boy I wanted to play in the World Cup and the other boys are the same."

I am very intrigued to listen to what Henry will have to say for himself as I'd imagine are many others. I suspect he will deny the act of cheating but with such an obvious example he may own up.

If he admits to his action then it will merely be for the sake of his public image because if it were an act of honesty and fair play then he would have done it at the time. The admittance and dare I say perhaps proposed apology is sure to come across as an insult to Irish fans.

The hand of Henry will be compared to the infamous Hand of God by Diego Maradona to knock England out of the 1986 World Cup quarterfinal under the great Sir Bobby Robson and as someone of only 19 years of age I cannot imagine what my immediate reaction would have been if I had been alive to see it.

Formula One 2009: A Season Review

A timeline review of the 2009 Formula One season I created using the software Dipity.

Sam R. on Dipity.

FA Cup Preview: Northampton v Fleetwood Town

Ahead of Fleetwood Town’s trip to Northampton in the first round of the FA Cup I spoke to centre half Steve McNulty who claims that going to the game as underdogs is a good thing. McNulty, who snatched an 87th minute equaliser against Alfreton in the Blue Square North on Saturday, said:
“We have nothing to lose and everything to gain. They’re expected to beat us and it’s going to be a tough game as they are a League Two side but we’ll go and enjoy the day and see what the outcome is.”

Town travel to the League Two side after beating Kidderminster Harriers 3-1 in the qualifying fourth round replay and McNulty feels Town are more than capable of stepping up to a team placed two leagues above them, he said.
“The step up to League Two is not too much different. Non-league football doesn’t get as much credit as it deserves, it’s a really tough standard.

“They (Northampton) are obviously going to have a lot more experience than Fleetwood in terms of league football. It’s going to be tough because their players have been in the league for years, but we have enough experience to put up a good fight.”

McNulty wasn’t part of the Town team that narrowly missed out to Hartlepool last year in the second round but did play for Barrow who were edged out 2-1 by Middlesbrough in the third round. Having played against Premier League opposition McNulty insists that ‘anyone can beat anyone’ in the FA Cup.

He said: “At the end of the day the FA Cup is all about dreams and about who wants it more on the day. I played against Middlesbrough for Barrow last year and they battered us and could have scored five or six but it went right down to the wire in the end and we were unlucky not to get a draw.”

Over one thousand fans travelled to Town’s fourth round qualifying game against Kidderminster and McNulty is hoping that there will once again be a strong turn out from the Cod Army. He added: “We took a good few to Kidderminster so hopefully we’ll get a few more going down with us to Northampton and getting behind the lads.”

Sir Alex Ferguson: Best in Europe

For many managers the achievement of 100 European victories would rank highly among their accomplishments but compared to all of Sir Alex Ferguson’s other triumphs the feat of recording such a tally would hang merely off the underside of his trophy cabinet.

His success as a manager is phenomenal and is reflected by the amount of silverware he has won during his 22-year stint at United. While he often receives huge amounts of criticism from opposition supporters and some members of the press for his 'mood swings', he is without question the best manager in Europe. And as Rafa Benitez so loudly drummed on about last season ‘it is fact’.

As well as the countless trophies he has with United, he has been acknowledged as manager of the year the most times in British football history and is the most successful domestic manager ever in England.

His current 22-year service to United is by far the longest of the managers around today and is second ever to the legendary Sir Matt Busby, whose statue stands outside Old Trafford.
Why is Sir Alex such a good manager? Well, only the players that have played under him can truly answer that question but it is clear the legacy of Fergie works.

The ‘my way or the highway’ approach, where no one player is bigger than the club, is often blamed for the departure of big-name players. The likes of David Beckham, Paul Ince, Paul McGrath, Jaap Stam and previous inspirational captain Roy Keane have all left the club after reportedly getting on the receiving end of Fergie’s infamous ‘hairdryer treatment’.

As well as recording his 100th European victory with United, Fergie also maintained their impressive run of not losing a European group game on home soil for eight years.
The last time his side lost a Champions League group game in Manchester was in October 2001, when they lost 3-2 to Deportivo La Coruna. The United team included the likes of Denis Irwin, David Beckham, Roy Keane and, of course, current United veterans Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs.

However, there was an element of danger that the record might have slipped as Wolfsburg took an early lead in the second half when the Bundesliga champions' Dzeko lept well to nod his side ahead.

But the comeback from United was all too familiar for a Ferguson side. They controlled much of the second half with the injured Michael Owen’s replacement - Dimitar Berbatov - producing a flurry a clever flicks and passes.

Giggs continued his recent good form by pulling one back with his 150th goal for the Reds - the Welshman performing as if he was still one of Fergie’s trainees to inspire a United comeback against a dogged German side.

There is no doubt that Manchester United will challenge for the Champions League title again this year and Fergie is sure to win many more trophies - however long he remains at United.

He is a manager with a long list of achievements that will forever grow. The question is: How long until Sir Alex is standing alongside Sir Matt Busby outside Old Trafford?

'Season Over'

Well it’s all over for another year according to manager Neil Warnock who has blamed the disappointing form since the turn of the year on injuries to key players such as Paddy McCarthy and Claude Davis. After returning from a group of fixtures that saw the Eagles pick up just four points from four games and has seen them drift from possible play off contenders to mid table mediocrity. They sit eleven points adrift of the play offs and are ten points in danger of sinking into the drop zone.

The post Christmas form that in the past has seen palace creep into the play offs at just the right time is now just a fond memory. The Burnley side that fought back to beat a palace side that led two nil reminded me too much of an Ian Dowie team I once knew. Burnley certainly showed signs of ‘bounce back ability’ while Palace fell victim to a dubious penalty decision, which of course left Warnock fuming, and crumbled. The few hundred fans who travelled that day did not only have to suffer a four two drumming but watched on as palace players marched off the pitch without a single salute, except midfielders Nick Carle and Neil Danns, towards the contingent of red and blue support. The normally appreciative Neil Warnock wasn’t even acknowledging the fans, this after, he had of course berated the referee and official for awarding the penalty.

After this game I, like Neil Warnock does now, thought the season was over but the impressive away win at Swansea the following Saturday had me rethinking. Until I was brought back down to earth by the defeat to relegation threatened Barnsley. Now I accepted the season was over.

The risk of being dragged into a relegation battle while at this stage is not a big issue may still happen. Tough fixtures against teams in the top half of the table as well as games against teams fighting it out at the bottom, combined with the poor form of late, could see that issue turn big, very big. After a much needed international break palace will return to face QPR, Coventry and Cardiff in eight days before travelling down south to St Mary’s to play a Southampton side who have lost just once in seven games. This time next month things could be looking much worse for Palace fans and missing out on the play offs may not seem so bad after all.

So thoughts turn to rebuilding for next year and with Warnock admitting that there will be little money to spend next season the aim for the summer must be on keeping hold of the young players. Players such as Victor Moses and Nathanial Clyne, who has emerged this season as another product of the youth academy, could be tempted by Premiership football next year. Hopefully they will learn from previous youngsters that have left Selhurst Park in search of top-flight football, the likes of John Bostock who has played a handful of games for Spurs and Wayne Routledge who again left for Spurs but after failing to impress has returned back to the Championship.

As for signings, a goal scorer is a must but with Chairman Simon Jordan wanting to sell it looks like they will sign no-one capable of taking Palace back to the Premiership. Warnock has said that ‘he is hopeful of making a number of Bosman free transfer signings of the summer’, some ambition. The 2009 summer transfer window will probably consist of the ‘one in one out’ system that palace have been using so far in 2009, where by a player has had to leave before another can be bought in, Darren Fletcher and Danny Butterfield made way for Claude Davis and Anthony Stokes. So unless the club finds a buyer before the end of the summer then Palace could be staring at the same situation this time next year.


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The Evans Almighty Era

On thursday evening i travelled down south to the Brighton Centre to watch one of my favourite comedians Lee Evans perform his 2008 tour - 'BIG'. The performance of Lee was as ever energetic with him sweating within minutes of coming onto the stage prompting the phrase 'i need fucking guttering'.

The best part of Lee Evans performance's has allways been the acting with his funny face pulling and extrovert body movements which for this tour was somewhat toned down. The show began with Lee having a panic attack in his changing room which goes slightly overboard after he sweats too much and causes his changing room to flood before pulling the plug.

The arrival on stage was inevitably met by a rapture of applause, intrigued into what his first line would be to start the laughter filled evening i was disappointed when i heard him re-use the phrase 'you could fart in here and two years later the roof cleaners will be like... cooor.. have you farted'. My first thoughts were oh dear he's going to use old material but thankfully that was all he reused. He then went on to refer to the giant screens behind him which i found incredibly off putting through out the whole performance as i often found myself watching him on the screens rather than him on stage, taking away the 'live' aspect of the performance.

He stuck to the tried and tested formula of discussing - sport, road rage, and marriage of which he puts his on spin on. Within sport he tackled the issue of football players diving and the extroadinary amounts of money they earn which was highly entertaining. But as ever, the topic of marriage was the best commenting on observations of his own wife and of other relationships. He tried something a little different with a two minute quickfire portrait of speed dating to divorce which recieved much appraisal but at times was often hard to keep up with.

He touches upon many issues about his relationship with his wife such as shopping where he takes a personal but hilarious jibe at Trinny and Susannah using the phrase 'she turns into trinny and tranny' to which the audience burst into laughter and he goes on to explain 'well one of them have a look, thats all i'm saying, have a look'.

He ended with his trademark Bohemian Rhapsody mime which was entertain however i would have prefered something new and original. Despite the lack of originalty i was still left with a saw jaw and along with the other members of the audience gave him a standing ovation. So his method of comedy stand up does still work however i feel it is now out of touch from the up and coming comedians of today and he must do much more if he is going to compete with the likes of Michael MacIntyre, Frankie Boyle and Russel Howard.