Comparing news reports - 'Disaster in the Alps'
Media Unit Alex Hill 10I
Comparing news reports - 'Disaster in the Alps'
On the 3rd of February 1998 twenty people were killed as result of an American aircraft cutting through the
wire of their cable car high up in the Cermis mountain in northern Italy. I will be viewing three articles which reported
on this incident. Two of the newspapers are British and are 'The Times' and 'The Mirror', both newspapers
published the article a day after the incident occurred. The third newspaper I will be looking at is 'Newsweek', and
American newspaper which published the article on the 16th of February 1998, thirteen days after the disaster. This
time difference that the American newspaper has with the British newspapers suggests that the U.S military carried
out a full investigation of the accident before releasing information. The major difference between the three
newspapers is that both British newspapers heavily use illustrations to display the incident and its devastation,
'Newsweek' uses none.
'20 die in cable car after jet cuts through wire', this quote from 'The Times' is not bias and is factual. It
outlines exactly what has happened and doesn't look for a party to blame, it gives the readers the basis of knowledge
about the incident. In 'The Mirror' the readers are told many facts about the tragedy such as: 'A second cable car
was left dangling' and 'They were killed instantly'. Outlining facts such as these at the very start of the article make
the reader want to hear more about the horrific event that has happened. 'The Mirror' and 'The Times' both use
dramatic verbs ('Sliced' and 'cuts') to describe how the plane went through the wire, however 'Newsweek' uses
'clips' which is a very soft and calm word compared to the describing language of the British newspapers. 'The
Mirror' situates its article around authenticity, it uses eye witness information and local peoples views to write the
article. 'The Times' also uses people in the area but rather than the public it uses authority figures, this gives the
reader the impression that it must be correct if it is said by a senior ...
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dramatic verbs ('Sliced' and 'cuts') to describe how the plane went through the wire, however 'Newsweek' uses
'clips' which is a very soft and calm word compared to the describing language of the British newspapers. 'The
Mirror' situates its article around authenticity, it uses eye witness information and local peoples views to write the
article. 'The Times' also uses people in the area but rather than the public it uses authority figures, this gives the
reader the impression that it must be correct if it is said by a senior figure. 'Newsweek' uses none of the local figures
in Italy and bases it's information on American accounts of what happened and facts that have been released from
Italian sources.
'The Mirror' uses a lot of opinionated text to describe the incident, they do this by using two British tourists
to help unfold the event. 'The Mirror' shows anti-Americanism when describing the incident, they use harsh and
blunt sentences like 'plunged 300ft to their deaths' and 'a low flying American warplane sliced through the wire'.
These types of sentences make the readers think twice about the event being an unstoppable accident. 'The Mirror'
portray the Americans as being idle. Using words like 'warplane' suggest more seriousness, 'what if their had of been
bombs on board....' may rush through 'The Mirror's' readers minds. 'The Times' is pointing to the U.S plane for guilt
by using 'sliced'. They suggest that the pilot may have made a mistake when planning the route. 'Had been flying
'very very low' and appeared to be gaining height when it hit the cable' this shows that the aircraft maybe knew it
was flying too low for safety. 'The Times' speculates that there was technical problems. 'Newsweek' use very calm
language to describe the incident and their description of events doesn't justify the terror unleashed accidental of
not by the U.S warplane. They use the word 'tumbling' as if the cable car was a toy. Newsweek makes out that
Europe is questioning Americas character, they show national paranoia. The language they use throughout the
article is adding to 'Newsweek's' objective which is to try and dilute the blame.
The mirror concentrates on what happened to Neil Harmer and his girlfriend Stacey O'Donnell, two British
holiday makers who were at the resort during the accident. The article returns to them repeatedly throughout, this
gives the article a more British taste, showing how luckily they narrowly missed getting on that lift. As well as quotes
from them there are also quotes from regional president Carlo Anderotti, a fire services spokesman and Christina
Antoiazzi; owner of the Hotel Locanda La Cascata, which is situated just 100 yards from the cable car lines. The
Times concentrates more on information given from government officials, such as Massimo Brutti, the deputy
defence minister, as well as having quotes from the Pentagon and search and rescue workers. The fact that the
excerpts used in this article are from more official sources gives the report a much more formal feeling. The language
is more complex than that used in The Mirror and has a higher level of sophistication about it. The matter-of-factness
about this article leads the reader to think and consider more the incident as a whole, rather than just the tragedy of
the deaths as the Mirror does. "20 die in cable car after jet cuts wire" this is the heading from The Times' which
shows the calm, objectiveness of the language used.
All three articles had interviews with people who possessed various details about the aircraft prior to it
hitting the cable car wire. In The Mirror, this interview was quite brief. Cristina Antoniazzi, the owner of a nearby
hotel, said that she "heard and saw a plane flying at a very low level." This message was also present in an interview
in The Times. An anonymous witness said that the jet had "seemed" to have "technical trouble," and described the
jet as "screaming through the sky" like a "thing in torment." Another source in The Times also stated that the jet had
been flying "very, very low." All three of these interviews were supplied using direct speech. In contrast, the
interview in Newsweek was given using reported speech- Italy's Air Force chief, Mario Arpino, said that the Prowler
was "four miles off course" and was also flying "3,300 feet below the altitude designated in the flight plan." These
particular interviews were used in order to provide an image of the events immediately before the plane hit the cable
car.
'The Times' uses a cropped photograph of the incident, this gives the reader a closer look at the
devastation caused and its more vast than the panoramic view which 'The Mirror' have used. At the bottom of 'The
Times's' article they show the reader exactly what the warplane looked like. By adding a map to the article 'The
Times' have given the reader all the photographic equipment to piece together the accident in their mind. 'The Times'
allows the readers a large close up photograph, this takes up one third of the page and provides visual information.
Both 'The Mirror' and 'The Times's' pictures are bold and black and white showing the harsh reality. In the top left
hand corner of the article 'The Mirror' have circled a picture to isolate it, it enables the readers to see the contrast
between both pictures; before and after. The illustration with the plane shows all information briefly. The headline
emphasises the dramatic event, '20 skiers killed as jet slices cable car wire' the word killed shocks the reader as soon
as he/she looks at the article. The headline is monosyllabic which allows the reader to digest the information easily.
'Newsweek's' headline 'Blood on the snow' does not indicate what has happened, its a detail about the event. They
approach the article with a more formal layout and include no illustrations. The article is under the 'world affairs'
section of the newspaper and does not seem of much concern that 'Newsweek' makes sure many people know what
has happened.
Although 'The Mirror' portrays the accident well I feel they commercialised it too much and used too much
opinionated text. Therefore I feel that 'The Times' was the article that reported on the incident most effectively. It
achieves this effectiveness by using informative text and also with the use of illustrations the read can visualise what
they are reading about. 'Newsweek' is suggesting that the Europeans dislike the Americans and the British
newspapers look at the event with an intention of blaming someone.
