Task 1 - SpaceX Launch News reports
Whilst researching for an interesting article to examine, I happened upon the BBC's article about the SpaceX launch that happened on the 2nd of March. I started reading it and found it quite relevant to anyone who is interested in the scientific achievements of humanity. I then happened upon another article on the same subject on a Maltese newspaper from PBS
BBC Report
The narrative construction of the BBC article is structured in an informative way in mentions facts and details with regards to dates, time frames, plans and overall success of the mission. The article was written by By Jonathan Amos BBC's Science Correspondent. The information given is also garnered with informative images that help the viewer understand better and a video which was placed at the beginning of the article. The author mentions Elon Musk, who is the founder of SpaceX the company behind the building of the shuttle, throughout the article, it seems that the author has no prejudice towards Musk and discusses him and his company without any hidden agenda to be spotted. The article goes very much in depth into the subject at hand he mentions the current story but also gives information on the length of this space mission and the dummy that is being used in place of the astronauts mentioning details that are somewhat miscellaneous in nature. In this article there is no direct mention of an interview, however, the interviewee is quoted several times stating the importance of this mission and its final goal. The video featured in the article has no commentary and is a sourced video from NASA of the actual launch, in it you can hear the countdown and the sounds coming from the shuttle itself. In a cultural context the article is a very important step for humanity as a whole and that is why it is relevant to us as well as anyone who cares about the achievements of humankind, but it is also a source of pride for the American people since it is being done through NASA which is an American government agency. I think the reporter's intention when writing this article was to show people the advancement in technology that we as a species have achieved and the scientific discovery that lies within it.
Times of Malta Report
The Maltese report on the SpaceX launch is structured in the same informative manner of the BBC one, however, it is much shorter and delivers less information than its counterpart. It lacks any form of informative imagery which would have been a good way to help those who have less knowledge of how a space launch works to understand it. The Times article mentions Elon Musk as the owner of the SpaceX company but fails to discuss his opinions and dreams for the future of his company. It seems to have an open agenda since it doesn't disparage Musk for being a billionaire etc... The article mentions some other details of the mission as well. The Times article was not provided with a video and only one image was placed, albeit without any source mentioned making the image unreliable (not sure whether it's of the current launch or of a previous one). This article fails to update to the current events, it still hasn't said that the launch occurred and is technically old news at this point.
Liability and Authenticity
I will be taking the BBC report as an example here since it had a much more well-rounded approach to the article. The author of the article Jonathan Amos who happens to be a science correspondent for the BBC. He doesn't seem to have any agendas in regards to this topic. In this report BBC labelled all the images used with their logo and mentioned the sources where they found the images which happen to be SpaceX, making all the images authentic and reliable. By putting their logo on the images they are taking liability in terms of the accuracy of the facts that they are presenting. The video at the top of the article is also labelled with the BBC logo and the NASA logo which further proves the authenticity of the video and the footage that it is presenting. All the information in the article is assertively presented making it clear that BBC knows for sure the details are correct and is willing to take credit for it. Through researching the official websites of the companies involved in the launch I could make sure that the information given by BBC is correct and up to date as well as making sure that the diagrams and videos are authentic. I think the BBC has no political or other forms of agendas in this case, apart from being informative and keeping the public updated on the endeavours of SpaceX and NASA.
References
Bbc.com, (2019). SpaceX astronaut capsule demo for Nasa lifts off - BBC News [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47414390 [Accessed 2/3/2019].
Allied Newspapers Ltd, (2019). Countdown as SpaceX, NASA prepare to test new astronaut capsule [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20190301/world/countdown-as-spacex-nasa-prepare-to-test-new-astronaut-capsule.703377 [Accessed 2/3/2019].
Spacex.com, (2019). SpaceX [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.spacex.com/ [Accessed 2/3/2019].
Blogs.nasa.gov, (2019). SpaceX – Commercial Crew Program [ONLINE] Available at: https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/category/spacex/ [Accessed 2/3/2019].
BBC Report
The narrative construction of the BBC article is structured in an informative way in mentions facts and details with regards to dates, time frames, plans and overall success of the mission. The article was written by By Jonathan Amos BBC's Science Correspondent. The information given is also garnered with informative images that help the viewer understand better and a video which was placed at the beginning of the article. The author mentions Elon Musk, who is the founder of SpaceX the company behind the building of the shuttle, throughout the article, it seems that the author has no prejudice towards Musk and discusses him and his company without any hidden agenda to be spotted. The article goes very much in depth into the subject at hand he mentions the current story but also gives information on the length of this space mission and the dummy that is being used in place of the astronauts mentioning details that are somewhat miscellaneous in nature. In this article there is no direct mention of an interview, however, the interviewee is quoted several times stating the importance of this mission and its final goal. The video featured in the article has no commentary and is a sourced video from NASA of the actual launch, in it you can hear the countdown and the sounds coming from the shuttle itself. In a cultural context the article is a very important step for humanity as a whole and that is why it is relevant to us as well as anyone who cares about the achievements of humankind, but it is also a source of pride for the American people since it is being done through NASA which is an American government agency. I think the reporter's intention when writing this article was to show people the advancement in technology that we as a species have achieved and the scientific discovery that lies within it.
Times of Malta Report
The Maltese report on the SpaceX launch is structured in the same informative manner of the BBC one, however, it is much shorter and delivers less information than its counterpart. It lacks any form of informative imagery which would have been a good way to help those who have less knowledge of how a space launch works to understand it. The Times article mentions Elon Musk as the owner of the SpaceX company but fails to discuss his opinions and dreams for the future of his company. It seems to have an open agenda since it doesn't disparage Musk for being a billionaire etc... The article mentions some other details of the mission as well. The Times article was not provided with a video and only one image was placed, albeit without any source mentioned making the image unreliable (not sure whether it's of the current launch or of a previous one). This article fails to update to the current events, it still hasn't said that the launch occurred and is technically old news at this point.
Liability and Authenticity
I will be taking the BBC report as an example here since it had a much more well-rounded approach to the article. The author of the article Jonathan Amos who happens to be a science correspondent for the BBC. He doesn't seem to have any agendas in regards to this topic. In this report BBC labelled all the images used with their logo and mentioned the sources where they found the images which happen to be SpaceX, making all the images authentic and reliable. By putting their logo on the images they are taking liability in terms of the accuracy of the facts that they are presenting. The video at the top of the article is also labelled with the BBC logo and the NASA logo which further proves the authenticity of the video and the footage that it is presenting. All the information in the article is assertively presented making it clear that BBC knows for sure the details are correct and is willing to take credit for it. Through researching the official websites of the companies involved in the launch I could make sure that the information given by BBC is correct and up to date as well as making sure that the diagrams and videos are authentic. I think the BBC has no political or other forms of agendas in this case, apart from being informative and keeping the public updated on the endeavours of SpaceX and NASA.
References
Bbc.com, (2019). SpaceX astronaut capsule demo for Nasa lifts off - BBC News [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47414390 [Accessed 2/3/2019].
Allied Newspapers Ltd, (2019). Countdown as SpaceX, NASA prepare to test new astronaut capsule [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20190301/world/countdown-as-spacex-nasa-prepare-to-test-new-astronaut-capsule.703377 [Accessed 2/3/2019].
Spacex.com, (2019). SpaceX [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.spacex.com/ [Accessed 2/3/2019].
Blogs.nasa.gov, (2019). SpaceX – Commercial Crew Program [ONLINE] Available at: https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/category/spacex/ [Accessed 2/3/2019].
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