'Why are they burning a man in a wheelchair?' Families demand refund for winter wonderland which featured 'melting ice sculptures, a few candles... and 90 minutes queues'

I found this story on the main page of the Daily Mail. It was written By Phoebe Jackson-edwards and Emma Glanfield for MailOnline.

The whole story is based around an event that took place in Bredfordshire. It explains how families are demanding refunds to a Christmas lights show and winter wonderland-themed event, which delivered ‘melting’ ice sculptures, an effigy, burned in a wheelchair and 90 minute queues.

The Woburn Luminaries event, held at Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire, was billed as an 'evening of enchantment and adventure' and promised 'amazing' ice sculptures, animated fire sculptures, stilt walkers and spectacular light shows.

However, the festive gathering was branded 'absolutely dreadful', a 'pathetic shambles' and an embarrassment’ last night with some parents even claiming to have been left in tears. 

“This was beyond a joke. We queued for an hour and a half and once we got in, there were wet paper bags with battery powered tea lights in, a bubble machine and four melting ice sculptures”

Furious visitor

I was straight away attracted to this story not only because of its appearance on the main page, but also due to the fact that it is somehow different from the other recent big news stories I have been seeing.

It is in fact a much smaller scale event comparing to the others that recently took place however, it reading it makes me realise that even with all the terrorism and crimes taking place around the world, we should not forget about the other events that are happening and effecting peoples lives. 

I find this news article as very interesting, as it has been written by two reporters meaning, that a variety of point of view is included within the story. 

Moreover, the article also includes many views and comments from readers and people who actually attended the event as well as, a contact email is added in order to allow people to send in any further comments, which makes the reader feel much more engaged with the whole story. 

Weekly News

Sixteen Hurt In Shooting At Music Video Filming

For this week’s weekly news, I have chosen a story from the Sky News, which has been written by the Sky News US Team.

The story describes a mass shooting that took place at a playground in New Orleans leaving at least sixteen people to have to be taken to hospital after.

It is understood that as many as 500 people were at the "Bunny Friend" park at the time of the attack, as a music video was being filmed. 

Tyler Gamble, a police spokesman, said officers had been on their way to the playground to break up a large crowd when gunfire erupted - reportedly between two groups who had been fighting.

The story straight away caught my attention as it was posted on the main page of the news website, meaning that it is important and in some way has an effect on everyone. The story describes how yet another incident of this sort took place following the attacks in the previous weeks and reinforces the idea of how dangerous the world is staring to be. However, what made me question is the idea of the story not being talked about on platforms such as the social media. Shootings took place, people got injured so it is not significant to talk about and spread awareness?

Christmas Adverts

The first advert I have chosen to analyse is the recent John Lewis Christmas Advert. The advert addresses the viewer by showing a short story, presenting a lonely man who lives on the moon and receives a present, allowing him to see a little girl in her house waving to him through a window. The advert uses an audio of Christmas related music and presents props such as, a Christmas tree, which allows the audience to straight away relate the advert with that time of the year. The advert does not directly promote a particular product to the viewer, therefore persuading them to buy it. However, they do this by targeting children in the short clip who can easily persuade the adults to buy certain products, as they will feel attracted to them due to seeing them on the TV. In addition, the advert also uses emotions in order to play with the viewers mind. Due to the phrase “Show someone they’re loved this Christmas” the viewer is made to relate the good gesture with the John Lewis store as well as, unconsciously feel sympathetic towards other and therefore, they might want to go to the store and buy a present for someone.

The second Christmas advert is he 2014 M&S advert, which shows the tale of two Christmas fairies, Magic and Sparkle, flying across London, giving gifts to people and spreading Christmas cheer. This makes the advert appeal to the young audience with its kind features as children will enjoy watching it due to the “magical” scenes and this will therefore, lead them to maybe try and persuade their parents that they should purchase products from that store. In addition, the use of the fairies helping people make their Christmas better and more magical can also lead the viewers into linking this with the store and so also giving the company the image of kindness and helpfulness. Moreover, the use of Julie London's version of "Fly Me To The Moon" in the background will cause the advert to stick in the viewers mind for much longer.

The third avert is the 2014 Sainsbury’s Christmas advert. The advert presents a recreation one of the moments of the First World War. It shows a number of soldiers hiding, all quiet and away from their families during the Christmas season. During the advert, the two opposing armies meet and unite in order to share the moments with each other in peace and happiness. This therefore, suggests to the audience that everyone deserves to be happy during Christmas and as Sainsbury’s is the company responsible for this commercial it makes the viewer create a link between the happiness created in it and the happiness that Sainsbury’s can bring. Moreover, the idea that one of the soldiers is looking at a image of a woman as well as sharing the last food he had with someone else, connotes that Christmas is the family season, where we get our chance to give back and so may lead people into going to the stores and purchasing presents for their loved ones.