News Article 37

Alton Towers Smiler ride reopens nine months after horror crash

A rollercoaster at Alton Towers has reopened nine months after an accident which left five people with serious injuries.

Some of the first people on the Smiler ride cheered and clapped when it moved off,as crowds arrived for the new season at the Staffordshire theme park. Two women needed amputations after two carriages crashed on the track in June. The park said it had introduced "additional safety procedures" to the way the ride operates.

Jim Harvey and his 14-year-old son Liam, from Bloxwich, West Midlands, were among the first on the Smiler when it reopened.

Mr Harvey said: "It was fantastic, a bit daunting being first on - my son Liam forced me to sprint to be first. "After the terribly sad crash, you have to feel really bad for the people that got hurt but hundreds of accidents happen daily on the roads. "There's not a nice way to say it but accidents happen. Alton Towers have to move on."

Vicky Balch, who along with another passenger, Leah Washington, from Lancashire, had to have a leg amputated, told ITV: "I understand it's a business and it's what they have to do. I just didn't think it'd be so soon. It's only nine months, it's not a very long time." "It feels like the money comes before the people on the ride."

Joe Pugh, of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, Daniel Thorpe, from Buxton, Derbyshire, and Chandaben Chauhan, from Wednesbury, West Midlands, were also seriously injured. In total 16 people were hurt in the incident, which park owner Merlin Entertainments said was due to human error.

My opinion:

This was a terrible accident that happened and 9 months later, the people involved are still affected as this is unfortunately something that will impact/stay with them for life. I understand that Alton Towers re-opened the ride as they probably want to keep their business running and prove it was just down to human error. However, I personally do not agree that they did that, especially only 9 months later, because the accident was so huge and awful that I do not see why anyone would want to ride it but I guess it is the riders personal choice. 

News Article 36

Canada's National Film Board to fund more female directors to combat Hollywood's gender gap

This is how The Independent represented the story:

In an attempt to combat Hollywood's ongoing gender equality problem, Canada's National Film Board has promised that half of its films will be directed by women. The government-funded body says it’s making a 'firm, ongoing commitment to full gender parity'. The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) has promised that at least half of the films it finances will be directed by women.

The country's government-funded film body announced its new gender equality initiative on International Women's Day. 

"There have been good years and lean years for women's filmmaking at the NFB. No more," commissioner Claude Joli-Coeur said in a statement. "Today, I'm making a firm, ongoing commitment to full gender parity, which I hope will help to lead the way for the industry as a whole."

Joli-Coeur said that the NFB is already on course to meet its targets over the next two years. "In our current fiscal year, films directed by women represent half of our total spending on production. In 2016‒2017, the numbers are projected to be well above that," he explained.

The NFB's announcement sends a clear message to the global film industry as a whole, where female directors are still very much in the minority. A study published last October by San Diego State University's Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film found that of 2014’s 700 highest-grossing films, just 13% were directed by women.

My opinion on the news story:

There is definitely no where near enough female directors in the film industry and in general, the industry as a whole is mostly dominated by men. Seeing statistics such as the '13% were directed by women' is quite shocking because the number should be higher than that so I feel that what Canada is doing is a great idea.