Category: London School of Journalism

Features and reviews I’ve written at London School of Journalism

THE 45KM LONG NEWSPAPER COLLECTION AT THE BRITISH LIBRARY

giorgiaboiLeave a comment
Picture: guldfisken

I look fascinated around me and all I can see is paper. Thousands of yellowy pages from all over the world are bound in enormous dusty old books, stored in some tall wood shelves behind me. The Athletic record, weekly journal of 1886; Good news, the amusing journal of 1893; the Daily Mirror of 1907. Walking among the narrow corridors, I feel that modern history hides in the irregular outline of those rare and smelly volumes.

At a time when most of the news is digital, I’m visiting the temple of paper-journalism, the Newspaper department of the British Library in Colindale.

Everything that has been published in the United Kingdom, in the former colonies and Commonwealth from the early 17th century until now, is classified by year or title in 45 km of shelves distributed on the six floors of this large brick building in North London.

Stored in the national archives collections, over 693,000 bound volumes and more than 400,000 reels of microfilms of British and overseas publications are ready to be consulted.

Continue reading “THE 45KM LONG NEWSPAPER COLLECTION AT THE BRITISH LIBRARY” →

GETTING READY FOR THE OLYMPICS

giorgiaboiLeave a comment

As a computer is choosing randomly the 6.6 million lucky applicants who will get the tickets for the Olympic Games, Britain is getting ready for the big event. But Londoners are losing their initial excitement.

Picture: Ben Sutherland

Without any doubt, it’s disappointing – for the 1.2 million of rejected applicants and for who didn’t even try – to withstand traffic delays and the closure of the tube lines at weekends, knowing that it will be impossible for them to get into one of the brand new venues built for the occasion.

However, despite buying the tickets is obviously complicated and expensive, there are still many ways to experience next summer’s Games.

Continue reading “GETTING READY FOR THE OLYMPICS” →

FIGHTING HOMELESSNESS FROM THE YOUTH

giorgiaboiLeave a comment
Picture: ktus16

Gemma ran away from home at only 15, having too many troubles with her parents. After she had been rejected from school because she was found smoking cannabis, she started to steal money to her violent father to fund her addiction and was too scared to admit it. A friend’s sofa was better than lies and argues, she thought. But later on, she was led to face her problems and unexpectedly things turned better.

Hundreds of youths like her are welcomed every day in the centres of Depaul, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping homeless people aged between 16 and 24.

Mr Paul Benson, fundraiser of the charity, has seen a lot of these stories and is more determined than ever to find as much money as he can to support the volunteers’ activity.

Continue reading “FIGHTING HOMELESSNESS FROM THE YOUTH” →

IMAGES OF NATURE AT LONDON NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM

giorgiaboiLeave a comment

Fitting 350 years of studies on nature in a narrow room is an ambitious goal. Eventually, too hard if the aim is to contain highlights from a collection of 500,000 artworks and illustrations, as we can see in “Images of Nature”, the new permanent exhibition of the National History Museum.

The main idea is that art has been the first instrument for classification in the scientific research, including the study of proportions, the illustrations for scientific books and the many records of exotic species from long voyages early in the 18th century.

A map of the rock types in England

But without a clear division into sections and a focus on a particular issue, the exhibition closely reminds an antiquarian shop, and most visitors give only a quick look at the walls, before giving up.

Pictures of insects are next to drawings of flowers, fossils and the painting of a rhinoceros. Moreover, there are three microscopes, some satellite images of the surface of Mars, six illustrations of the anatomy of a chimpanzee, three samples of rock types, a pap of England and also the skulk of a dodo.

Continue reading “IMAGES OF NATURE AT LONDON NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM” →

FROM THE ORGANIC FARM TO THE TOWN

giorgiaboiLeave a comment
The shop-restaurant from the outside

An enticing perfume welcomed us as we approached the tables outside Daylesford in Pimlico road: at first, it was hard to say if it was a shop, a grocery store, a bar or a restaurant.

We arrived very hungry on Saturday for a late lunch and were still confused by the large fridges and vegetables display racks in front of the main door, when we luckily found a place for two, sharing a big table with other people.

Continue reading “FROM THE ORGANIC FARM TO THE TOWN” →