A Snippet of England's Training for Euro Cup 2012 Qualifier v. Switzerland

Joe Hart, Ashley Cole, Stewart Downing, Peter Crouch, Frank Lampard and the rest of the England seniors at a light training for the Euro 2012 Cup Qualifier v. Switzerland.

Coverage of the EU by "The Guardian"

The European Union is consistently covered in “The Guardian,” oftentimes appearing as major headlines in political and economic news. Everyday this week, at least one story on the EU has been published, examining internal affairs of EU leaders, EU agenda and upcoming issues. The articles I found most interesting were published on Tuesday, May 24, highlighting the state of the EU and the eurozone, specifically reflecting on the debt crisis in Greece.

On Tuesday, “The Guardian” analyzed the debate on Greece’s need to reschedule its debts. The EU Business Secretary Vince Cable pushes for the rescheduling because it is “the best option, or the least worst option…” and that leaving the eurozone would not solve the problem. The article continued, however, by pointing out that the eurozone has never been exposed to this kind of debt crisis before.  Overall, “The Guardian” only quoted one source who had a very clear opinion on the matter, therefore providing a very one-sided argument to the issue. “The Guardian” writer was the only voice that lightly touched on opposing, which were quickly combated with quotes by Cable.

Another angle of the eurozone was covered in the same day with a grave tone, titled, “The European dream is in danger: prepare for another rude awakening.” Here, “The Guardian” discusses an overlying feeling of apprehension and fear amongst the EU states about the unrest and instability in many major countries that could quickly break down the union and the monetary eurozone. Greece’s debt default, Germany’s rising borrowing costs, Spain’s mass protests and Ireland’s rise in emigration has the EU shaking. “What's at stake this summer is more than just the future of the eurozone, for which there are predictable outcomes. It is the future of pan-European solidarity, which has been implicit in the project of the EU and, recently, in short supply.”

This article had the most reaction of any of the EU articles of the week with 246 comments, 277 Facebook shares and 82 Tweets. This is significant because it shows that this specific topic and analysis is something that the audience wants to hear about. What’s interesting about this observation is when this article is compared to the previous, the straight news analysis is more popular than the traditional news coverage of a similar matter. Both articles discussed general instability within the EU and possibilities for improvement, but the second article, written more as an opinion/column piece, seemed to be more relatable and conversational. The majority of the comments agreed with a few points made in the article, but oftentimes included other opinions that slightly differed, or brought up completely different issues. It seems that the European public prefers a very democratic, checks-and-balances type of journalism that allows the journalist to act as an authority and the audience as contributing writers. 

Pet Peeve of the Day

In the UK, everyone clearly drives on the left side of the road... but on the sidewalk, it's free-for-all. I can see people coming at me from a distance, but no one ever seems to flinch from their pathway. When I choose to take the left side of the sidewalk, there is always walking toward me in my lane. When I take the right lane, the same thing. I've even began walking in the middle of the sidewalk and still find myself in the way. No one seems to move for you, either. It's like if you decided to play chicken and see who would dodge out of the way first, you'll lose. Rarely will someone move out of the way for you. This is the worst when I'm running outside, trying to get to the park where there's much more room for pedestrians. People will see you coming at them, clearly at a quicker pace, and still maintain the same course. It's a pet peeve, maybe my biggest pet peeve here. Regardless, I should be thankful if walking the sidewalks is my biggest nuisance of the summer.

Yet another great day working for FATV

*Pictures are coming


Friday before Champions League Final:

• 8:30 a.m.-12 p.m. - Ventured to the St. Gregory's school for official opening of a new turf pitch, donated by UEFA. 
• Guest list: 
• Michel Platini, UEFA president 
• Bobby Zamora, footballer for the England national team and Fulham  
• David Bernstein, chairman for The FA
• 5:30-6:30 p.m. - Sat pitch side to watch the open training of Manchester United. I can't explain how surreal it felt to see Berbatov, Rooney, Giggs, Nani and the rest of the legendary premier league team IN PERSON.
• 7-8 p.m. - Gawked at Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and the entire squad of the best football team in the world.
• 10:15-12 a.m. - Almost cried from laughing while watching "The Hangover II" for our first trip to a London cinema. 

Keep the great days coming...

Joplin Destruction: Making Int'l Headlines

Although we're thousands of miles away, all 17 Mizzou kids are sending our thoughts and prayers to our friends from Joplin, Mo. I had four people at work ask me about the tornado and the destruction today, because they know I'm from Missouri. There is real sincerity and concern for SW Mo. over here... I just wish there was more I could do from this distance.

Monday's edition of The Morning Standard, headlined the tornado. This is how many of us heard about the destruction.

I've tweeted some links on how to volunteer and send relief. Follow me on Twitter (@BarbaraManingat) and i can message you the links, if you'd like.

RANDOM: 'Things' I've Learned and 'Stuff' I've Noticed

Here are a few things that have caught my attention in the past nine days that I've been living in London: 

1. There are practically no trash cans in London. 
2. There are never trash cans in sight when you have a piece of trash in your hands.
3. Trash is not trash, it's litter or rubbish.
4. London is most comparable to NYC, popularly known for its fast pace and big city pulse -- but that is only evident during rush hour on the tubes. The newsrooms and offices of our collective internships have not reflected such a high intensity reputation. They're quite relaxed and have a delayed sense of time management -- not in the sense that they're lazy, but they just set a longer deadline for tasks/stories that can be done in half the time. I'm really enjoying 'getting off-task' for the majority of the day, yet still accomplishing some work... I'm just not sure if I could work in such a laid back environment everyday. Take it, this is just the observation of a few of the students and myself with our respective internships.
5. When boarding the tube, it's free-for-all. 
6. Unspoken office rule: Drink tea two minutes after you walk in the door and continue every 30 min. 
7. London's beauty comes from its architecture and the people. Not to sound abnormally cheesy, but I've become mesmerized by this city, just as many friends have warned me. But what and why does London have everyone so transfixed? Well, the city is old... but old in the historic and whimsical sense. No matter which part of London you find yourself, there's that Old English, stone building, brick street, narrow alleyway, scent of beer and that unrelenting breeze that finds you no matter how far or deep you are into the city. Everything is so compact and this is most obviously seen with the buildings. There aren't any luxurious bayside, grand windows; They're all tall and stacked upon each other, story after story. There are barely any clean-cut, contemporary lines -- a dream-come-true for anyone with ADD because there is always something to look at. 



National History Museum, Tuesday, May 17, 2011.



Streets of the Camden Market, Sunday, May 22, 2011.

8. Londoners are very diverse. I've been trying to run around Regent's Park everyday and it still throws me off to see so many large groups of friends playing baseball, rugby, football and cricket where almost every continent is represented in one team. It's so clear that they're all friends, but I feel like I rarely see this level of comfort and commonality in the melting pot of the U.S. Sure, America has more diversity than I realize, but I've never seen so many ethnicities so casually merge together like I've casually noticed here. It's beautiful to walk down the street or take a jog in the park and see the colorblind-ness of the city. NYC has this, but I've never seen this level of communal reaction before. 
9. London newspapers are not so much sensational, but very blunt. Writers seem to have little to no reservation in releasing details and they rarely attribute graphs or direct quotes -- but they're very conversational. One of my coworkers today said he really likes this style of writing because the stories simply provide all the information without adding personal opinion or extra frill. Naturally, I disagreed with the concepts of systematic and operational biases flashing like neon lights in my head. I feel like I haven't read a real newspaper in days.



The newspapers in London are very straight-forward with limited censoring. This 22 year-old bride jumped off the top of her apartment building after her fiance called off the wedding. As seen here, she was caught. 

Where in the U.S. would you see a photo published like this? Who would publish such details without direct attribution?

10. Traffic runs on the left side of the road, but when you're walking or running on the sidewalk, you are always in the way somehow. When I walk on the left side, there's someone coming at me from their right side. When you try to pass someone while running, passing on the left is not a general practice. You just have to guess.

First Day of Work

To put it simply, this could have been the best day of my life. 

I now have my own desk on the fourth floor of Wembley Stadium. There's not much of a view from there, but the view of the stadium never gets old.

On Thursday morning, I hopped onto the tube with a groggy, yet giddy mentality. The six-hour jet lag had not yet subsided and my unofficial addiction to coffee became clear that morning. Yes, I was tired, the tube was crowded and I wasn't 100 percent sure I was traveling in the right direction -- but all of that didn't matter because I was on my way to my first day as an intern with FATV! 

Equipped with my laptop and coffee, I boarded the Metropolitan Line to head to my first day as a broadcast intern at FATV (official television coverage of the Football Association).

Since I got the call from my former boss with the Sporting Kansas City MLS team in February, I dreamed of this day and how incredible my summer in London had to be. Working for the England FA, seeing premier league stars, going to games, immersing myself in the world of European football... I didn't care what I'd have to do, as long as I could be surrounded by it all and soak in the culture and the journalistic atmosphere. I could learn about reporting and expand my understanding of another "newsroom" -- but doing so by intently watching and interviewing professional athletes is best described as any girl's dream come true. Essentially, I had developed somewhat high expectations for this summer. Besides deciding what I was going to wear that day and researching as much as I could about English football, containing my excitement was my hardest task. 

Joe Worsley, my new supervisor for the summer, met me when I arrived at the FA offices. My surroundings were pretty intimidating; marble floors, glass entranceways, LCD TV screens permanently programmed to Sky TV, and a huge display case of the England national team's cups and trophies proved to be enough for my post-coffee jitters and excitement. Joe first introduced me to the rest of the FATV team, along with the event planning, merchandising and business sponsorship departments close by. Next up, a tour of Wembley.

Pictures just don't do Wembley justice, but I'll do my best to document it as the summer goes on. The original 1928 Wembley Stadium was controversially torn down in 2000, but it's looking amazing now. I believe Joe said it can hold up to 90,000 fans, an upgrade of around 10,000. The archway is the venue's trademark that can be seen for miles and its diameter is said to be wide enough for a tube train to run through it. Fun fact of the day. 

Wembley is the official home of the England national team that will play twice this summer. I'll be working the June 4th England vs. Switzerland game, so check back!

After the tour, I began working on a log of all the videos published in the past year and a half on FATV's YouTube channel. We're planning on putting together pre-packaged segments for future use and prospective pre/post-game shows.

The highlight of the day came around 19:30 (7:30 p.m.) when we lugged the video equipment to Liam Gallagher's "Pretty Green" store opening to interview him about the FA Cup. Needless to say, it was a great first day task. I didn't do anything, really, just consume the free champagne and appetizers, then hold the camera cables -- but it was still a high-class experience I never would have expected.

Great. Day.

Liam Gallagher, former Oasis lead singer, opened his second "Pretty Green" clothing store in London on Thursday, May 19. FATV interviewed him at his event because he attended the FA Cup match and rooted for the winning team, Manchester City.

Manchester City and Stoke vied for the FA Cup on May 14, the day I flew into London. I thought I completely missed out -- but I was actually able to TOUCH the FA Cup after Liam Gallagher's store opening.

Follow My Summer in London!

It's still unreal to me that I'll be living in London for the next three months, but follow my blog and experience it all with me! I will try my best to blog, posting photos and videos regularly.

Study abroad classes. Internship at FATV. Travel. Landmarks. Memories. International friendships.