Summary

Genre: Newspaper reportage as suggested by an emotive headline and the short paragraphs. The headline asks a question but does more – the readers are taxpayers and no one wants to pay more tax…  Also important to notice that the Guardian is a left-leaning paper which will rarely portray the self-indulgent games of the rich property developer protagonists in a positive light.

Voice: 3rd Person reporting with occasional direct speech used to belittle the protagonists. Strong in this area is the voice of Ms Vestey who is quoted at the end to place the pair into the realm of naughty little boys. Other direct speech is given to an expert witness, again questioning the wisdom of the pair.

Purpose: More than a report, this is a highly subjective piece of reporting in which there is a clear editorial angle being pursued. We are meant to recognise the pair as ‘boys messing about’ and there is little here to suggest an objective reporting of a daring flight and equally remarkable rescue; that it is a ‘miracle’ is not a positive, given the degree with which we have been turned against the pair early in the writing.

Structure:

1: The introduction focuses on past negatives and sets the tone for the article.

2: The news story is clearly laid out for the reader, along with unattributed ‘resentment’ being noted.

3: Detailed narrative of the rescue begins – the time, the calls home in distress (*it is normal for such a journey to be monitored from home in this way, but the writing presents the call home in the same way as a small boy calling his mother for help).

4: Some biographical detail about the pair – both highly experienced travellers, but the negatives are highlighted here.

5: Detail on the ill-fated Russian expedition. Was the visa issue their fault? The paper does not say. Given the fickleness of the Russian federation in this area, it may well have had nothing to do with their competence, or lack thereof.

6: The aftermath – costs and recrimination. Note, there are around 30 million UK taxpayers. The cost of the rescue will not have been cheap, but divided between that many, it will have been negligible.

It is an interesting exercise to rewrite this passage as a report praising the bravery and spirit of the pair…