BtN: Episode 01 Transcript 14/2/12

Transcription

1 BtN: Episode 01 Transcript 14/2/12 On this week's Behind the News. What happens when rumours become news? Does Kevin Rudd really want to challenge the Prime Minister? Facebook changes its status to public. We find out what it means to float on the stock exchange. And why everyone should learn first aid. We get a lesson from the St John cadets. Hi I'm Nathan Bazley. It's great to be back with a new BtN for Glad you could join us. Also on the show today, Sophia makes a splash as she checks out the high flying sport of Kiteboarding. Before all that, let's take a look at one of the biggest stories in the news this week flooding. Summer Flood Reporter: Nathan Bazley INTRO: Parts of Queensland and New South Wales have been hit by massive floods caused by some heavy rain. While some were able to save their homes others have been left with a messy clean-up. Let's take a look. NATHAN BAZLEY, REPORTER: We've seen enough floods in Australia over the past few years to know that the fight between rising floodwater and people's homes is usually not a close one. Water seems to go where it wants, ruin what it wants and there isn't a whole lot people can do about it. Or is there? HOMEOWNER: We didn't get to use a fence like this the last two years, but this year she's certainly getting a first trial. Some used plastic and sandbags to barricade their homes. Some towns had massive concrete levee banks installed a couple of years back. And other people just dumped huge loads of dirt in the water's path. And for some, the desperate attempt to try to protect themselves from powerful, flooded rivers might have paid off. 1

2 NATHAN: But it all raises the question - how did all that water end up there in the first place? In St George, one of the worst hit areas, they'd had 200mm of rain. So about this much. But some of the rivers and creeks were metres high! Well, the first rule of water is that it always runs downhill. It'll find the lowest bit of land it can flow to as quickly as possible. In cities, drains are designed to channel it away. In the country, water forms its own drains in the form of creeks and streams, which flow into rivers. But because all the rainfall is trying to do the same thing, it all meets up in the one place. Swollen rivers! NATHAN: Rivers are carved out by flowing water over thousands of years, and the size and shape depends on how much water usually flows down there. But every so often, more water flows in than the river can take. That's when rivers burst their banks, like happened here in Queensland last week. By understanding how water moves, experts can sometimes predict where and when a flood's going to hit. They can also work out how high they think the peak might reach. And throughout the St George area, they worked out it would come really close to bursting the levees they'd built to protect the town. Luckily that didn't end up happening, but officials made the whole town evacuate just in case. And many ended up in camps like this one. Even pets had somewhere to go! They had to stay here for a few nights, until the danger passed and it was safe to go home. But for the unlucky people who couldn't protect their homes, there'll be a lot of work waiting for them when they get back. Floodwater is very dirty and carries with it a lot of mud and debris. So when it flows through a house, it leaves behind a massive amount of mud, ruining most of the stuff it touches. It takes ages to scoop out and can often smell pretty bad too. All the floor coverings, like carpet, need to be ripped up and replaced. The walls get damaged by water too, so they have to go. And the whole house often has to be rewired to make it safe for electricity again. It's a heartbreaking task, but as we've seen in this flood and many more before it, there's never any shortage of people willing to help out. The Wire And we'll be meeting some of those helpers later in the program. OK, let's get a quick wrap up of some other news stories. Here's Tash with the Wire. 2

3 Legendary singer, Whitney Houston who topped music charts throughout the 80s and 90s has died in Los Angeles at the age of 48. She was due to attend a pre- Grammy's party but was found dead in her hotel room. At 3:55 PM this afternoon Whitney Houston was pronounced dead at the Beverley Hilton Hotel. Authorities haven't worked out exactly how she died. The performer sold 170 million albums, singles and videos throughout her career and is the only singer to have had 7 back-to-back number one songs in the states. She reached her peak when she sang a cover of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" which spent 14 weeks at number 1. Fellow performer Alicia Keys says she wouldn't have become a singer without Whitney's inspiration. ************** Some countries are calling for peace-keeping soldiers to be sent into Syria. There's been lots of fighting in the middle-east country. Rebel groups want to overthrow the President because they think his government has been treating people badly. Many people have died in the fighting. Leadership Leaks Reporter: Sarah Larsen INTRO: If you were watching the news over the past few weeks you might have noticed some stories suggesting that our Prime Minister might be replaced! Journalists were saying that some MPs wanted Kevin Rudd to lead the Labor Party. That sounds like pretty big news except, it didn't happen. So where do stories like that come from? And when does a rumour become news? Here's Sarah. SARAH LARSEN, REPORTER: News is supposed to be about the facts: trustworthy information from trustworthy sources who are willing to be named in front of everyone. But imagine if the news were full of gossip you heard in the canteen. KID: Coming up tonight: Year six teacher smells like cabbage, according to unnamed source, Sally is going out with a year eight boy and Mike once caught the biggest fish in the world. That might sound pretty silly but in the past news has come from gossip heard around this canteen at parliament house! 3

4 For the past few weeks there have been a lot of stories around saying some Labor pollies want to replace the current Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, with the old Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd. REPORTER: If that were true it'd be massive news. Labor pollies can vote for a new leader if enough of them want to and that would affect the whole country. So which politicians want a change of leader? NEWS REPORTER: Do you support the Prime Minister? Not him POLITICIAN: I do support the Prime Minister Not him Not him either So who exactly is saying this? When you see "unnamed source" in a story, it's likely that you're dealing with a leak. Leaks are when people pass on unofficial information. Sometimes it's stuff they're not supposed to tell the media about and it could get them into trouble. Some really important stories have come about that way; the most famous is probably Watergate, when someone working with the US government told the press that the president was breaking the law. But over the years politicians have become pretty good at using leaks to their advantage. Say you're a politician. You're thinking about introducing a new law but you're not sure whether the public's going to like it so you get your media adviser to leak it to the press. The information's still not official so you can always deny it. KID: Never had any plans to ban lollies, I have no idea where you got that information. Or, you can use leaks to stir up trouble for the opposition. Remember this? It happened because one of the Prime Minister press officers passed on information which helped protesters find where the opposition leader Tony Abbott was going to be on Australia day. Mr Abbott suggested it was done on purpose to make him look bad. But this time the leak backfired and both leaders were caught up in a security scare. And all that talk of leadership challenges; that was another sort of leak. It was probably started by supporters of Kevin Rudd to see how much support he had. But it also stirred up debate about how the media operates. Some reckon journos are letting themselves be used by politicians and they should stick to trustworthy 4

5 sources. But others blame the politicians for starting the gossip. And just because politicians say something isn't going to happen, that doesn't mean it won't. After all, Julia Gillard said she'd never be Prime Minister! JULIA GILLARD: I have more chance of being full forward for the bulldogs. And when anything can happen in politics it can be hard to know who to believe. Facebook float Reporter: Nathan Bazley INTRO: I guess we'll have to wait and see on that one. Last week the social networking site, Facebook hit the headlines. The company decided to float on the stock exchange, changing from a private company to a public one. So what does that actually mean? Let's find out. NATHAN BAZLEY, REPORTER: Facebook s profile has changed a lot over its 8 years. It now has 845 million friends, which makes it a pretty successful business. But now, Facebook is undergoing a big change. It's floating. No, Facebook's not moving its headquarters to the sea. 'Floating' is the name given to a company when it switches its profile from Private, to Public. Let's find out what that means. Businesses are all around us, and most of those businesses fall into one of two categories. Let's say I started my own mail-order shop, selling Justin Bieber fan club stickers. It's called "Just'in Time Sticker Delivery." As Bieber's popularity rises, so does my business', and soon enough I'm selling millions of stickers all over the world! NATHAN: At this point, 'Just'in Time' is a private company. I have complete control of the company, so I don't have to answer to anyone. And most of the profits go to me, as owner, founder and boss. So you'll never see shares in my private company being bought and sold on the Stock Exchange. But say, as time went on, I started growing really big and wanted to expand my business even further. I could decide to float 'Just'in Time Stickers' on the stock exchange and go public. 5

6 NATHAN: What I'm really doing is selling off a part of my business to the public. But when I do that, I'm also selling off some of my privacy and power. From then on, shareholders at meetings like this get a say in how I run the business and a share in any profits I earn. Also, I have to publish all my financial records, so they will know how the business is going. But in return, my business could earn millions and millions of dollars from the sale. This is the process Facebook is going through right now. The boss and founder, Mark Zuckerberg, is changing Facebook's status from private to public, meaning soon enough, you'll see Facebook shares on the American Stock Exchange. And it could make a big difference to the way the company is run. From now on, they have to act in the best interests of the shareholder no matter what. And the main thing the shareholder wants is for the company to make as much money as possible. So Mark will have to answer to them, if they think he's not doing the right thing by the company. And they will be keeping a close eye on how Facebook plans to make money in the future. But wait up. Before you rush out to buy shares, you might be wondering how DOES Facebook make money, considering you don't have to pay a cent to sign up!? Well even though, if you're old enough, you might use Facebook, you are not actually one of their customers. You are their product! Facebook makes money by selling ad space on your page to other businesses, so they can target you and your friends with their ads. And because you put all your likes and dislikes on the site, they know what products you are more likely to buy. So in effect, they are really selling you to other businesses! Whether they are as successful selling themselves to the public remains to be seen. Presenter: On the subject of Facebook, let's have a quiz. Quiz 1 The question is: How old do you have to be to use Facebook?

7 14 Answer: 13 It's part of the Facebook rules aimed at protecting younger kids. First Aid Cadets Reporter: Sarah Larsen INTRO: Speaking of protecting people, we're about to meet a group who are nearly always on hand to offer help during disasters like the floods we saw earlier. And you've probably seen them offering first aid help at big events. They're the St John volunteers and as Sarah found out kids can get involved too. SARAH LARSEN, REPORTER: It's something no one wants to experience. But a medical emergency can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time. So if someone needed your help would you know what to do? There's a pretty good chance that these guys would. They're St John cadets; kids who spend their spare time learning how to save lives. You've probably seen St John volunteers before at festivals or community events or maybe you've seen their ambulances. The organisation's been around in Australia for more than 100 years but its history goes back much further. The first volunteers in England were inspired by the Knights of St John who looked after the sick and injured and fought in the crusades. Of course, they're not knights any more, but there are still plenty of volunteers providing first aid, eye care, community care and training. And not all of them are adults. CADET: I've been in cadets for 4 years now I started in year six. I really enjoy it yeah. Training sessions like this go on every week in towns and cities all around the country The cadets learn first aid skills and try them out on each other. CADET: Basically what this does is it immobilises the leg. We tend to use this for fractured legs. I t really makes sure that they can't move so even if it's knocked it can't hurt. CADET: It's a pain trying to untie the ones on your feet because you can't reach it - you have to hop. Admittedly I have done it to my younger brother While in here it's all make believe, cadets can use their skills in the real world; volunteering with adults at events and festivals. 7

8 CADET: You treat anyone who's a member of the public who's come to a first aid tent and needs to be treated. CADET: I was at the show the other year and a girl was having an asthma attack and she was panicking and I sat and held her hand while the adults treated her. I was 13 and that was kind of scary for me. There are also national cadet competitions and they can earn badges by learning extra skills but for most cadets the really cool part is knowing how to save a life. CADET: So the thing that can get difficult about CPR is it's so close to the ribs you can actually break the ribs if you do it too hard and sometimes the ribs have to break to get the oxygen in. Sounds pretty scary but they do get plenty of practice on these dolls. CADET: I think I just broke his ribs! A lot of adults don't know how to do this but these kids say First Aid is a skill everyone should have. CADET: You never know when you're going to need it. You don't plan, yep, I'm going to go out and break my leg today so it's about being always prepared. But serious skills can come with some serious fun. CADET: Really the people you meet in a division are the most amazing people you will ever meet CADET: I've met one of my best friends at St John it's not just first and you learn people skills and leadership as well and it's fun it's really good fun. CADET: You hang out with friends A lot of St John cadets go on to be nurses or doctors or paramedics but even the ones that don't say they've learned skills they'll have for life. And if you ever found yourself in an emergency, these are the sorts of people you'd want to have around. Presenter: They do a great job. OK, it's time to check in with some of the sports news. Here's Matt with the Score. The Score 8

9 Australia has gone down in a thrilling one-day cricket international against India at the Adelaide Oval. The visitors needed 12 runs to win with just four balls left. And despite the big ask Indian skipper MS Dhoni didn't disappoint. "He has cleared it! That is a phenomenal hit from Dhoni! He's timed it to perfection." Ran two off a no-ball that was caught on the boundary, then finished the game with three reaching their target of 271 with 2 balls remaining. The Aussies will look to regroup against Sri Lanka on Friday. ***** Finally to Baseball and it was great news for the Perth Heat in the Australian Baseball League Championship Grand Final. They've won their second straight title after beating the Melbourne Aces in Perth. Both teams won a game each taking it to a decider. Melbourne was ahead 6-4 in the fifth innings of the final game before two Perth runners were brought home to tie things up. Presenter: We're going to be heading to the water next. But first let's have a quiz. Quiz 2 The question is: Which term is often used to measure speed on water? Knot Rev Torro Answer: Knot Presenter: One knot is equivalent to nearly 2 kilometres an hour. Kiteboarding Reporter: Sophia Thomson INTRO: Well if you like the rush of high speeds and don't mind getting wet then this next story is just for you. It's about one of Australia's fastest growing water sports: Kiteboarding. If you've been down to the beach, you've probably seen them 9

10 performing their cool tricks in the surf. So how do you do it? We sent Sophia to check it out. SOPHIA THOMSON, REPORTER: It's fast, it's fun, it's extreme and it can be dangerous! The best kite surfers and boarders can reach speeds of up to 90 kilometres an hour and heights of up to fifteen metres. That's a lot of air! This is Dion and even though he's fourteen, he's one of the best kiteboarders around. DION DO KITEBOARDER: The best feeling for me is basically boosting up into the air, doing my tricks and just landing them, just thinking to yourself that felt so awesome stomping that trick. REPORTER: Dion's been doing it for a couple of years now, but before he can show me some tricks, first we have to get all the gear ready. That means unravelling the massive kite and pumping it up. These kites have an inflatable bit around the edge which keeps the shape of the kite and it means the kite floats if it hits the water. With the board, your feet just slip under these straps. It's kind of like a fat snowboard. DION DO: Yeah it is. REPORTER: With little fins underneath. DION DO: Yeah, it's designed like this to keep stability in the water so when you're kiting you won't slip around and feel locked into the water you could say. REPORTER: You might think it takes loads of upper body strength to hold onto these big kites but there's actually a bit of kit that helps with that. This harness straps the kite to your body, meaning your arms are pretty free to manoeuvre the kite. It takes most people at least ten lessons to stand up on a board properly. DION DO: The hardest part honestly is having to learn about all the different wind conditions and all the how to control the kite. Then once you've mastered that you won't forget it and that will be stuck with you. REPORTER: The stronger the wind the faster you're able to go. The bar just above the harness is used to steer left and right, it can also make you go faster or slower. 10

11 For the best kiteboarders, it's a competitive sport where their skills are matched against each other. Dion is heading to the state championships in South Australia, where he'll be one of the youngest competitors. TRAVIS MURPHY: The judges are basically looking for freestyle manoeuvres as in big jumps, spins, grabs and things with the board. REPORTER: When the green flag is raised two kiters hit the water at the same time and have seven minutes to impress the judges. Finally it's Dion's turn. COMMENTATOR 2: Dion is not wasting any time, flicking a couple of tricks to go! Ooh, that has got to be the lowest S bend I ve ever seen Dion do! After four heats in the junior and open men s freestyle championships, the results are in. It's a win for Dion. DION DO: Yeah I pulled off some of the tricks I was comfortable with and some of the tricks I wasn't so comfortable with, but at the end it turned out really good. He's now the new junior state champion. Closer Looks like awesome fun! Don't forget you can jump onto our new-look website if you want to get more info on any of the stories. It's at the same address abc.net.au/btn. Well that's it for the show. I'll see you next time. 11