Assignment Paulina Święch

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Analyse the following features:

- the headline
- any instances of transitivity, naming, evaluation, attribution
- objectivity; look for any signs of ideological bias.

Please keep your analysis short (400-600 words) and do not forget to include the link to
the story.

Please send your assignments as a Word file via Forms using the link below.

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?
id=6yYO676_0keekOvSQm2863er8H7NG-
1KsJlhNvcIztRURUlUMUtLMFpBWVJNTU03ODg5Mjk5TzFUSC4u

UK swapped to fatal US blood products to save money, minutes suggest | Contaminated blood
scandal | The Guardian

UK swapped to fatal US blood products to


save money, minutes suggest
fatal, blood products: strong, intense words
UK: omission of functional words
fatal US blood products: premodified noun phrases
minutes suggest: attribution
swapped: evaluation
UK swapped to fatal US blood products: passive voice (transitivity) UK (the patient)
blood products (the agent)

Exclusive: contaminated blood campaigners say internal 1976


Immuno AG document proves British government negligence
say, proves: the present tense, attribution: indirect reporting
British government negligence: omission of functional words
 Analysis: families hope report will finally apportion blame
hope: the present tense,
will: modality
Daniel Boffey Chief reporter
Sun 14 Apr 2024 14.14 CEST

The British government was willing to risk infecting NHS patients to get
“lower-priced” blood products, according to a document that campaigners
claim proves state and corporate guilt in one of the country’s worst ever
scandals.
“lower-priced”: attribution: direct speech
according to: attribution, modality
claim: attribution, indirect speech, modality

A public inquiry into the deaths of an estimated 2,900 people infected with
conditions such as HIV and hepatitis will publish its final report in May,
four decades after the NHS started prescribing blood and blood products –
including from drug users, prisoners and sex workers – sourced from the
US.
Within the thousands of documents disclosed to the inquiry, internal
company minutes have emerged that campaigners say provide the final
compelling piece of evidence of the commercial greed and state negligence
that destroyed thousands of lives.
say: attribution: indirect reporting

In November 1976, Immuno AG, an Austrian company that was a major


supplier to the Department of Health, was seeking a licence change to allow
it to supply a blood product from those paid to donate in the US rather than
donors without a financial incentive in Europe.

to allow it to supply a blood product from those paid to donate in the US


rather than donors without a financial incentive in Europe.
rather than: evaluation, bias

According to the minutes of a meeting of medics in the company, it had


been “proven” that there was a “significantly higher hepatitis risk” from a
concentrate known as Kryobulin 2 made from US plasma compared with
that from Austria and Germany.
according to: attribution, modality

“proven”: attribution, direct speech

“significantly higher hepatitis risk”: attribution, direct speech

The company had concluded there was a “preference” in the UK for the
cheaper US option. The memo of the meeting said: “Kryobulin 2 will be
significantly cheaper than Kryobulin 1 because the British market will
accept a higher risk of hepatitis for a lower-priced product. In the long-
term, Kryobulin 1 will disappear from the British market.”
“preference”: attribution, direct speech

“Kryobulin 2 will be significantly cheaper than Kryobulin 1 because the


British market will accept a higher risk of hepatitis for a lower-priced
product. In the long-term, Kryobulin 1 will disappear from the British
market.”: attribution, direct speech
A Granada World in Action documentary had already reported a year earlier
that drug users and people living on the streets in the US were being paid to
give blood and that the donors were not consistently honest about their
lifestyles and health.
reported: attribution, indirect reporting

General apologies for the scandal have been made by the government in
recent years but Rishi Sunak has been accused of dragging his feet over
compensation. About 4,500 interim compensation payments of
£100,000 have been made to victims and bereaved partners but that leaves
two-thirds of families without redress.
The prime minister defied calls from the inquiry chair, Sir Brian Langstaff,
last year for a final compensation framework to be set up by the end of 2023
and for payments to be extended to the parents and children of those
infected.
the scandal: evaluation, naming

Among the victims of the contaminated blood scandal were 1,250


haemophiliacs infected with HIV and a further 2,400 to 5,000 people with
such bleeding disorders who were infected with hepatitis C.

View image in fullscreen


Jason Evans was four when his father, Jonathan, died. He has spent more than a
decade campaigning for justice

A total of 1,170 of those people have died as a result of their infections,


including scores of children. They were infected through a blood product
known as Factor VIII, of which Kryobulin was one of the brands.
One of those who died after being infected by Kryobulin 2 was Jonathan
Evans, a carpenter from Coventry, who died at the age of 31 in 1993. His
son, Jason, who was four years old when he lost his father, has spent more
than a decade campaigning for justice.
Jason, 34, said: “The importance of this document is that it clearly shows in
black and white that pharmaceutical companies were willing to sell
products they knew to be infected with hepatitis, and that state was
prepared to buy those products because they were cheaper than less risky
ones.
“The importance of this document is that it clearly shows in black and white
that pharmaceutical companies were willing to sell products they knew to be
infected with hepatitis, and that state was prepared to buy those products
because they were cheaper than less risky ones.”: attribution, direct speech

“What I want from the inquiry is it finally to be on the official record that
what happened was entirely preventable and was motivated by unethical
practices. For decades the line from government was that this was an
unavoidable accident that no one could have possibly have foreseen. No one
did anything wrong. Most importantly, one of the lines they used for
decades was that no one was ever knowingly given infected blood products,
and obviously a document like this just completely blows that statement out
of the water.” attribution: direct speech
Janine Jones, 59, from Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, whose brother Marc
Payton died at the age of 41 in 2003 after being infected with HIV and
hepatitis while a pupil at Treloar College, a boarding school in Hampshire
that specialised in teaching haemophiliacs, said she was relieved that her
parents had died before the new evidence emerged.

said: attribution, indirect speech

She said: “Even though most of us had some sort of inclination that this sort
of stuff was going on, to actually see it in black and white, it’s quite
shocking. And to be honest I’m glad that my parents aren’t alive to witness
that. (attribution, direct speech)
“Both my parents didn’t handle everything that happened to Marc very well.
Mum always blamed herself for giving him haemophilia in the first place
because she was the carrier. Dad was the one that persuaded mum to let
him go to Treloar’s to get him a better education. And to find out that was
actually done while he was actually there, you know, I mean, he went there
when he was 11 years old. So it’s quite barbaric when you think about it,
really. The fact that they were doing that to children.” (attribution, direct
speech)

The public inquiry was ordered by Theresa May in 2017 shortly after a
group litigation was launched in the high court by hundreds of victims of
the scandal, but the legal action has been paused to allow the inquiry, led by
Langstaff, to complete its work.
The public inquiry was ordered by Theresa May: transitivity: passive voice: The
public inquiry (the patient), Theresa May (the agent)

In an interim report last April, Langstaff said it was clear that “wrongs were
done at individual, collective and systemic levels”.
said it was clear that “wrongs were done at individual, collective and systemic levels”:
attribution, direct speech

He highlighted the testimony of the chancellor and former health secretary


Jeremy Hunt, who told the inquiry that the disaster was “a failure of the
British state”.
the disaster: evaluation, naming

“a failure of the British state”: attribution, direct speech

Evidence has been heard at the inquiry of government documents going


missing. There was a policy in the 1970s and 80s of not informing the
victims who had been infected.
evidence has been heard: source, attribution, indirect reporting

In France, senior officials went to jail in the 1990s over a similar scandal,
but there has never been a prosecution in the UK.
similar scandal: evaluation, naming and consonance

The former health secretary Andy Burnham told the Commons in 2017 that
he believed there had been a “criminal cover-up on an industrial scale”.
told the Commons in 2017 that he believed there had been a “criminal
cover-up on an industrial scale”: attribution, direct speech
Des Collins, a lawyer representing 1,500 victims and their families, said:
“My view is that the administration at the time in the 80s and early 90s
realised what was happening in France and thought this isn’t going to
happen in this country and pulled up the drawbridge to say ‘nothing to see
here’. I think they were worried about criminal prosecutions. That led to 40
years of denial.”
said: “My view is that the administration at the time in the 80s and early
90s realised what was happening in France and thought this isn’t going to
happen in this country and pulled up the drawbridge to say ‘nothing to see
here’. I think they were worried about criminal prosecutions. That led to 40
years of denial.”: attribution, direct speech
View image in fullscreen

Sir Brian Langstaff, leading the inquiry, said last year that it was clear ‘wrongs
were done at individual, collective and systemic levels’. Photograph: Infected
Blood Inquiry/PA
said last year that it was clear ‘wrongs were done at individual, collective and
systemic levels’: attribution, direct speech
Tony Farrugia, 53, who lost his father, Barry, and two uncles to infections
caused by infected blood products, said he was yet to receive any redress
from the government.
said he was yet to receive any redress from the government: attribution, indirect
speech

Farrugia, who spent his childhood in care as a result of the disaster, said:
“My whole family was destroyed. It is cruel really what the government is
doing in making us wait for their acknowledgment of their part in what
happened.” (attribution, direct speech)

A government spokesperson said: “This was an appalling tragedy, and our


thoughts remain with all those impacted. We are clear that justice needs to
be delivered for the victims and have already accepted the moral case for
compensation. (attribution, direct speech)
“This covers a set of extremely complex issues, and it is right we fully
consider the needs of the community and the far-reaching impact that this
scandal has had on their lives. The government will provide an update to
parliament on next steps through an oral statement within 25 sitting days of
the inquiry’s final report being published.” (attribution, direct speech)
Immuno AG was bought by the US company Baxter International in 1996
for $715m, which spun off its blood products business in 2015 and sold it to
Shire Plc. That company was acquired by Takeda Pharmaceuticals in 2019.
Immuno AG was bought by the US company Baxter International: transitivity:
passive voice: Immuno AG (the patient), the US company Baxter International (the
agent)
spun off: evaluation, naming

That company was acquired by Takeda Pharmaceuticals transitivity: passive


voice: company (the patient), Takeda Pharmaceuticals (the agent)

A spokesperson for Takeda said: “We have the greatest sympathy with the
individuals and families who have been impacted by infected blood. We
fully recognise the importance of the inquiry and have cooperated with the
inquiry, aiming to assist in its investigation as far as we are able by trying to
provide historic information in relation to the companies concerned. We
will continue to remain fully engaged with the inquiry.
‘Above all else, Takeda are committed to the safety and quality of our
medicines. We have strict standards and procedures in place, and for
plasma derived therapies specifically this includes rigorous donor selection,
extensive plasma testing and pathogen reduction, all in full compliance with
international regulatory and industry standards.
“It would not be appropriate for us to provide further comment at this time
given the independent inquiry’s work finalising its report remains ongoing,
and we welcome the full report that is due to be published next month.”
(attribution: direct speech)

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