People of the Year - February
The year in people: February
Ellen MacArthur going solo
Ellen MacArthur became the fastest person to sail non-stop around the world single-handedly in February. She completed the 27,354-mile journey on 7 February with a time of 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 33 seconds. She knocked 33 hours off Frenchman Francis Joyon's world record. She arrived back to Falmouth in Britain to a rapturous welcome accompanied by the Royal Navy, 100 pleasure craft, and helicopters. There were 8,000 spectators waiting for her on the shoreline. MacArthur has quickly become a British national hero – thousands lined the Thames to welcome her as she sailed up it in February; in April the Queen made her a dame – she is the youngest person to receive the title in modern times; and she was nominated as the BBC British Sports Personality of the Year. Recently she proved she can be just as fast on dry land – coming first in Top Gear's 'Star in a Car' – where a well-known personality tried to get the fastest lap on a race track. Her time was only 0.02 seconds slower than Formula One driver Damon Hill's. MacArthur's next challenge is likely to be the west to east trans-Atlantic record, which she missed by 75 minutes last year. She's also tipped to try to beat the 18-day record for sailing around Britain and Ireland next year.
Michael Jackson's day in court
This year there was a spate of celebrates on trial – Lil Kim, Kobe Bryant and Robert Black among others. But Michael Jackson's trial dominated the headlines. It began on 28 February in California, surrounded by massive hype, with media and fans from around the world camped outside the courthouse 24 hours a day. Jackson was charged on ten counts including molesting and conspiring to imprison 13 year old Gavin Arvizo. In mid-June he was acquitted on all charges. As with anything that Jackson's involved in, there were some bizarre moments during the trial. He arrived in court in his pyjamas one day, and was rushed to hospital on another occasion. During the trial Jackson's health suffered and he looked exhausted and frail. Since the trial he has spent a lot of time in Bahrain. In August he was fined by a court for failing to appear on sexual assault charges. He is now facing bankruptcy, with reports saying that he is $240 million in debt.
America female rapper, Lil' Kim, was sentenced in July to a year and a day in prison and fined $50,000 for lying to a federal grand jury to protect friends involved in a 2001 shootout outside a Manhattan radio station. In March, actor Robert Blake was acquitted of murdering his wife.
Geraldine KennedY Regrets, she's had a few
On 8 February the Irish Times published the 'Irishman's Diary' column by Kevin Myers where he called single mothers "mothers of bastards" and said that our welfare system was creating "benefits-addicted, fatherless families".
National outrage ensued and the public demanded the resignation of editor Geraldine Kennedy. Joe Duffy's Liveline was inundated with calls on the topic and the Irish Times letters section was dominated by the issue throughout the week. On 10 February, Myers gave an "unconditional apology". Kennedy also wrote a piece on the same day – but many saw it as highly unsatisfactory. She defended the publishing of the story, saying that the Irish Times did not like to censor its columnists. It wasn't until 12 February that she said she regretted publishing the column. She said she had thought that by publishing it she might have started a debate about Ireland's treatment of single mothers.
The incident reignited the debate for an independent national Press Council.
Recently Kennedy was given an honorary doctorate by Queens University, Belfast, for her services to journalism.