Regeneration

Piccadilly basin in the dusk

In the past couple of weeks I have been working on a Flash file about the regeneration of Piccadilly and east Manchester. Since completing the NCTJ course at Liverpool I had some time to spend, and hopefully I used it wisely. The Flash file can be viewed by following this link. Open the file and it should play within 10 seconds.

This is Liverpool

I created this image gallery following the completion of my NCTJ course at Liverpool Community College. I wanted to pay tribute to Liverpool, which is a great city. Several of the photographs in the gallery were taken from the top of the Anglican Cathedral, which is a stunning building. Please follow the link and then play the Flash file.

In the Projekts

I created this Flash file last year, while working on a blog for teenagers. It's about a group of skaters in Manchester. Follow this link to scaters2.swf, and choose open.

The end

My NCTJ fast-track course in newspaper journalism ended on Friday, with a 70 wpm short hand exam, which I flunked. Unfortunately I have been forced to abandon this blog in recent weeks, due to the overwhelming volume of work.

In the past couple of weeks I have submitted a NCTJ portfolio and sat exams in law, public affairs, news writing and short hand. The Tee Line was the big disaster. I failed to get grips with this subject, which was a shame. I will be re-taking my short hand exams later this year. In terms of everything else, who knows? Apparently 50% of candidates fail the news writing exam, and no one seems to know anything about the portfolio. I think I passed law and pa.

The course was really tough, particularly in the last few weeks. The last couple of days were stressful, anti - climactic and a little sad. There were quite a few people I did not get chance to say goodbye to, due to timetable variances.

A few people have been offered jobs on local newspapers, which is good. Also, only a handful of people reached the required speed at short hand, so that makes me feel a little better.

The one thing I am sure of is that Liverpool is a great city. It wears its crown lightly, and it is the perfect contrast to Manchester’s self-obsessed vanity. Liverpool is currently being re-built, and I fear that its future may be similar to Manchester’s – the city centre will become a playground for outsiders with money. If that does happen, it will be a shame.

Although my course has ended, this blog will continue. I now have the time to collect some decent content, and I am planning to put together a photo gallery of Liverpool later this week.

This is Manchester

Click To Play

I created this Flash file last spring, and it is aimed at a teenage audience. At the time I was working on a blog aimed at a 16 year old demographic, so the file should be viewed in that context.

From Rusholme with love

This is Lal Qila, an 'Indian' restaurant on Manchester's curry mile. The restaurant, like the majority of curry houses in Rusholme, is in fact Pakistani. In 2000, Benazir Bhutto visited Manchester. There was reception and press conference at Manchester town hall, followed by a trip to Lal Qila.

Vintage propaganda

Click To Play
This Flash file uses Soviet Union propaganda footage. It is about the Red Army's invasion of Afghanistan and their attempts to fight insurgents and win The Cold War. Although the film exists solely to communicate a message and is very much of its time, it still has a curiosity value. It is also a reminder of Afghanistan's bloody modern history. This is now back in vogue, thanks to Mike Nichol's new film, Charlie Wilson's War. The movie is based on the true story of US Congressman Charlie Wilson, who ensured the Mujahideen had lots of money and guns.