Imaging Concept

Images remains an important part of every day journalism. It is important to illustrate subjects with a picture to suit your view of the subject.

This task was set upon to me, to find images to suit several different subjects. This included the University I attend as well as different sporting images.

1: University of Central Lancashire




I chose this image for mainly, two reasons.

Firstly, the camera feels like it is on an overview of the University campus. The buildings for me reflect, not only the university but the town of Preston as an industrial place.

I love the blue sky situated over the top. It means the mood over the place is much more positive. The summer is my favourite kind of season, and I want to see the University I attend in this kind of situation. Not only does it give me spark as a person, but as a student writer, it gives me a sense of optimism about the place I go to work and study each day.

2: Football Hooligans





This picture is all about how intimate that the surroundings of a football stadium can be. The flares certainly show this.

There is no doubt in my mind, however that it does create a sense of excitement to me. When British clubs or international teams, played away at stadiums like this, this is most often, a common sight. In my view, the idea of Hooligans are people being 'off their nut' and this is why I have chosen this image to illustrate it.

3: Credit Crunch



This picture reflects a sign of the times, in the recession that Britain has operated in within the last year. To see big companies like this one with 'to let' signs on them, is a depressing factor indeed.

In a nutshell, I believe this picture also reflects the mood of Britain in 2009. This was a year engulfed by an MP Scandal, and our prime minister, desperately trying to defend the situation. People in more deprived areas, were more affected.

However to see a middle class town, Peterborough have signs like this, showed that no one was safe. Of course, the recession was all fuelled by the media to large extents but it was the photography that for me is the true essence of capturing the recession.

The rain, also adds to the bleak surrounded here.

4: The Olympics

The Future of Journalism

Ahh Journalism. In today's society, we all live and breath it. That's right. Even people who use the social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, can be a journalist of some sort. Everything is news nowadays.

We are already at the start of the new decade, and Journalism continues to evolve, from where it started at the back end of the noughties. This can be in any media platform.

Though I am doing a Sports Journalism degree, I am interested and exploring other parts of Journalism. This can range from general news, entertainment and art to politics. Journalists are no longer specific on just one specialism. Even on a local paper or site where you might be a specific writer, you will be expected to have a wider knowledge on other topics, in case you are called upon at short notice.

They say jobs are becoming fewer and fewer and cutbacks are being made. However, everything is becoming online, with media platforms using new equipment, all the time. It is just a case of re-construction rather than a total wipe out. Take the BBC for instance, they might be making cutbacks, but they are expanding themselves on a broader scale. Their online content shows this. You just have to have a look at the differences between the Sydney 2000 and Beijing 2008 sites on the BBC.

Of course the BBC is moving 50% of its headquarters up north to Salford to create BBC North. This will make the BBC much more open to the North which for the majority has always been ignored. Do we buy the revolution? It remains to be seen but it will certainly be interesting when the Salford studios open in 2011.

Newspapers are supposedly dying a death. Content for it is available online for free. However some papers are reinventing themselves completely. Take the London Evening Standard for instance, which is now available for free. The Lebadov run paper is also looking to buy up the Independent paper.

In addition, blogging is the future. It is a simple yet effective way of expressing yourself, which anyone can do. Why not check out my current blog: www.danbirch.co.uk as an example of what you can do!

This post was written by Daniel Birch. You can contact Dan at dbirch1@uclan.ac.uk