Jobs to go at Stratford Herald

Posted by Press Gazette on 18 March 2010 at 09:47
Tags: Newspapers, Photography

Family-owned Midlands newspaper, the Stratford Herald, is to drop three of its ten journalists, according to reports.

Editor Chris Towner told Holdthefrontpage: “Like everybody else we’re having a rough time and it doesn’t look like it’s getting any better. We thought we could weather the storm as we have done in previous recessions but this one has proved deeper, darker and more protracted.”

According to the report, the cuts are unlikely to affect its reporting team, with the posts under threat expected to be news editor, sub-editor and one of the paper’s two photographers.

Local reporter finds sex offender in Switzerland

Posted by Press Gazette on 16 March 2010 at 12:39
Tags: Newspapers, Photography, Regional Newspapers

A local press reporter worked with a photographer from a second paper to track down a convicted sex offender who had breached the terms of his licence by moving abroad.

Holdthefrontpage has the remarkable story of how Derby Telegraph crime correspondent Shaun Jepson and Nottingham Evening Post photographer Jemma Cox flew out to Switzerland in the hunt for 48-year-old Richard Guelbert.

Guelbert, who was jailed in 1999 for 12 years for raping a 15-year-old, failed to notify the authorities of a change of address and after an appeal last month to help find five missing sex offenders the East Midlands papers went looking for him.

Both papers splashed the story this morning (Derby piece, Notts piece).

Photojournalist Charles Moore dead at 79

Posted by Press Gazette on 16 March 2010 at 11:47
Tags: Newspapers, People, Photography

Photojournalist Charles Moore, who captured some of the defining images of the United States in the civil rights era, died last week.

Through his iconic Life magazine photographs, Moore helped define the civil rights struggle in the US and helped sway public opinion.

The New York Times reported his daughter, Michelle Moore Peel, saying he died of natural causes – last week at home in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, aged 79.

Among Moore’s work he captured images of Martin Luther King Jr being arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1958.

The BBC has compiled a gallery of a number of his images.

Facebook photo lift costs Wales on Sunday £260

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 11 March 2010 at 08:56
Tags: Law, National Newspapers, Newspapers, Photography, Regional Newspapers

British Journal of Photography relaunches as monthly

Posted by Press Gazette on 1 March 2010 at 11:03
Tags: Consumer Magazines, Magazines, Photography

After 146 years as a weekly the British Journal of Photography, one of the world’s oldest photography titles, is switching back to a monthly format.

The BJP originally launched as a monthly in 1854 but switched to weekly publication ten years later. (more…)

Photographer dies after covering football match

Posted by Press Gazette on 1 March 2010 at 08:52
Tags: Newspapers, People, Photography, Regional Newspapers

Rochdale Observer photographer Steve Bostock died suddenly after covering a football match last week.

Bostock suffered a suspected heart attack outside Spotland Stadium just minutes after the end of last week’s Rochdale and Bradford City match.

Colleagues paid tribute to Bostock, who was married with two children and four step-children.

Observer sports editor Richard Partington told his paper that Bostock’s photography reflected his great enthusiasm for his work. (more…)

Prince William Hello pics were digitally altered to give him dark mop

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 19 February 2010 at 10:01
Tags: Consumer Magazines, Magazines, Photography

The thick mop of black hair Prince William is sporting on the front page of this week’s Hello magazine is largely down to lighting and the way the print was developed, according to Palace officials.

The shoot by amateur photographer Jeff Hubbard under the guidance of Rankin has raised some debate about what has happened to Prince William’s normally rather patchy blond hair.

A royal spokesman told the Daily Mail: “Studio lighting and work on colour contrasts in the prints have all contributed to the particular look.

“The prince is pleased with the results, particularly since they have been commissioned in order to help homeless men and women, which is an issue close to his heart.”

Hello magazine reports on its website: “Lighting and digital touching have all played their part which is standard practice with a piece of artwork as opposed to natural photography. ”

While this is all good clean fun, it does raise a serious point about the cavalier attitude many glossy mags have to altering editorial images. If the picture has been tweaked, they should have told the readers up front.

Clause one of the PCC Editors’ Code clearly states: “The press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information, including pictures.”

PA appointed official press agency for the 2012 London Olympics

Posted by Press Gazette on 18 February 2010 at 15:35
Tags: Agencies, Photography

The International Olympic Committee has appointed the Press Association as host national news agency for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The Sports Journalists’ Association has a full account.

Reuters photographer freed by US forces in Iraq after 17 months detention

Posted by Press Gazette on 11 February 2010 at 11:13
Tags: Agencies, People, Photography, press freedom

A Reuters photographer Ibrahim Jassam Mohammed has been freed by the US military after 17 months’ detention in Iraq without charge.

Mohammed, an Iraqi who contributed to Reuters on a freelance basis, was released yesterday. (more…)

Exhibition documents Birmingham Post & Mail snapper’s work

Posted by Press Gazette on 25 January 2010 at 15:31
Tags: Newspapers, People, Photography

A exhibition of work by press photographer John James is providing a window on some of the events that helped shape local, national and international news over the past four decades. (more…)

Tiger Woods photos pre-date scandal

Posted by Press Gazette on 6 January 2010 at 11:31
Tags: Consumer Magazines, Journalism, Magazines, Photography

Vanity Fair’s February cover photo of a half-naked Tiger Woods, which for obvious reasons received widespread media interest yesterday, was taken long before the scandal of recent weeks. (more…)

Vanity Fair: Tiger Woods Laid Bare

Posted by Press Gazette on 5 January 2010 at 11:32
Tags: Consumer Magazines, International, Journalism, Magazines, Photography

Tiger Woods is no stranger to being on front covers at the moment. Despite recent…shall we call them ‘challenges’… to his popularity US Vanity Fair’s February issue joins the throng by leading with a photo of the fallen golf star lifting dumbbells semi-naked.

The “raw, never-before-seen” photos, which will hit newsstands next Tuesday in the UK, were taken by photographer Annie Leibovitz before the car + crash + golf club + sex scandal.

Buzz Bissinger’s article that accompanies them then dwells on the “tales of kinky extramarital sex” in lavish detail.

The Pulitzer Prize winning journalist writes: “Tiger’s story has been driven by sex, tons of it, in allegedly all different varieties” before listing some of the more colourful stories.

In the “greatest single fall in popularity of a non-politician” Vanity Fair notes how Woods’ US approval rating has plummeted from 87% in 2005 to 33% in mid-December.

‘I’m a photographer not a terrorist’ badge leaves police unconvinced

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 9 December 2009 at 09:01
Tags: Law, Photography

Days after ACPO warned police forces around the country not that they had no powers to stop photographers taking photos under terror legislation - a photographer wearing a badge which said ‘I am not a terrorist’ was stopped and searched.

Architectural photographer Grant Smith was stopped and searched by seven police officers citing powers under the Terrorism Act after being reported to police by a security guard in central London.

Two police cars and riot van attended the scene after Grant Smith, 53, was questioned outside Christ Church in Newgate.

He told the Independent: “They asked me what I was doing and I told them it was pretty obvious; I had a prrofessional camera and a tripod and was wearing a badge which said: ‘I’m a photographer, not a terrorist’.”

New guidance says police have no power to stop photographers

Posted by Press Gazette on 7 December 2009 at 14:37
Tags: Law, Photography

Welcome news from the Association of Chief Police Officers which has told its members to stop harassing photographers.

Writing in the Independent today chief constable Andy Trotter, chairman of Acpo’s media advisory group, said: “Everyone… has a right to take photographs and film in public places. Taking photographs… is not normally cause for suspicion and there are no powers prohibiting the taking of photographs, film or digital images in a public place.”

Acpo has sent this advice to all its members. It follows concerns that police have been using anti-terror powers as an excuse to stop photographers taking photographs in public places.

 

Photo gallery: Journalists and campaigners pick their dream headlines

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 23 November 2009 at 13:43
Tags: Journalism, Photography, press freedom

Freelance photographer James Young is on the hunt for leading journalists and freedom of speech campaigners who will agree to be pictured with their ‘Dream Headline’ as part of a project of the same name.

Young has already persuaded journalists Sally Murrer and Nick Davies, as well as director of Liberty Shami Chakrabarti; MP George Galloway; Labour party activist Walter Wolfgang and anti-war campaigner Brian Haw to pose with a mocked-up front page of the Daily Tomorrow.

He says the Dream Headline project is intended to promote free speech and press freedom and will culminate in an exhibition next year.

Here are the Dream Headline pictures taken so far:

Brian Haw:

(more…)

Photography banned from beach without council permission

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 6 October 2009 at 09:32
Tags: Law, Photography

A photographer was told he couldn’t take pictures on Sandbanks beach in Bournemouth without a permit, the Daily Echo has reported.

Steve Cook was in the middle of a charity photo shoot for the Help for Heroes charity on Monday morning when he was stopped, the Echo reports. (more…)

Guardian accused of breaking deal and identifying nursing home resident

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 28 September 2009 at 08:54
Tags: Newspapers, Photography

The Guardian has been criticised for allegedly identifying an elderly woman and breaching an agreement that all identities in a feature about Monmouth Court nursing home would be protected. (more…)

Multimedia: Reuters project charts the recession

Posted by Helen Potter on 10 September 2009 at 08:23
Tags: Agencies, International, Journalism, New Media, Online, Photography

Reuters has launched an interactive multimedia project, Times of Crisis, charting the global impact of the current financial climate.
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(more…)

AP image of a dying US marine causes outcry

Posted by Helen Potter on 7 September 2009 at 14:17
Tags: Agencies, Freedom of Information, Journalism, Newspapers, Photography, press freedom

International news agency, the Associated Press, has been criticised for publishing a picture of a dying US marine.

The picture, which depicts Lance Cpl Joshua Bernard being tended to by fellow soliders in Southern Afghanistan moments before the 21-year-old’s death, prompted outcry in the US. (more…)

NCTJ awards diversity fund training bursaries

Posted by Martin Dominguez on 3 September 2009 at 09:51
Tags: Journalism, Newspapers, Photography, Student Journalism

The NCTJ has selected seven budding reporters to receive training bursaries from its journalism diversity fund. (more…)