Audio Skills Test

Photograph by jayneandd

As the competition on the X Factor heats up, I took to the streets to find out who the people of Preston think should win this year's competition. While it was hard to find men and boys who would admit to watching the ITV talent show, the women of Preston were only too happy to give their opinion on who they thought has the X Factor.

Audio Skills Test by FrancescaDent

The Vox Pop was part of the series of skills tests for my Digital Newsroom module. I had planned to ask about a drug dealer who had been asked to re-pay only 50p after being involved in a drugs deal worth £1.5million. However after asking one or two people around Preston city centre, it was clear that people either had not heard about the story or didn't have an opinion on it. Because I found it hard to get the public to talk about such a serious issue, I decided to opt for a more 'fun' 'outgoing' question that people would prefer to answer.

Feel free to email me on FDent1@uclan.ac.uk if you have any questions.

Great Manchester Police Tweets

So much has happened since my last post.

My university work load has intensified and forced my social life and blogging to take a backseat. I am glad to say now that I am finally on top of my work and organised enough to blog, socialise and of course work.

In the outside world, Greater Manchester Police have set up a Twitter page where they tweet every 999 call they receive. The idea has been receiving mixed reviews. Some feel that it is a great idea that the misuse of the emergency number is being highlighted but others think the idea is a waste of time. With posts such as "Call 285 A 17-y the tear-old boy has gone missing from a house in Cheetham Hill, Manchester #gmp24" I feel that it is a good source of finding out what is going on from an official source.

Mapping Skils Test

In my Digital Newsroom module at UCLan, we have been discussing the idea of using the internet for hyperlocal journalism. Hyperlocal journalism is the process of focusing on a small area of a certain region and giving it coverage on a more local level than it usually receives in the local media.

Regional newspapers have a wide area to cover and a limited space to fill; this means that many events which happen in a local area could be substituted for ones which the editor feels are more newsworthy. However online journalism means that there is more space for a wider range of stories. This allows hyperlocal journalism to occur.

Through this process, local places may be reported for the first time and people may not know exactly where these places are. This is where mapping comes in handy. Mapping allows the reader to interact with the stories in a way that they couldn't if they were reading a newspaper.

As part of a university assignment I was asked to create a map using 4 articles taken from the print version of the Lancashire Evening Post, I then had to create a map in Google using My Maps. The map I created can be seen below, it is interactive and by clicking on the pointers you can find out more information about the story.


View Lancashire Evening Post Mapping in a larger map

I feel that there are many advantages to using mapping in online journalism. Seeing the locations of a story on a map...

• helps the reader visualise the story
• gives another dimension to the multi-platform medium
• puts the story into context
• makes a place easier to find
• helps people relate to the story
• brings the community closer together by including areas not normally covered in the regional media

If you would like to contact me regarding this or any other blog post, feel free to email me at FDent1@uclan.ac.uk

Image Skills Test

As part of my Digital Newsroom assignment I have been set the task of taking a photograph of one of the following places:
• Lancashire County Council
• Preston City Council
• The Flag Market
• Preston North End football club
• The University of Central Lancashire

I chose to take a photograph to represent the University of Central Lancashire. I feel that the photograph I chose could be cropped in a number of ways to suit a variety of stories. My original photograph can be seen below.

The assignment stated that once I had taken my photograph I had to crop the image to three sizes. Cropping an image is a vital tool within Journalism, it can define the meaning of a story, but it can also miss or change the original intentions of the story. When done correctly cropping an image can give your story depth and understanding.

The three sizes I had to crop my image too were
• One 100 x 100 pixel thumbnail in jpeg format
• One 400 pixel wide by 300 pixel high version in jpeg format
• One 200 pixel wide by 500 pixel high version in jpeg format


Firstly the 100 x 100 pixel thumbnail. With this image you can see I have cropped it so you can only see the UCLan logo with some of the building in the background. This could be used in an article about the university.


Secondly the 400 pixel wide by 300 pixel high version. Here you can see the logo again but you can also tell that the image is of a building. It adds a bit of depth. It could be used in an article regarding architecture around Preston or on the University Campus or could be used in a story about environmental friendly buildings on campus. The colours in the building encompass this.


Finally the 200 pixel wide by 500 pixel high version. This version of the image adds scale and context. You can see the door of the building so you can imagine how big the building is. The fact that you can visualise this may help a reader understand a story which it appeared alongside.


Carrying out this task has taught me that cropping images is very important. An image can either draw a reader in or put them off. If an image is cropped correctly it can stand alone and be understood by itself which is important when drawing a reader in.

If you would like to contact me regarding any of my posts feel free to email me at FDent1@uclan.ac.uk

University Project

View Image (test) in a larger map

In my Digital Newsroom module, we were given the task of creating a custom map using Google Maps, pointing out one of five places in Preston and using an image to represent this place.

You can see my custom map above. The place I chose to represent was the University of Central Lancashire and I used a photograph by Amy Ferguson which I found via the creative commons website.

If you would like to contact me regarding this post or any other posts I have writen, please feel free to contact me at FDent1@uclan.ac.uk