Friday, 6 July 2012

The Great Barr and Sutton Coldfield Observer (2012)


Companies: Great Barr and Sutton Coldfield Observer

Editor: Nicola Robinson (Head of Group News)

July 2012 – Freelance contribution


Two Birmingham fitness fanatics raised over a thousand pounds for charity by climbing three mountains in less than 24-hours.


Exhausted, but it's job done
featured in the Sutton Coldfield Observer
Mountainous mission completed for charity
featured in the Great Barr Observer



Saturday, 30 June 2012

MSN Sport (2012)


Company: MSN Sport

Commissioned: Jamie Frier (Freelance journalist for MSN)

June 2012 – Freelance contribution


This was a one-off for the MSN Olympic Torch blog recording the journey and atmosphere experienced by those witness the synonymous flame.

The review of the day amassed an unexpected positive reception boasting over 33 likes, one retweet and nine social media shares.

Read the full piece at:
http://sport.uk.msn.com/olympics-2012/inside-track/blogpost.aspx?post=e569b708-e42d-4c5c-9483-0a171342afef

Along with some snaps of Birmingham's big day, for the full a supplementary piece visit:  http://joshua-saunders.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/olympic-torch-relay-birmingham-for-msn.html

The Birmingham Bull bathed in Olympic fever
Uncanny replication of Churchill from Gerry George



Spot the Olympic Torch in the distance




Tuesday, 1 May 2012

The Guardian (2012)


Company: The Guardian, Kingsway London

Editors: Jeevan Vasagar (Education), Mark Oliver (Assistant News Editor)

April, May 2012 – One week placement

The Manchester Guardian's initial sign
The Guardian's Headquarters near Kings Cross St Pancras












 



The majority of my work for the Guardian was behind the article in a role similar to a researcher.

Chelsea Fringe Flower Show

·      Covering the underground sister of the Chelsea Flower show
·      Interviewing key horticulturists in the guerrilla gardening movement
·      Attending the press conference and fashioning a concise piece with recommendations of where to visit



Don't let the grass grow beneath your feet
Click to read full review


Brief review of the Chelsea Fringe Festival
Click here to read on the Guardian
Click here to read full piece
Chelsea Fringe featuring work
from the Guerrilla Gardener












Activism in public spaces

·      Contacting endless amounts of privately owned location that could be accessed by the public
·      If yes, finding out the rules of the site and what types of campaigning was permitted – i.e. camping, marches, leaflet distribution amongst others
·      The compiled information was then added to a map detailing the activism approving sites.



Research work for the Guardian's Map of privately owned,
publicly accessible locations
Read more at http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2012/jun/11/privately-owned-public-space-map

More can be found at: https://www.google.com/fusiontables/DataSource?docid=1lrNKscwda7NNc9rrq_Si9dhBqZAbv1Cv2Bx-o7shttps://www.google.com/fusiontables/DataSource?docid=1lrNKscwda7NNc9rrq_Si9dhBqZAbv1Cv2Bx-o7s


1952 – 2012: Sixty years on from the Queen’s coronation what’s changed?


·      Top headlines from 1952 and 2012
·      Analysing mentally challenging legislation from the last century to translate into readable information. Specifically concerning who was included on the Civil List and how much they were entitled to across the years.
·      Putting in and pursuing requests to find details about the vehicles both privately owned and part of the royal fleet.

Wednesday, 1 February 2012

The Bournemouth Rock (2012)



Company: The Bournemouth Rock, Bournemouth

Editors: Vikki Hutton (Features), Oliver Hill (Opinions), Sam Thomson (News)

January 2012 – two-month freelance contributor






















Contributing to three of the fortnightly student paper’s four sections.

Features

The idea for my contributions commenced as a biweekly ‘living in the life of…’ section. But due to time-constraints amongst other things it led the intended series only lasting for two entrees.


Yes Man

Imagine a world where you can’t utter the word no. This is the curse of the Yes Man. Joshua Saunders recalls his tales living the yes-lifestyle for a week as he confronts Scientology, nearly strips off in public and witnessed things he’d rather forget…

Initial idea taken from Danny Wallace, writer of Yes Man as a way of picking his life up; I thought it could spice up my own, what an understatement that would turn out to be.



Yes Man: How three letters can change your life
CLICK HERE FOR FULL STORY

Yes Man: How three letters can change your life






















Meet the Bournemouth's nude swimmers...

Joshua Saunders bears all to infiltrate Bournemouth’s colony of nude swimmers.

Ever up for a challenge I approached David, founder of the NudeSwim group, asking to write a piece about their uncommon hobby. Openly he agreed, but under the one condition that I’d join in the session and share in the experience.

Baring all with Bournemouth's Nudists. CLICK FOR FULL STORY
Baring all with Bournemouth's Nudists





Opinions

Having always been a man who preffered to entertain rather than astound, my columns tended to be a little less news-orientated and more unconventional as you’ll see below.

The day the ad-man stole your best friend

Bakers Complete brought out the world’s first advert specifically targeted at dogs. Employing high-pitched whistles to draw your canine companion’s attention at key moments could the ad-man have stolen your best buddy?
 
The day the ad man stole you best friend. CLICK FOR FULL STORY

The day the ad man stole you best friend






 

 

 

Frankie Cocozza saint or sinner?

With a nationwide split of besotted fans and enraged hatemongers Joshua Saunders asks how bad is ‘our Frankie’? And is his hedonistic life sexual conquests, drug use and excessive party-going any different from anyone else from his generation?


Frankie Cocozza Saint or Sinner? CLICK FOR FULL PIECE





Frankie Cocozza Saint or Sinner?





 

 

Flatworms could the secrets to human immortality

Scientists believe that they could have discovered qualities of immortality within the humble flat worm. If one is cut into ten sections the sections will regrow into individual worms. But as Ben Parker from Spiderman once stated: “With great power comes great responsibility,” and are we ready for it yet?


Flatworms could give mankind immortality, but are we ready?
Flatworms could give mankind
immortality, but are we ready?














News

This was one of the more challenging sections to write for, eagerly trying to find original stories to directly compete with local rival The Bournemouth Echo. Many of our stories ended up falling through; nonetheless a close friend and myself were appointed Chief Reporters. 

Boscombe in bid for a revitalised high-street
Boscombe in bid for a revitalised high-street


Oyster Card could be set for Bournemouth