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Liverpool Echo's Calendar Girls (and boys): Not quite Readers' Wives!

The Liverpool Echo have been running a competition asking readers to send in their photos of themselves in Calendar Girls' style poses, many choosing to cover their bits with a copy of the Liverpool Echo.

So, hopefully, you're not eating anything. Be prepared for a shocking slideshow:

What's the old saying? Don't ask, don't get. For all its shocking content, it does show how people can get involved with your newspaper brand and have a good laugh at the same time. Plus it's been one of the most popular slideshows this week.

The prize. The chance to see Calendar Girls at the theatre and lots of other pampering stuff.

#liverpool echo #competitions #calendar girls #funnies #readers wives

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Video as a reaction tool: Hillsborough debate

Video is a great medium for filming reactions, and the Liverpool Echo went into action yesterday after Parliament debated the motion on Hillsborough. Reporter Dan Kay live blogged the debate and also spoke to bereaved parents and local politicians. It's nothing revolutionary but capturing the emotion of those who lost loved ones during the disaster through video has far more impact....

You can see all the Liverpool Echo's video reactions to the Hillsborough debate here.

#hillsborough #liverpool echo

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Forgive me father... CCTV catches thief making sign of the cross

This CCTV video, obtained by the Birmingham Mail, shows thieves appearing to make the sign of the cross while nicking a silver lantern from a church in Winson Green. Cheeky buggers. Another example of always asking for the CCTV, most public buildings, including churches, will now have cameras and it forms a major part of police investigations. Plus we know readers like watching it, and sometimes the CCTV becomes the story... as in this case.

#birmingham mail #winson green #cctv

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Viewfinder: Top 5 Trinity Mirror Regional videos in September 2011

We're heading towards Autumn and here's what was topping the Trinity Mirror regional charts in September, and it showed that the football season is well and truly back in full swing.

1. Alan Pardew previews Newcastle v Blackburn

It wasn't even a big game, but Newcastle's strong start to the season has been exciting those on Tyneside and they're flocking to see what Pardew has to say.

2. Should we sign the Malaysian?

The words Malaysia's answer to David Beckham will delight any sports desk, but none more so than in Cardiff. The Bluebirds have been taking Safee Sali on trial despite him being, well, errr, not up to standard? WalesOnline have been having a bit of fun with this...

3. 'Bannergate' and Coventry City taking a hands on approach with their fans

It's all been kicking off in Coventry, as it always seems to be doing. The club have decided they want rules about what banners can be brought into the stadium during matches, particularly ones that criticise the board. Not surprisingly this caused a few fisticuffs. So Bannergate was born and this piece from Neil White brings you up to speed.

4. Staying with Coventry... the excitement of a new striker

He might not be Darren Huckerby (remember him?) but Cody McDonald has certainly got Sky Blues fans talking, this video montage of his best bits did very strongly alongside all the talk of him signing.

5. Newcastle's strong start to the season

Lee Ryder's video football chats are still pulling in the views, and the Chronicle's Newcastle pundit touches on the good mood around the club at the moment. Despite the fans still being miserable as ever.

#alan pardew #newcastle united #lee ryder #walesonline #safee sali #bannergate #coventry city #coventry telegraph #cody mcdonald

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How to do audio when your sports guys are out and about

Great example of how to produce a quick piece of multimedia on a big breaking sports story - when all your sports editors/writers are out and about.

The MEN cover two of the biggest football clubs in the world, and when Carlos Tevez threw his dummy out about coming on (or not coming on) as a sub last night in the Champions League it had the back pages secured.

Paul Handler did a great job of getting his sports editor on the phone for a quick chat, and recording it on his Nokia N8, editing it down and adding some photos over the top for a quick audio slideshow win.

The quality is good, and Pete Spencer is an engaging personality who makes his views on Tevez clear. Now you've got something alongside the main story and fan comments, and to go onto YouTube.

Update: Suggestion from Andy Jackson - all things digital at the Huddersfiled Examiner - of using Rectel to record phone calls. Despite sound more like a cure you'd get from the pharmacy, it's actually a handy website which allows you to record phone calls to your computer.

#carlos tevez #audio #nokia n8 #paul handler #manchester evening news #manchester city

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Baby squirrel photos...

Sometimes you don't need many words, one for all the animals lovers.

#baby squirrels #morpeth #journal

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Stick it to the man: Sparth reservoir

Nice little video from the Huddersfield Examiner, showing campaigners taking to the Sparth reservoir for a dip - despite being told not to by British Waterways.

It shows how just 20 seconds of footage can add a lot to the story, even without a lot of fancy editing.

#sparth reservoir #huddersfield examiner

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What did the pineapple say to the chimney?

Nice snappy use of video this week from the North East team on Gazette Live for their joke competition.

Magician Paul Daniels judged the 'Tell Us Your Joke' competition and this lovely little video below has the winner Katelyn Smith telling her joke direct to the camera.

It's local, funny, works alongside the print campaign and the little girl is very sweet in her delivery of the joke (although I did have to replay it three times to catch exactly what she said).

The punchline as the story informs us is: "You have no eyeballs".

Readers struggling to “get it” should give up now - it doesn’t make sense and it was the childlike silliness of the joke which amused South Bank-born Paul.

#katelyn smith #gazette live #jokes #video

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Emergency services video: Only in Wales...

Despite conforming to every stereotype etc etc sheep being saved in Wales etc etc, there's something to be taken from this and that's working with the emergency services to secure video footage - like the Daily Post have done below.

This rescue showcases the extent of the local flooding and brings home how important the rural economy is to North Wales.

Any emergency services footage is popular and not only increases the dwell time on news websites but also promotes the emergency services and allows the public to see them in action.

If you're a press officer in any kind of law enforcement/emergency service, you should always be asking the media "do you want video with that?".

#emergency services #video #daily post #north wales

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Viewfinder: Top 5 Trinity Mirror Regional videos in August 2011

It was definitely a month for the riots, as riot-related video swamped our most watched lists across the regional titles. With Liverpool and Birmingham seeing incredible uplifts in traffic during the disturbances.

However, while it was the riots which helped push video views up there was also the return to sporting action for the Premier League and Championship season which is always a welcome relief for those on the sports desk.

1. Alan Pardew on Luis Enrique's leaving of Newcastle

This was a really interesting situation, as both the Liverpool Echo and Chronicle Live sites are Trinity Mirror Regionals. So, the two got together and worked really well to cover the move of defender Enrique to Anfield from St James Park - including a live blog with Newcastle's chief sports writer, Lee Ryder, but hosted on both sites. Clever stuff.

2. Coventry City fans protests against Sisu

The ongoing saga of Coventry City ownership has been well covered by the Coventry Telegraph, and it was this video showing the fans waving banners and calling for Sisu to leave the club. It might just me mobile phone footage but it captures the anger felt by Sky Blues fans.

3. Wales 19 - 9 England: Big match reaction

Nothing boosts the page views like a win for Wales in the rugby, and this morale boosting victory over England was just the tonic for Warren Gatland's men. Highlights from the press conference proved a popular Sunday morning watch in Wales.

4. Liverpool riots: Clean-up begins

The first entry for riots-related video for the month, and it was Dan Kay's video of the clean-up in the aftermath of the first night of riots in video which picked up the most views - showing burned out cars and smashed up shots among other things. You can view all of the Liverpool Echo's multimedia coverage of the riots here.

5. Wales World Cup squad announcement

The other thing that proves just the tonic in Wales is a Rugby World Cup. As the teams head for New Zealand a frantic day saw Warren Gatland announce his squad, and WalesOnline were there to bring it direct to the fans thanks to Jon Doel's live blogging prowess and video skills.

#trinity mirror #online video #regional news video #alan pardew #newcastle united #liverpool fc #luis enrique #lee ryder #coventry city #sisu #coventry telegraph #rugby world cup #walesonline #warren gatland #liverpool riots #liverpool echo

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Cool mapping games from Wales...

Bit of Friday fun, but WalesOnline have been creating some great map-based games around history and football.

Worth checking out and a great way to keep readers on your site. Needless to say, I didn't score very well...

#mapping #umapper #games #walesonline

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Liverpool becomes 'Gotham City' during lightning storm

Great use of reader photos by the Liverpool Echo team last week, as a huge lightning storm took place over the city.

These reader photos really are incredible, and very good quality as well. God bless low price mass produced quality digital cameras...

#lightning storm #liverpool echo #liver building #user generated content

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Tilt-shifting time lapse in Cardiff

Many people seem to think video on regional news sites should be 2-3 minutes, point and shoot, with a couple of interviews, video. But it doesn't have to be.

As the cool video above shows, doing something a little bit offbeat and different is also what we should be trying to do.

This video was shot using the tilt-shift method to give a time-lapse of the centre of Cardiff. It allows residents of the city to get a 'different viewpoint' on the city and it's already been very popular. 

Well done to Mike Caluan for thinking out of the box, and as the comment underneath the video says, "I want to see more of these".

#til-shift #time lapse #cardiff

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This is an excellent example of community journalism done via video. In the aftermath of the Birmingham riots this is an almost haunting video package. It shows that long-form video definitely has a role to play in local and regional journalism - and that video really does tell a compelling story when it's used on a big regional issue or reflection on breaking news story e.g. the Birmingham Riots.

Hat-tip: David Higgerson

#birmingham riots #i am birmingham #youtube

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Riots: Most watched videos on Trinity Mirror Regionals

As England, and the world, watched on in horror at the scenes which started in Tottenham on Saturday night I've been tracking what videos have been most watched on the Trinity Mirror Regionals about the rioting.

Our teams across the regions provided phenomenal coverage of the disorder in their areas - and we've seen incredible traffic figures as a result showing just how important the local and regional media are. While the national media may have been all over the disturbances in the capital from Liverpool to Huddersfield it has been the regional media keeping up with what's been happening.

In print there's been some stunning front pages and coverage - see David Higgerson's excellent posts showing the regional reaction with Wednesday and Thursday's frontpages across the nations.

Below are what the most watched videos have been of our regional riots coverage since Monday:

1. Liverpool riots: Clean-up operation begins

This video showed the damage done to vehicles and property after a night of disorder in Liverpool, torched cars litter the roads. Shows sometimes you don't need the fancy voiceover, sound effects and cutaways - people just want to see for themselves the scale of the damage.

2. Riots spread to Birkenhead

This mobile phone footage shows a smashed up McDonald, as the disorder spread across the Mersey Channel to Birkenhead and the Liverpool Echo's coverage took on another dimension. This excellent map from Jo Kelly gives an idea of where and when the riots took place.

3. Liverpool riots: Cars ablaze on Admiral Street

As news of the disorder spread, reporters from the Liverpool Echo grabbed video footage of the unfolding carnage as cars were torched.

4. Police raid houses after Birmingham city centre violence

Birmingham took a different tactic with their video coverage - while Liverpool's was more around immediate video of cars ablaze, Birmingham ran packaged videos giving updates on what had happened that day, providing important context for their readers.

5. Liverpool riots: Street skirmishes and cars set alight

This chilling two minutes makes it look more like a war zone than a former Capital of Culture, showing if you get right in the thick of the action readers have a thirst for seeing police cars charging lines of looters.

You can see all of Birmingham's multimedia content here and Liverpool have provided a round-up here, and Huddersfield have wrapped-up their riots coverage here.

#riots #looting #disorder #liverpool riots #huddersfield riots #david higgerson #birkenhead riots #birmingham riots

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UK riots and looting: regional pictures and video

There's been some shocking video and photos coming in from across our regional centres today, as the riots which started in Tottenham on Saturday have now spread to other urban centres in England.

Ealing

Reporter Poppy Bradbury did a sterling job reporting until the early hours from Ealing as vandals set fire to vehicles and shops on Ealing Broadway. The communities site has been carrying live updates and links to videos and photos until around 2.30am. More coverage will resume this morning.

Birmingham

These dramatic photos taken by the Birmingham Mail's photographers and readers show the looting in the centre of Birmingham last night and into the early hours. The Mail has been providing live text updates here.

Will Oliphant has produced an excellent overview video showing the scenes in the city centre this morning.

Liverpool

Heard the executive editor and a photographer were driving around Liverpool until the small hours capturing the scenes. The Liverpool Echo has set up a live blog to keep track of the clean up operation in the city.

These two videos show cars ablaze last night and the aftermath this morning:

I've seen reports of journalists and photographers being attacked, so I urge everyone to stay safe in pursuit of getting the story. Don't become the story yourself.

#liverpool #birmingham #uk riots #london riots #ealing

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Friday Fun: Crayfish world record, Joey Barton and stormtroopers

It's Friday afternoon, take a few moments before finishing off whatever you've got to do and enjoy something quirky from the regions. Here's some quirky stories with good multimedia elements you might have missed...

Coventry attempts to break crayfish world record

Ikea is the venue. Over 200 crayfish are on the plate and fans of it are munching their way through it all. Crazy.

Joey Barton's Twitter rant

The controversial Premier League star has thrown his Newcastle United future into disarray after his rant on Twitter - he's been the hot topic in the North East all week and this gallery shows his time on Tyneside.

Stormtroopers in Cardiff

Visually impaired twins made Stormtrooper outfits of paper, the pictures of them roaming the streets of the Welsh capital are well worth a look.

What have I missed? Anything quirky caught your eye across the UK this week? Let me know [email protected]

#crayfish world record #coventry telegraph #joey barton #newcastle united #evening chronicle #stormtroopers #wales on sunday