Thursday, 29th January 2009   Story:    Images of an economic downturn   My brief was to find images of the downturn in London, such as shops that have closed down, have been boarded up and remain vacant. Woolworths was an obvious choice, and we filmed one on Camden High Street. MFI seemed like another possibility…

Monday, 26th January 2009   Story:    No Darling, it’s Gordon.   Late in the working day last Friday we received an email from the FPA alerting us that a senior cabinet minister would be speaking ‘on camera and on record’ about Britain and the Global Economy on the 26th January. With the WEF (World Economic…

Tuesday, 20th January 2009   Story:    “If they close a factory..?”   “…Well it’s fine, I couldn’t care less. Why would I care? Why would I care if Burberry closed a factory?”   This was the response we got, accompanied by an incredulous expression, from a man who had just exited Burberry’s Regent Street store.…

Story:    Pirate monitoring   Japan is currently debating whether to send some of it’s SDF (self defence forces) to join in the maritime patrols in the Gulf of Aden. That is the area of the Gulf that was subject to 111 incidents of piracy in 2008, up from 32 in 2007, and is this year…

Tuesday, 13th January 2009   Story:    A car that can fly, not a flying car.   Could Skycar be the car of tomorrow? The prototype on display today at a Knightsbrigde hotel probably isn’t. It can do 120 mph on the road and 70 mph in the air, it is road legal (tax disc prominently…

Sunday, 11th January 2009   Story:    A Pro-Israeli gathering in an icy Trafalgar Square.   I am not a big fan of large gatherings of people waving national flags, whatever the flag, it always seems a little too deliberate, which of course it is, and in one’s face for me. This Sunday morning saw us…

Thursday, 08th January 2009   Story:    Black Cab security features.   A spate of attacks on taxi drivers in Japan, possibly economic downturn provoked, led to us being asked to film the security features found in London’s famous black cabs. These are generally seen as the toughened plastic screen, separating the driver and passengers, the…

Monday, 5th January 2009   Story:    Waterford Wedgewood   The first day back at work this year saw us reporting on the troubles at Waterford Wedgewood, which has been in some financial difficulty for a while but has now had to call in the administrators. The economic downturn has affected its sales, with shoppers spending…