Ryan Morrison (Up Your Ego)

My stories

Ryan Morrison — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 13:27:34 +0000

I write thousands of words every day for BBC News, not to mention emails, Twitter, Facebook and other written media.

The vast majority of what I write is news published without a by-line – the every day stories of life in a small island.

But occasionally I have the opportunity to work on a story that sticks, a story that I have spent time researching and includes my name at the top.

Here is a list of some of my favourites:

Discovering the life of Jersey’s ‘hidden architect’

A man described as “one of the most important Jersey architects of his age” can be found buried in a barely marked grave in St Saviour.
READ THIS STORY >

Jersey coin hoard left by Celtic tribe in flight from Caesar army

An expert working to discover the secrets of a large hoard of Celtic coins says they were left by people running from Julius Caesar’s invading army.
READ THIS STORY >

Jersey drummer says Olympic ceremony was a ‘surreal experience’

A Jersey drummer said performing in the Olympics opening ceremony was a “surreal experience”.
READ THIS STORY >

Damian Rzeszowski killings: Crimes that shocked Jersey

On a sunny day in August 2011 a quiet Victorian terrace on the outskirts of St Helier became the scene of one of Jersey’s most violent crimes.

READ THIS STORY >

A cat from Jersey has shot to fame as the ‘bionic cat’

“Without this surgery he wouldn’t be here, it’s as simple as that,” Kate Allan, whose cat Oscar is recovering from an operation at the vet, said.

READ THIS STORY >

This list doesn’t include the dozens of live election night pages I’ve worked on, the wider feature stories and the news articles on big breaking stories.

Working in Journalism can be both rewarding, frustrating and amazing all at the same time.

Netflix and LoveFilm killing Christmas television

Ryan Morrison — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 20:00:08 +0000

Christmas Day – you’ve opened your presents, had an argument, drunk a bit … a lot … and eaten more in one meal than some people do in a year. All good.

The television is on, and the programming is pretty much the same as last year. There will be a couple of big Christmas specials from shows like Top Gear, Doctor Who, Downton Abbey et al, Top of the Pops, Eastenders, Coronation Street, The Queen and the fillers.

It is the fillers that gave me the premise for this post. Apart from a small selection of programming across the channels most rely on two things – family movies and old TV shows.

In the past this was brilliant because, unless you spent money on buying the DVDs, which most people rarely watch, you wouldn’t have seen the old TV show in years or watched the movie since last Christmas.

Image via CrunchBase

But now, thanks to Netflix and LoveFilm for about £5 per month you can get access to every episode of most of the old TV shows they actually repeat and a wealth of old and newer movies.

Not only that but you can also easily access these services from the television or from your mobile device – so no need to put the DVD in.

It could be worse though – you could be left with Sky One which seems to be showing nothing but repeats of An Idiot Abroad all day.

Ryan Morrison — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 08:24:20 +0000

Bronze age pottery find in Jersey

Ryan Morrison — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 18:48:30 +0000

A story I wrote for BBC News:

A rare bronze age pottery vessel, thought to contain tools and weapons, has been found in Jersey.

The vessel, which was found in Trinity, has been wrapped in bandages and tin foil and then sprayed with foam to make it safer and easier to transport.

One of the weapons identified inside is an axe, which experts say could have been used as both a tool and weapon.

The vessel is thought to be about 3,000 years old, but Jersey Heritage is not yet sure of its value.

It was found by metal detector enthusiast Ken Rive, a member of the Jersey metal detecting society, who said it was a once in a lifetime find and the first thing he had found in more than 20 years.

Huge find
Mr Rive said he hoped that under the first layer of tools gold would be found.

A hoard of mostly Celtic coins, estimated to be worth up to £10m, was discovered in a field in Grouville in June by two amateur metal detector enthusiasts.

Jersey Heritage is currently working to separate the coins.

Olga Finch, Curator of Archaeology at the Jersey Museum, said it was fantastic to find another late bronze age hoard.

She said it was a huge find and would give the museum a great idea of how people in Jersey lived 3,000 years ago.

BA working on Passbook app

Ryan Morrison — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 12:35:44 +0000

Apple‘s Passbook is a great idea but there are still very few UK apps that make use of it.

It basically lets airlines, ticket companies and stores give you virtual loyalty cards and boarding passes and stores them in a convenient wallet.

It is about the only area of iOS 6 I haven’t been able to play with yet – basically because we don’t have a Starbucks in Jersey and I wasn’t planning a flight.

But I’ve just found out I’m going away on 7 November for work – just a day return to London.

I’m flying with British Airways- they do great stuff with social media – but no Passbook app.

However, good news – it is coming soon – but not soon enough for me – so maybe next year.

Our team are currently working on this issue. Unfortunately we cannot advise when this may be available.

So – that’s nice.