Readers welcome to blog on to new hi-tech news-gathering

Feb 25 2009 Birkenhead News

YOUR Wirral News has begun a new chapter in its history this week and we want our readers to be a part of it.

Journalists with the Wirral News, its sister weeklies and dailies’ titles – the Liverpool Daily Post and the Liverpool Echo – began working in a revolutionary new editorial structure on Monday.

Readers are being invited to follow their experiences through a newsroom live blog.

It aims to show readers, in real time, the radical changes being introduced in the Trinity Mirror-owned newspapers, which include journalists working in a centralised multi-media hub.

Editor-in-chief Alastair Machray said the restructure was the most ambitious ever attempted by a regional UK news operation and the live blog was an opportunity to share the experience with readers.

“We aren’t afraid to experiment and try radical new methods of newsgathering and storytelling – we think this is one of the most exciting developments for regional newspapers in a while; what we are saying is that we know our industry is changing, and we’re up to the challenge of changing with it. We can learn from our readers, and through telling them what we are doing, inviting them into our new operation, we think they can learn more about us.”

The Welcome to Our Newsroom live blog charts the day from morning conference, through to the late-night completion of the Liverpool Daily Post.

Wirral News Editor Jane Clare said: “It is an exciting time for the Wirral News team. Readers can be part of our newsgathering operation from the comfort of their own living rooms.

“Comment, leave a blog or send us a story... be a part of our future.”

Find the live blog at www. WirralNews.co.uk and click on the “live blog” link.