Raoul Moat was the major story of the week in Britain, and arguably the most dramatic of the year.

Every national newspaper poured resources into Northumbria to watch the chase, record locals' reactions and await the capture of the body-building bouncer.

While most regional dailies wouldn't have sent their own reporters – apart from titles based in the North East – all of them piled PA feed after PA feed into their editions, day after day.

But when the grand finale came at 1.20am on Saturday, with initial confusion over what exactly happened not clarified until 2.20am, it was too late for the vast majority of national print editions, regional mornings and nearly all of what once were traditional evening papers.

Not so the Wolverhampton Express and Star.

'MOAT SHOOTS HIMSELF DEAD IN LAST STAND' screamed its front page lead on Saturday 10 July, a more striking than usual splash design that only left space for four other reports down the wing - the Star is renowned for an everyday minimum of nine page one stories.

Then a two-page spread on pages four and five with a detailed colour lead, a day-by-day time-frame, no fewer than eight other background reports and nine pictures. If ever there was a better argument for the title's owners, the Graham family, to keep the Express and Star 'live', produced and printed on the day it's sold, this was it.

I went to three newsagents that stocked the Express and Star on Saturday afternoon, and only the third had any copies left at 3pm.

Its billboard outside was just the right tease, reading 'GUNMAN MOAT DEATH LATEST'.

And once inside, all the nationals and a competing regional title were piled high with headlines that tried but failed to convey the significance of unfolded events because they'd been put to bed before the climax.

The effect was an anticlimax, including:

'CORNERED' in the Daily Mail, an irrelevant description that ran out six hours before anyone woke up;

'GOT HIM: cops surround gunman Moat' in the The Sun, a better attempt but still impotent next to a live evening; and

'GUNMAN ON THE RIVERBANK' in the competing Birmingham Mail, now fully overnight.

Yes, this was a national story, but one of such magnitude that only five years ago it would have been the wipe-out, breaking splash in every evening title from Exeter to Carlisle.

One of those occasions where regional news desks went home knowing they've stolen a march on the nationals.

For whatever reason, the Express and Star has resisted the temptation of huge cost savings found by more than two-thirds of previously evening titles that have now gone overnight.

Principally, these efficiencies come down to not having to own and operate your own van fleets, as titles completed in the evening can be distributed overnight on WH Smith vans already carrying nationals at a sliver of the price.

So how can, and why do, the likes of the Express and Star remain live?

The 'how' comes down to independent owners who feel no need to makes cuts to keep profit margins in double figures.

Whereas Northcliffe, Trinity Mirror, Johnston Press et al felt the FTSE-pinch when margins of nearly 30pc struggled to reach 15pc, the Grahams have always been happy with single figures.

And even when the recession demanded they too cut costs to remain profitable, there was never a hint of changing the live nature of their daily products.

Indeed, the word from editor Adrian Faber has always been that the Grahams are fiercely defensive of this unique selling point, determined readers should pick up papers that feel smack-up-to-date, with better coverage of big, breaking 'live' stories than any national.

It's not just the splash. Staying 'live' means news and sports updates throughout a day: court cases, street corner dramas, politics, new signings, resignations, the latest race cards and share prices.

And whatever is felt about the importance of this 'live' content, no-one can argue with the Express and Star's sales record.

At 120,344 in the latest latest ABCs for the second half of 2009, it's the largest selling regional newspaper in Britain, though some critics might point out that even it suffered a -7.6pc fall in that period.

I do not just want to wave a flag for 'live' evening newspapers - if you want that see my old 'Editor's Chair' blog here.

Instead, there are two things I want to draw out of today's blog.

Firstly, when big stories are on such precipices, should overnight regionals be taking such gambles on headlines that risk being immaterial and therefore unattractive to customers by the morning?

Wouldn't it be better to splash on something more local and off-diary, using the 'live' tale you have no timing control over as a second lead or perhaps an inside story, hugely boosting the internet for updates?

Secondly, what are journalists' experiences of the live-overnight dilemma up and down the country?

Has it worked for your former 'evening' and, if so, how have you gone about it? Has anyone had adverse comments from readers? Has anyone asked or surveyed?

Meanwhile, though many will see it as anachronistic with its idiosyncratic approaches to life, it's hats off this week to the Express and Star for a truly superb paper on July 10. Although as a former Birmingham Mail man it pains me to say, they did good.

PS: With live news dealt with, I plan to return to the Express and Star another week for a fuller analysis of its content and whether it truly reflects the area it serves. Until then, those interested can read more about it from regional veteran Peter Sands here.

Read Steve's previous blog posts here