A new 'journalist-friendly' online media centre has been launched by West Midlands public transport promoter Centro, in a bid to boost its profile.

www.centronews.org.uk has been launched by media manager Mik Barton, and replaces the basic list of press releases that formed the public body's previous web presence.

In its place journalists can now get access to a much richer supply of news content from a dedicated website with supporting reports, surveys, news analysis and other background material from across the public transport industry.

Content, including images, is all linked to news stories so journalists can see all the relevant information on one page without having to navigate through the site, and there is also a facility for media to register with the website and get email updates tailored to their areas of interest.

Mik, who joined Centro just over a year ago, said: "We are aiming to provide a comprehensive media resource, so that reporting transport issues in the West Midlands or using our region as the focus for a national story is as easy as possible.

"As a journalist I have found it extremely frustrating when an organisation simply posts a list of fairly recent news releases on the web, with no links to background information or other related stories - and it's even worse when it's not kept up to date."

Centro News Online is built on a new platform by European-based service provider WorldPressLounge, which is billed as a virtual press office built for journalists, by journalists.

WPL director James Nunn said: "The web application is the result of more than a hundred interviews with journalists ranging from freelancers to features to news editors incorporating the views of the media from four continents and we've put most of that feedback into our service.

"As a result, journalists going to www.centronews.org.uk will meet a framework they recognise. The time navigating the site is minimised and Centro's content is rich, so that they can find what they're looking for quickly and easily."

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