The Telegraph & Argus in Bradford has become the first Newsquest title to go live with a video bulletin service on its website.

The T&A TV News service is being updated with a new video news story every day and has already broken one big exclusive – the first interview of any kind with Ayaz Ali, the Bradford charity worker freed after 20 days in an Israeli prison following his arrest over alleged connections with terrorist organisations.

The web-casting service was launched after reporter Sunita Bhatti, (above), attended a three-week Diploma in Video Journalism training course run by the Press Association at Howden.

She said: "As a print journalist suddenly having to think in pictures as well as words has been a new skill that I am still trying to master.

"One of the biggest changes is that a notebook and pen are very compact and easily fit into any handbag whereas a camera, a microphone, cables, headphones and a tripod a little more bulky and certainly make you stand out.

"Although it has been a lot of hard work the comments from colleagues and readers has made it all worthwhile."

The T&A team worked closely with web developer Mubarak Damiel, based at Newsquest's digital media unit at Blackburn, to design and develop the new service.

Editor Perry Austin-Clarke said: "This is a very significant step forward in developing our multi-media skills, enhancing our online service and helping to future-proof our newsroom.

"Sunita has done a superb job in getting this up and running to such a high standard in just two months since the start of her training. She has carried it off superbly, learning new skills with great aplomb and utilising them in an exceptionally professional manner."

The T&A now plans to train three more staff in video journalism during June and July.

Journalists from other Newsquest centres in Scotland, Darlington, York and Southampton will also begin an intensive video journalism training course later this month, with other centres following suit during the next few months.

Perry added: "Making decisions about which stories to work on as video bulletins is now part of our daily newsgathering process, as is keeping our websites up to date with fresh and breaking news.

"It's given us great foundations to build on and we'll be looking to further develop our skills as the convergence agenda gathers pace."