North Wales-based newspaper publisher NWN Media has launched a series of websites using mapping technology to highlight news and advertisers by location.

All editorial content produced by journalists on its 12 papers will be automatically plotted on a Google map alongside advertising from that area.

The company believes the system is the first of its kind in the UK.

NWN Media digital editor Christian Dunn said: “We had been experimenting with geotagging stories for a while – adding a latitude and longitude to an article and plotting it onto a digital map – and wanted to make more use of this when we relaunched our websites.

“Our readers can now easily see all the news that’s happened in their neighbourhood or village.

“By linking our editorial system in with our advertising system we can also make sure we deliver tailored adverts with every article.”

The new-look websites will also incorporate third party applications while micro-blogging Twitter feeds, image slideshows on Flickr and YouTube videos are all embedded on the company’s main website leaderlive.co.uk.

NWN Media Ltd publishes ten websites and 12 newspapers across including the Powys County Times, the Chester Standard and the Wrexham-based Leader.

The Leader’s website complete with map