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Press Association launches free live blog service

Regional newspapers are set to benefit from a free live blog that the Press Association has launched onto its newswire.

The live blogging services will be available to all of the news agency’s newswire customers for free, ahead of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations. 

PA has been producing live blogs for digital customers since 2010 – however this is the first time the news agency has offered the content as part of its newswire subscription.

Regional publishers will be able to tailor customisable live blogs around major national events blogs for a local audience by adding their own words, images and videos – as well as user-generated content from social media platforms.

Group managing editor Alan Marshall said: “There is a great opportunity here, particularly for the regional press, to attract web traffic, build new audiences and develop their own live blogging methods. 

“The beauty of these blogs is their flexibility to be tailored with local angles around major national news stories, and their ability to engage with readers in real-time. 

“The Diamond Jubilee programme is the ideal time to test out live blogging as it’s a huge national story with almost unlimited local angles.  We’re encouraging our wire customers to give it a go and see what they can achieve.”

The initiative, in partnership with platform provider ScribbleLive, is aimed at helping wire subscribers test their audience’s appetite for live content and build new online audiences.

The blogs contain a core of rolling live news from PA which can either be run directly on subscribers’ websites, or used as a basis for their own live blogging. 

Customers who sign up for the service will also be able to access training and support to allow their journalists to make best use of the content and technology.

4 comments

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  • May 28, 2012 at 10:05 am
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    Generic nonsense no one will read. Stop lining PA’s pockets and spend that money on your own staff!

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  • May 28, 2012 at 11:36 am
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    It’s far from generic nonsense, Scott. Blogs can include local input as well as the PA feed and they are a great way to cover certain unfolding stories (elections, for example, work really well).

    The service is free for PA Wire customers, so it’s hardly lining the Press Association’s pocket.

    I’m now Commercial Manager of PA Media, but when I was a working journalist, I’d have loved to have been able to break news immediately in this way and for readers to have been able to respond to my stories.

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  • May 28, 2012 at 11:48 am
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    But, PA isn’t needed for news anymore. Without sounding harsh, most of the stuff you do is reported elsewhere, you certainly don’t get the sports exclusives you did before Sky brought everything and as most regionals don’t use much national news anymore, a staffer can re-write what is needed from the abundant other sources out there. I hated how much we were paying when I was still in the industry for the feeds we got that were (two years ago) of woeful quality. Maybe it’s improved, but I would rather my own staff who know what the area they serve wants did what this suggests. Otherwise, one organisation providing so much coverage does remove diversity. Only a personal view founded on years of regional press experience Eric

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  • May 28, 2012 at 2:46 pm
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    Going weekly has loosened the chains of over reliance on the PA wire – which I agree with Scott can be of woeful quality.
    PA does not serve newspapers anyone – it targets websites and content aggregators. A small disciplined wire service is great but PA is too unwieldy and just produces too much – this being a case in point.
    We had a brochure though about their Olympic coverage the other day – if we carried half of what they were offering we’d need to double the size of our paper.
    Is the reason they are giving it away for free because they need the platform the regional press gives to promote to other clients who don’t otherwise care?

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