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Live news blogs launched at 12 Johnston Press titles

Johnston Press has launched live news blogs on the websites of 12 of its regional dailies and weekly titles.

The regional publisher has created the rolling news feeds at the titles, which will see the ScribbleLive tool used by news teams to instantly update website users with news, sport, traffic and other information.

Titles involved in the project are The Scotsman, Edinburgh Evening News, Yorkshire Post, Yorkshire Evening Post, Blackpool Gazette, Lancashire Evening Post, Shields Gazette, Hartlepool Mail, Northampton Chronicle, Peterborough Telegraph, The News in Portsmouth and The Star in Sheffield.

The titles are the first in JP to launch 24/7 live news blogs, although some other regional publishers already use them, including Trinity Mirror which first trialled them in 2012.

At The Star, the rolling news feed, pictured below, was launched on Wednesday and the title invited website users to have their say on local news and sport on Twitter, using the hashtag #starlive.

In addition to content generated by its own staff, The Star Live will pull together Sheffield related content from Youtube, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

Star live news blog

In a story about the launch, acting head of digital Ben Green wrote: “The Star Live will bring you all the latest local breaking news and sport, and will also give you an insight into life in our newsroom.

“It will also be the place for you to join in the debate on what’s going on in and around Sheffield.

“You can have your say on the important local news and sport issues on Twitter by using the hashtag #starlive.

“We will also be running daily polls on the hot issues of the day, so make sure you make your vote count.”

4 comments

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  • June 16, 2015 at 8:52 am
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    These “exciting” digital enterprises feel a bit dated to me ( and I’m quite old). The question is do they work? It would be interesting to know how the general election “have your say” video thing worked out, the one JP advertised on Twitter. It seemed very flat and dull and lacking in meaningful content to me but the point, I guess, is did it generate income or clicks? Has anyone got the figures? I am all for new ideas and I want the company to do well but this latest initiative looks like the work of a committee going through the motions. No inspiration here….

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  • June 16, 2015 at 2:28 pm
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    That fact that this is presented as anything new or exciting tells you everything you need to know about the standard and value of local newspaper websites.

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  • June 16, 2015 at 4:32 pm
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    Sadly for staff, JP have been off the pace ever since the internet kicked in and they are still playing catchup. This is not innovative but then everyone is imitating everyone else in the industry at the moment through sheer lack of true inspiration. All the same I wish them luck with it for the sake of the staff.Anything that can make a few more “bucks” (hopefully) is surely welcome.

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