The Guardian Launches Second Phase of Open News Trial
UK’s The Guardian is expanding its open journalism experiment with a new live blog that, according to one editor, aims to “bring readers into the heart of our news editing operation.”
Newsdesk Live launched today and will not only incorporate the news organization’s newslist of daily stories but also a comment thread, writes national news editor Dan Roberts. This new feature allows “readers to discuss what’s going on directly rather than having to do so via Twitter,” Roberts explains.
Veteran Guardian journalist Polly Curtis will lead the new blog, which is based on the Guardian’s live blogging system.
Idea is to bring readers into the heart of our news editing operation bit.ly/zDVEqC #newsdesklive
— polly curtis (@pollycurtis) January 30, 2012
In the fall, the Guardian made the risque move of sharing its list of stories. (Here’s our coverage.) That inspired the creation of Newsdesk Live, according to Roberts:
The trial attracted a lot of interest and produced several good ideas within days of starting. But the limitations were also instantly apparent, chiefly the difficulty of using a simple grid and 140 characters to communicate all the complexities of the day’s news with an outside audience. We kept the list up (it is updated automatically from our internal spreadsheet), but began thinking of better ways to encourage communication.
The blog also gives readers an inside scoop on the “editing day” at the paper. One update even suggests when readers should submit story ideas based on the schedule of editorial meetings. Overall, this move makes the Guardian’s newsroom operations even more transparent.
Have you considered making your news budget public? What do you think about Newsdesk Live?
