- Steve Herrmann
- 29 Oct 07, 01:45 PM
You may have seen that the أغر؟´«أ½ News website is celebrating its . It's been an amazing time of growth in the new medium of the internet, and I and my colleagues who have been working here count ourselves privileged to have experienced it at first hand.
There's also an irony in the timing of the anniversary, since you might also have seen reports that in the current reorganisation of the أغر؟´«أ½, the department which has produced the news website - أغر؟´«أ½ News Interactive - will cease to exist.
That is true, but it's part of a much bigger story and one which is cause for optimism for those who have an affection for this website.
أغر؟´«أ½ News is to launch a new multimedia newsroom, which will provide news for television, radio and the web. So even though our department ceases to exist in its current form, so do the TV News and Radio News departments. In their place will be the multimedia newsroom, along with a newsgathering and a programmes department - both also multimedia in their focus. This is a big shift in the أغر؟´«أ½'s thinking, and reflects what is happening elsewhere in the industry. There are those who argue we should have done it already - and for the website there are clear benefits.
We recognise that there are risks, though. From my point of view, I am concerned that the editorial coherence of the news website should not be sacrificed in the name of efficiency. To prevent this, I've identified a number of practical measures - staffing, meetings, training and editorial accountability, etc - which have been embraced as part of the reorganisation process.
It would be wrong to think we're being defensive here - in fact the reorganisation is a fantastic opportunity for the website to better reflect the best of what أغر؟´«أ½ News can offer. We know that more people are turning to the internet to find out the news, and we are as determined as ever to make sure that our website is the best place in the world for them to do so - for another 10 years and more.
Steve Herrmann is editor of the
- Matt Morris
- 29 Oct 07, 12:34 PM
One of the biggest changes in the أغر؟´«أ½ over the next few years - - didn't get much comment when Mark Thompson .
Naturally most of the attention was focused on job losses. But for 5live, Salford is looming larger all the time. Our assumption now is that all the programmes will move - that's the way to create a more editorially cohesive and efficient radio station. With that in mind we've looked at how the news summaries and headlines are provided for the network, and we've concluded that the summaries have to be compiled on site by 5live's own team.
The logic for that seems inescapable but it's a decision that has a profound impact on a venerable section of أغر؟´«أ½ News - . Up to now, the summaries on 5live have been provided by the Radio Newsroom, which makes the news for most other national networks, including Radio Four and Radio Two.
This is not an easy change for us to make, and we've got to tread carefully; the last thing we want is to duplicate the work of the Radio Newsroom. But we have to start preparing for the change now. For some it will mean big changes and there are also some big opportunities.
For the station it's a chance to make a new statement about our commitment to vibrant, comprehensive news coverage. Our aim is that whatever the scale of the internal changes, 5live's listeners will still get the news service they want and trust.
Matt Morris is head of news, Radio Five Live
- Richard Sambrook
- 29 Oct 07, 12:09 PM
Many thanks for your comments - we take note of all of them.
In response to two of the most frequently made points:
• We do intend to offer a subscription service for international users in the next year. However this will sit alongside the ad-supported service - so subscription-paying users will not see ads if they are logged in, but will do if not logged in. Most news organisations who have adopted a subscription only service are closing them in favour of ads. We would like to offer both, but have to ensure the business plan is robust and we have to undertake some further technical work before we can offer this.
• For UK licence fee payers who wish to access the ad-free site when abroad I'm afraid we don’t yet have reliable technology which would enable this. As with TV, for example, the أغر؟´«أ½ internet site will be ad-supported when viewed outside the UK.
أغر؟´«أ½.com will be launching later this month.
Richard Sambrook is director, Global News
The أغر؟´«أ½ is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
