Journalists at Archant Suffolk titles the East Anglian Daily Times and Ipswich Evening Star are to produce content for both papers’ print and online platforms.
The titles’ websites will also have three ‘editions’ a day, with content published online to coincide with peaks in audience traffic at breakfast, noon and ‘drive-time’.
Two years since its launch and CNN’s iReport has received 175,000 videos and photos on news topics from users.
According to a press release from CNN, 125,000 of these submissions were made in the second year of the project.
The user-generated content initiative attracts an average of almost 15,000 reports a month.
In February this year iReport launched its own website, which now has 85,000 registered users and, according to Nielsen Online figures, attracts 2.3 million unique users each month and generates 7.1 million page views a month.
The scheme has become ‘an exceptionally powerful newsgathering tool for the network’ and submissions and iReporters have been featured across CNN’s broadcast and online platforms, the company said.
“Sometimes the iReports we receive are first images of breaking news and often exhibit powerful points of view on issues or news events. But every day our iReporters show an enthusiasm for and pride in the community they have created,” said Susan Grant, executive vice president of CNN News Services.
According to the Guardian, all 300 editorial staff at Trinity Mirror’s Midlands titles have been made redundant and are being asked to reapply for new roles.
The mass restructuring of editorial staff will pave the way for the integration of multimedia, production and news desks across Trinity’s titles in the region.
A central multimedia desk will be created to take control of editorial content for the Birmingham Mail, Birmingham Post and Sunday Mercury with particular responsibility for online platforms.
A similar hub will be developed to produce content for its Coventry-based titles, while a regional production unit will oversee the multimedia desks’ work.
In addition a new work process of ‘content creation, multimedia desk, page finishing’ will be implemented.
Yesterday Trinity Mirror said the changes would require ‘substantially fewer journalists’ and the publisher has entered into a consultation process with the National Union of Journalists (NUJ).
“Whatever the company may claim, you simply can’t take dozens of journalists out of your local operations and continue to report news to the same standard. Bosses at the company are sacrificing quality journalism to appease the short-term whims of the financial markets,” said Jeremy Dear, NUJ general secretary, in response to yesterday’s announcement.