Has live blogging killed feature writing?

The future of carefully crafted feature articles in the regional press could be in doubt according to a recent opinion piece by Ian Burrell in The Drum.

The article focuses on the closure of the award-winning Leicester Mercury features desk and the redundancy of its highly decorated feature writer Lee Marlow.

In the article, Marlow describes the work of a busy features desk as “In depth interviews with normal people in abnormal circumstances, emotional pieces with people who had suffered all sorts of tragedy, stories about redemption, trauma, real life, proper backgrounders, holding power to account…”

Sadly, it seems the investment in well-researched, long-form journalism no longer pays the kind of dividends it deserves in the digital age where success is often based on clicks.

Another award-winning features writer, Gareth Davies, formerly of the Croydon Advertiser, believes that live blogging is the number one priority in regional newsrooms.

Live blogging helps newspapers achieve greater web traffic and appear more attractive to online advertisers.

Backing up this argument, Davies said: “The editors are under so much pressure to meet their stats targets.”

This somewhat limited view of the advertising world suggests that advertisers are only interested in serving their campaigns in bulk. This quantity over quality approach may attract low-value ads but be of little interest to premium advertisers who will always be attracted to a medium that engages their audience and helps them reach a considered and targeted audience. Quality over quantity.

It cannot be denied that live blogging has a very important role in the modern newsroom. It helps newspapers compete with broadcast and online news sources and is especially useful when covering breaking news stories, sporting events and rapidly evolving issues.

However, the speed at which live blogging takes place, means sources (often pulled from social media) cannot always be verified and facts fully checked. Live blogs are great when they are backed up with solid, well-researched articles that ensure all the facts are in the right place and opinion correctly recorded after the event.

Its a matter of speed versus trust. If regional newspapers are to retain their integrity (and win the hearts and minds of readers and advertisers), they need to invest in both.