Lessons from local media’s first live election

The general election saw local media set a new benchmark for content delivery and discovery, writes Johnston Press’ Paul Napier.

The 2015 general election was an important test – and opportunity – for local and regional media.

In a landscape transformed by the growth of digital channels, the election was an opening for local media to show a clear response to the changing needs of an audience with access to more news sources than ever before.

The local media did just that, embracing the election with aplomb and a digital-first approach. With journalists filing copy on key campaign developments in real time, instead of waiting for the next print edition, it was the first ‘live’ election the industry had seen.

At Johnston Press, journalists worked around the clock to deliver up-to-the-minute, multi-platform coverage. As constituents cast their vote and the results were recorded, an unprecedented number of journalists were reporting on the ground to deliver news as it happened.

The increasing speed of the news cycle has put all newspapers under constant pressure to compete to be the first to break a story, not just against each other but against platforms such as Twitter, too.

In this election, local media needed to keep pace with its reporting right up until the result was declared as well as provide instant analysis as soon as exit poll verdicts emerged and real results rolled in.

The transformation doesn’t stop there. While the new digital-first landscape means news published instantly – something audiences already take for granted – it also enables a more sophisticated approach to delivering the most engaging news.

Johnston Press used real-time analytics throughout the election, enabling journalists to immediately identify the hottest, most read stories, and adapt accordingly.

Additionally, social media provided a crucial bellwether on the most talked about stories as the public increasingly determine the reach and impact of a news story.

Indeed, social became more than a guide to the issues that have captured public attention. This election, local media recognised that the community’s response to an issue was also part of the story.

It led to the adoption of new tools, such as ScribbleLive at Johnston Press, which allowed our journalists to incorporate views from third parties publishing on other platforms, such as Twitter. In more than 20 different content streams covering much of the UK, election updates were delivered in real time.

We also created a unique What Matters to Me site, which brought together more than 500 videos of voters from across the UK sharing their view on the issues at the top of their priority list for the election.

Users of the site had the option to ‘upvote’ or share those they agreed with trending videos, based on a combination of number of views, shares and upvotes, were highlighted by geography and topic. This in turn created a ‘live map’, a unique overview of sentiment across the UK that continually evolved as new videos were added.

The local and regional press has a long history of bringing general elections closer to the communities and their role in identifying how the candidates and their policies would directly affect local people was a vital as ever. But the huge importance of digital demands an entirely new approach to fulfilling it.

Local media can’t – and no longer needs to – expect audiences to compromise on receiving the most up-to-date information or the content most relevant to their community.

Technology has challenged local media to be faster than ever but it’s also provided the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the communities it serves and offer them due prominence in shaping the agenda.

For Johnston Press, this is part of a wider approach that has seen us transform the way our newspapers operate, grouping journalists across multiple titles according to their expertise and the beats they cover. We’re currently rolling out our ‘newsroom of the future’ programme across all of our titles, following a successful pilot in our North Midlands and South Yorkshire division.

The general election has challenged all publishers to deliver news quicker than anyone else, and the election has seen local media set a new benchmark for content delivery and discovery. It has demonstrated the power of a ‘live’ local media truly delivering for communities in the digital age. And that’s something that should absolutely have our vote.

Paul Napier is group editorial development director at Johnston Press plc