3am.co.uk goes live with 'breaking news bleats'

The Mirror's standalone 3am.co.uk site has gone live after six months development, with its 'gossip gone toxic' tagline.

The Mirror section which launched nine years ago, will now deliver 'breaking news' via 'bleats from the site's trademark wicked sheep' on its own site, separate from the title's main home.

"In 2000, 3am made everything that had gone before it in newspapers look tired and boring. Here was a fresh new attitude in reporting showbiz and the genre has never been the same since," said Richard Wallace, editor of the Daily Mirror, in a release.

"Now we've done it again - this time online. 3am.co.uk is innovative, clever, funny and brilliantly designed. We believe it will grow to become a must bookmark for highly engaged audiences wanting the very best in celebrity news and comment. And we believe the commercial opportunities in having such an audience are very exciting."

All stories can be found in the home section, which break down into five sections: Ooh!, Gasp!, Grrr!, Phwoar! and TeeHee!

Emphasis is placed on the site's interactivity; users will be 'able to pass judgment on whether outfits are working or not; if the right person was booted off the X-Factor; and, of course, who is winning in the Katie Price/Peter Andre PR battle', the release outlined. 

"Yes, 3am.co.uk will be breaking stories, pumping out gossip and keeping users updated on scandal, but it's the voice of the site that will keep them coming back time and time again," said Isabel Mohan, 3am.co.uk editor.

Gossip past
The gossip page carved new tabloid territory when it launched in 2000: in 2001, the Star introduced a similar style column called The Bitches, and soon after the Daily Mail started its own new column, Wicked Whispers.

Simultaneously, a new magazine culture was on the rise, defining what Heat's editor Mark Frith - recently confirmed as London Time Out's new editor - called the 'celebrity decade' in his memoirs. 

Former 3am girl Jessica Callan published her memories of life as one of the UK's most notorious gossip columnists in 2007, in her book 'Wicked Whispers'. 

The Mirror also recently launched a standalone football site to coincide with the start of the new season in the UK.

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