Newsquest journalists using iPads to report from Olympics

Newsquest journalists will be using iPads to liveblog from the Olympic games, directly feeding into the publisher's new content management system (CMS).

Journalists will also be using the publisher's new in-house iPhone and iPad app to file live reports.

It is the first time the regional newspaper group is using tablets as a field reporting device, Nigel Vincent, head of editorial development for Newsquest Digital Media, told Journalism.co.uk.

"Some Newsquest titles are trialling the use of iPads for journalists to gauge their value in the newsgathering operation," he said.

"We'll be liveblogging using our new content management system via the iPads and our new in-house iPhone app to relay live information from the Olympic park everyday of the games.

"Those blogs will be shared across the network for all of our websites to use."

Regional journalists initially appeared to have been "completely snubbed by the Olympic authorities", Vincent said, but the group has since managed to get passes for "quite a few accredited journalists" to report from the games.

In order to "benefit from and maximise" the potential, Newsquest has created an internal news wire, "which our journalists can dip in and out of".

Vincent described it as similar to "a mini-PA", likening it to a news wire.

"The content management system is configured to pool all the content that our journalists are producing," he added.

"It's a big national story that we are going to cover from a local angle as much as we can.

"We've got the Dorset Echo, Bournemouth Echo, very strong papers for the Weymouth/Portland sailing. We've got papers in Trafford for the football, we've got papers in Essex for the mountain biking, and obviously we've got a lot of papers in London for the main event."

In addition to pooling content from across the regional titles, Newsquest's websites are also taking data feeds from Transport for London to provide travel and traffic information.

"We will be using Transport for London data for Boris Bikes for the cycle hire, giving up-to-date information on availability of the bikes and also the docking stations, and we're also integrating all the TfL road traffic cameras as well as publishing any incidents live."

• To hear more on how Newsquest and other regional publishers are innovating in digital, listen to this Journalism.co.uk podcast.

Free daily newsletter

If you like our news and feature articles, you can sign up to receive our free daily (Mon-Fri) email newsletter (mobile friendly).