The art of live-blogging
Updated: Paul Bradshaw has blogged a great set of ideas and tips for live blogging, he even referenced this post. Please do check it out for even more ideas.
Last week we live-blogged the Assembly election in Wales and the AV Referendum results in Wales - for nearly 24 hours.
Live-blogging is becoming an accepted part of the online journalism toolkit, with the likes of Andrew Sparrow at The Guardian being recognised for his political live-blogging, sports journalism embracing the concept for updates from matches - in particular in cricket and the Test Match Special Team for the recent Ashes series in Australia, and local media groups committing to provide live coverage of council meetings.
I thought I'd explore in this post what makes a good live-blog and some hints and tips for making a good one.
Make sure it's live
Not everything requires a live-blog. Think carefully before unleashing the beast - live coverage is resource intensive, and may not generate as much traffic as you would like. If it's live, make sure it's worth it. The kind of events which lend themselves to live coverage are elections, sports matches, protests and some council meetings. The key thing to remember is - once you start, you can't stop. You must be committed to following the events through. The Guardian April fool was a good example of 'live-blogging' being overdone - and indeed the media group have been accused of 'overdoing' the live-blogging genre.
Be prepared
If you're going to live-blog, research your topic. I usually make a spreadsheet or a notepad doc with a load of related links in it. Often live events will have lulls e.g. during election night there was a period with no results. With your list of links at the ready you can drop interesting content related to the event into the coverage to fill the gaps.
Encourage interaction
The comments are the lifeblood of the coverage. Live-blogging sports games is great fan as the banter with the fans is great - even when you're an Englishmen like me and getting ripped to shreds by Cardiff City fans! But interact with the comments, answer questions, and if you don't know, at least acknowledge the comments and example why you can't do it e.g. "I'll try and find out after the game". Sometimes the comments will take the live-blog in a new direction.
Make use of all content avenues
It's not just about text. Live-blogs are a great way to bring in photos (of key moments), audio (with key people) and video (of key moments). On our election blog we had phone interviews with politicians, the odd photo from the counts and links to video we'd shot earlier in the day.
Involve the newsroom
One person tapping away at a keyboard isn't much fun, and it's not much fun for the readers. For our election coverage we had correspondents at election counts and pulled in their tweets, for Cardiff City games we'll pull in some of our football pundits. Readers like to hear a range of views and opinions, and it also makes it a fun experience for more of the newsroom.
The live-blog is the first draft
Often content from the live-blog can be re-published, as a timeline panel in the next day's paper with when key events happened. Some of the best comments and tweets in the live blog could make a 'best bits' article. Reporters can file into the live-blog and then use it to piece together what happened, rehashing versions of their story into the finished article. Don't forget the live-blog, if you're using software like CoverItLive can be embedded in related articles with the 'replay' action. We've found this is really popular in sports stories where readers can replay what happened during the game, and read all the comments.
Recap often
People join live-blogs at different stages. The hardcore will be there from the beginning, but as with TV coverage, people switch on at the middle and end. Make sure you're regularly recapping on what has happened, this will also help you to get a handle on what has been happening and give you a breather. Live-blogs are intense work!
Use all the gimmicks
On the CoverItLive software you have scoreboards, goalflashes and polls. Use all these to break up the live-blog and keep the audience engaged. Run regular polls on what might happen next, who will score first and towards the end of the event say for example whether the manager should lose their job, or who the man of the match is.
Promote the live-blog early
Some live-blogs need to happen at the flick of a switch, but others are around set events such as sports matches or elections. Ensure the live-blog is well promoted and allow people the chance to register for an email reminder when it's starting. This will ensure you start with a decent audience.
Live-blogs are an important part of the online journalism offering, and allow traditional print media the chance to feel like broadcasters for a short period - without the faffing about with expensive equipment.
The above is by no means an exhaustive list, so I'd like to know below in the comments your tips for running a live-blog. If you're a reader of live-blogs, what do you like/dislike about them? What's the best live-blog you've read or been a part in? Do the media over-use them? Let me know all your views in the comments below
Image credit to Sue Richards