The
Journal, Newcastle, is launching a pilot online digital version that
could allow readers to view streaming video footage to accompany news
stories and features.
If The Journal E: Edition is popular, sports footage, live gigs and previews of films with trailers could all be introduced.
News
and sports coverage will still be available free on the
www.icnewcastle.co.uk portal but other content, such as business,
politics, entertainment, arts and opinion, will be bought through
subscription at a discounted price of £9 a month.
The Journal was
approached by PCS, a company pioneering the technology, which editor
Brian Aitken said could “bring the paper to life”. Trinity Mirror
agreed to use its new innovation fund to finance the six-month pilot
version.
Aitken said: “Seeing the video steaming was
fantastically exciting and there is massive potential there, both
editorially and commercially. But we are going in with a soft launch
and will monitor people’s response.”
Last year the paper
researched changes to its business pages, and Aitken said: “We found a
large number of companies were fans of The Journal but never bought the
paper and we thought, why should we give this away for free? I suspect
it won’t hit sales too much. It’s about growing the market.
“It’s
aimed at the business community who were getting their information for
free on the site and people in rural areas where newsagents are few and
far between. It will also be for expats.”
If the e-edition is successful, the project could be rolled out across the group.
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