The Daily Mirror has scrapped its internet column and replaced it with a daily “blog” on the paper’s website, writes Dominic Ponsford.
The blog, or web-log, is to be compiled by all five of the Mirror.co.uk editorial team, headed by new internet editor Steve Purcell. It replaces the internet column by Amy Vickers, who has left the paper to join the Daily Express as consumer editor.
I-blog will include snippets of news and gossip as well as feedback from readers.
Purcell said: “The space in the paper for Amy’s column is going to be used for something else, so we decided to do our own column as a blog. Nobody else does it; we thought it would be quite contemporary and encourage more feedback.
“We are perfectly placed to pick up the same sort of news and information that used to be in Amy’s column.” Purcell plans to beef up the Mirror website with more breaking news and tie-ins with the paper. The site boasts more than one million unique users.
Purcell said: “It was my own choice to come over here from the features desk. I wanted a change, so when they suggested I come over here I thought it was a great idea.
“When I was a subeditor at The Daily Telegraph 17 years ago it was still on hot metal. I used to hammer it together with a mallet. This is going full circle right to the forefront of internet technology.
“Ever since the dot-com bubble burst three years ago the internet has been a bit of dirty word. But it’s a very important edition of the paper as far as I’m concerned.”
The internet and technology column has been moved to the Saturday edition and is being produced by Shiraz Lalani.
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