Huffpost UK’s 45-strong editorial team will relocate to a pop-up newsroom in a shopping centre in Birmingham for a week as it looks to “step out of the London media bubble”.
It comes as the news website has hired reporter Amardeep Bassey who will be based in the city full-time. A second out-of-London reporter, for the north of England, is also due to be appointed.
The temporary newsroom will be based at the city’s Bullring mall from 2-8 July, prompting a series of exclusive reports and videos from across Birmingham throughout the week.
A Huffpost UK spokesperson said: “The ultimate goal is to step outside of the London media bubble and accurately, humanely and emotionally capture the concerns, hopes and dreams of people throughout the UK.”
Schools will be invited to hear about how the news is created and what it takes to be a journalist.
Huffpost UK will also team up with regional daily newspaper the Birmingham Mail, whose reporters will share bylines and local expertise on areas ranging from hidden homelessness and air pollution, as part of its Huffpost Listens project.
Across the city, mobile “listening posts” staffed by reporters and video producers will ask open questions to the public to discover what they really care about, said a Huffpost UK spokesperson.
This will culminate in a Huffpost Waugh Zone live event, from politics editor Paul Waugh, who will put the people’s views to a senior politician, yet to be named, for a response.
Polly Curtis, Huffpost UK editor-in-chief, said: “We want to get out of the London bubble and closer to our audiences to ask them what they really care about, what the media is missing at the moment, and to share their stories.
“Journalists are always chasing stories, that’s our job and our mission. We expose wrongdoing, hold power to account and fight for our readers. But we haven’t stopped and listened enough.
“I can’t wait to hear what people have to say and how it might challenge our assumptions of what should be in the news.”
Huffpost UK’s pop-up newsroom will be based at Unit SU734 – The Newsroom, Upper East Mallm, Bullring, Birmingham.
It will be open from 10am-8pm Monday to Friday, 9am-8pm Saturday and 11am-5pm on Sunday.
Picture: Google Maps
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