Readers Create A Splash in Liverpool

Liverpool’s Daily Post has led with its first reader-generated front page since launching a crowdsourcing project.

The Trinity Mirror publication splashed on safety issues at a budget airline after inviting readers to submit any information on the subject, reports Press Gazette.

Following the appeal on its website’s Make the News section, several aviation experts contacted reporters with advice on sources that provide an insight into the company’s safety problems.

“Without this source of information, we wouldn’t have been among the first to break the safety licence story, while the flight figures would have remained hidden away on the internet,” commented Mark Thomas, editor at the Daily Post.

He added that the front-page story “was proof that, if asked, people who traditionally wouldn’t offer information are happy to get involved”.

The newspaper and its affiliated website are also appealing for information on a number of other issues, including roadworks and life on the frontline for soldiers.

Thomas said: “The response has been excellent and will lead to some very strong stories in coming weeks.

“New story ideas continue to go on to Make The News, which is promoted in the main paper as well, and we intend to extend it online by providing readers with guides on how to get information themselves, by means such as using the Freedom of Information Act and attending council meetings.”

Crowdsourcing is a relatively new concept to UK newspapers but has proved a successful investigative reporting tool for significant numbers of news sites in the US.

For example, Florida’s News-Press was given an honourable mention at this year’s Knight Batten Innovations in Journalism Awards for its user-assisted investigation into high utility connection charges for new homes.

More details on this story can be found at Wired and the awards website.