Mail Aims To Be Midlands Portal

The Birmingham Mail is aiming to become the online portal for the West Midlands region with its new website.

Blogs, videos and interactivity are the focus for the relaunched site, which has been developed under the guidance of Trinity Mirror multimedia editor Ross Hawkes.

Press Gazette reports that newly trained staff at the Mail will be uploading videos each day and several journalists have also received blogging training sessions.

Among the blogs already launched are Bad Dad, chronicling the trials and tribulations of a dad with teenage kids, and a fashion group blog called Bag Ladies.

Editor Steve Dyson has also led by example by writing his own blog providing an honest and frank account of the life of a newspaper editor and offering insights into key editorial decisions.

“We want birminghammail.net to be the only site anyone has to visit to find out everything they need to know about news, sport, health, education and entertainment in the West Midlands,” said Dyson.

He added: “The result will be a new vibrant community online, extending the Birmingham Mail brand further than ever before.”