Second Brum Editor Launches Blog

The editor of the Birmingham Post has started his own weblog chronicling his experiences in the new digital age.

Marc Reeves has joined Birmingham Mail editor Steve Dyson in the blogosphere with his contribution, subtitled: “What a UK daily newspaper editor is learning about online journalism”.

The blog is part of the Post’s forthcoming web relaunch, which is scheduled to go live at the end of this month.

Reeves reveals that blogging reporter Joanna Geary provided the inspiration for him to get started.

He writes: “I’ve resisted the temptation in the past, I think, as some other newspaper editors’ blogs seem to consist of Meldrewesque griping and self-serving ‘look-aren’t-I-normal-like-you’ condescension.

“Not great additions to the sum of human knowledge, in other words.”

By contrast, the editor says he aims for his blog to be “an honest account of the process of engineering a new website for a business-led broadsheet newspaper in the West Midlands region of the UK.”

In addition, he hopes it will become “a place to discuss the issues that inform news gathering and editing decisions at The Post” and will provide “an opportunity for others to contribute”.

Improving its blogs selection is one of the key intentions behind the Post’s relaunch, which follows the recent release of the Mail’s new website [See Mail Aims To Be Midlands Portal - 04 Feb 2008].