Comments Make Front-Page News

A newspaper has used online comments from the public to support its “Divided City” front page.

Visitors to the South Wales Evening Post have submitted hundreds of comments on articles concerning a local man who died when driving a stolen car.

The often heated debate taking place among its web users has been transferred to its printed pages with the reverse-publishing of sample comments.

And last week the Post splashed on the issue and reported that the clear divide between those making comments reflected the social divisions within Swansea itself.

The title’s web content editor told holdthefrontpage.co.uk that the newspaper’s digital coverage of the story has seen young people get involved in a way never seen with the print publication.

Paul Turner said: “The reaction to the story has revealed the power of a multimedia approach to presenting the news.

“It has also allowed teenagers and young adults who would never have dreamed of writing to a newspaper, to make their feelings known on an issue via the web.”