The Liverpool Daily Post and Echo's new digital TV studio swung into action for the first time yesterday - with a ground-breaking live, sponsored debate on the unemployment crisis.
The discussion, which was live streamed onto the Liverpool Daily Post website, was accompanied by a CoverItLive blog which allowed readers to submit questions to a panel of experts, and contribute directly to the debate as it was aired online.
The panel included Liverpool Vision chief executive Jim Gill, Liverpool Chamber of Commerce chief executive Jack Stopforth, Reed in Partnership operations director Tom Miller and Claire Murphy of Wild Women's "I'm not a statistic" campaign.
From left: Anchor and LDP business editor Bill Gleeson, Reed in Partnership operations director Tom Miller and Claire Murphy of Wild Women's "I'm not a statistic" campaign
Other experts, including NWDA chief executive Steve Broomhead, contributed through pre-recorded video packages during the programme.
The event, sponsored by Reed in Partnership, was chaired by business editor Bill Gleeson. He said: "In the run up to the programme, I looked at how 20 other UK and US newspapers did television, in terms of the standards of presentation, production and research. In all of these areas, ours was the best by a long way.
"It genuinely represented a big leap forward in terms of bringing the digital age to newspaper titles."
Head of data and web development Kevin Matthews and studio manager Claire Gray used host Bambuser for the event, allowing it to be streamed live onto the Liverpool Daily Post's website.
Liverpool Daily Post Editor Mark Thomas said: "This debate really showed off the capabilities of our new digital TV studio to the full. It was a brilliant effort from our business department, the digital team and the IT department to pull it all together so well.
"It was very tense in that studio this morning, and the atmosphere was electrifying. Claire Gray co-ordinated things superbly in the control room, and Bill Gleeson anchored the show like a pro. The video packages looked very professional, too."
The 30-minute video and blog can be watched back on the Daily Post website at www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/livedebate
Mark Thomas added: "We are now working on developing a rolling programme of business debates in the same format, and I think this has the potential to bring us in some significant new revenue in the months ahead.
"It is something we will get even better at as we go along too, as we develop our experience and skills in this area and iron out any technical bugs."
