Nov 11, 2022

5 min read

In Full: Behind Local News conference 2022

**Updates from Michael Pearson, Laura Haynes, Olivia Fox and William Tanner**

Take a look back at all the updates from the Behind Local News’ annual conference 2022 with an agenda-setting programme alongside our Women in Journalism awards.

Make sure you use #BLN22 to join in all the updates from the event.

Refresh your browser for updates

3:55pm

That’s all folks! Thank you for joining us for the Behind Local News Conference 2022.

If you’re just joining us, scroll down below to see all the updates of the day.

3:42pm

In closing our Hybrid Newsroom session, Richard Porritt, Editor of the Eastern Daily Press and Norwich Evening News said:

“I’m happy with where we are now and where our teams are, some completely remote, but they can come into the office if they want. I wouldn’t like it anymore to go towards home-working…. I think it’s really important for the trainees and love that we have the flexibility to do this.”

3:15pm

We’re now onto our final session of the day and probably the most lively discussion — The Hybrid Newsroom

2:54pm

Our next session is being led by Nathan Judah from the West Midlands Express and Star takes who talks about innovation to Sport at the Express & Star.

2:05pm

Take a look below at the full list of the winners from the Women in Local News Awards.

FULL LIST OF WINNERS FROM THE WOMEN IN LOCAL NEWS AWARDS 2022

2:00pm

Safeguarding Journalists — Sponsored by Viafoura

Watch below at our live stream from the next session

13:30pm

The Women in Local News Awards — Sponsored by Women in Journalism

You can watch back the Women in Local News Awards via the video link below.

13.20pm

We will be live streaming the Women in Local News Awards coming very soon.

12.30pm

Those attending the conference are now taking part in an interactive session with the News Futures 2035 project.

According to those in the room, the Word Cloud below shows the ‘top force shaping the supply of trustworthy, public-interest news in the UK today’

12:10pm

Dr Francois Nel, Reader in Media Innovation at UCLan is now talking about misinformation, anxiety and the news and looking to the future of Public Interest Journalism.

11.32am

Frank O’Donnell from DC Thomson and Autumn Lewis from Newsquest continue discussions on reaching new audiences.

Autumn Lewis talks about how using newer platforms like Instagram Reels and TikTok to continue “longevity for our brands.” Newsquest now has more than 25 accounts on TikTok including their new UK Today which has over 2.5m views

Autumn Lewis, Social Media and Engagement Manager at Newsquest

11:16am

Lynda Moyo, Head of What’s On & Emerging Content at Reach, is now talking about The Belonging Project, which focuses on creating content for various under-represented communities.

“The aim is to include a variety of voices and perspectives.”

11:12am

We’re now moving on to our next session of the day, which is a panel discussion chaired by Anna Jeys, from Curiously with panellists Lynda Moyo, Reach; Frank O’Donnell, DC Thomson; Autumn Lewis, Newsquest.

Anna Jeys opens with talking about Reach Plc’s new youth-focused news brand, Curiously.

11:02am

After a two-minute silence to mark Armistice Day, the conference has resumed as David Higgerson and David Lord take questions from the room.

10:52am

David Lord, Editor of the Evening Telegraph at DC Thomson continues to talk about insights and how their newsroom uses ‘Content Segments’ to decide how different types of content should either continue, improve or stop altogether.

David Lord David Lord, Editor of the Evening Telegraph at DC Thomson

10:49am

David Higgerson sums up by saying how analytics helps newsrooms have the confidence to go out and connect with the topics that matter to our communities

“the thing that really excites me about the role of analytics in newsrooms is that we should be more confident at looking at saying what’s wrong with this number and how do we correct it?”