Recently by Marc Reeves

http://www.birminghampost.net/news/liveblog/


It's been a hectic few months since we launched The Birmingham Post's new website, in which time we've seen the number of daily users more than double, page impressions increase by a similar amount, and hundreds of people sign-up for our e-newsletters.

But the real success story is in what we've learned - and continue to learn - about this medium, and how it changes the very journalism of papers like The Post.

In my speech at the Post's 150th Anniversary Gala, I rather pompously declared that what tied the 21st century title to its 19th century origins was the role of the Post as a 'place for ideas'.

What I meant was that it is the paper's job to represent and reflect upon current politicial, social and scientific thought in the Midlands, and by doing so encourage informed argument out of which comes progress. Through the Chamberlain revolution of the late 19th century, that was certainly the case, and I make no apologies for firmly believing that our move into the online world - particularly blogging - provides an opportunity to fulfil this ambition even more so.

Don't you just love awards - when you win them, that is?

When I don't, I'm a really sore loser, and will cheerfully undermine the credibility and integrity of everyone and everything involved in the process, from the judges to the winners - and even the table decorations and the music at the event.

An interesting week for The Birmingham Post, particularly for our increasingly successful online incarnation.

We posted our highest visitor figures since the launch at the end of February, and our blogs are climbing up the Trinity Mirror rankings, giving titles much larger than the Post a run for their money.

But the potentially biggest development is our foray into the ever-changing, ever-growing world of Twitter. (I blogged on this subject last week).

Do you Twitter? I do. (and so do Hillary and Barack)

Occasionally I go whole days without Twittering, but then I need to get a fix and I just can't stop myself.

Sometimes I get such a severe dose of Twittorrhoea that I sit at my computer for what seems like hours, and only leave when I've got nothing left to Twitter.

What's this twit going on about now? you may ask.

Birmingham has again been branded a hotbed of shabby political practices after a judge called a Lib Dem election candidate "dishonest" and accused a senior councillor of taking part in a "scurrilous" attempt to bend the truth. Read the full sorry tale here , and of course in The Birmingham Post on Thursday.
My paper will demand the resignation of Aston Lib Dem councillor Ayoub Khan, the cabinet member for local services, because - simply - we've had enough of this city's reputation being dragged through the mud.

I thought political posturing by unions had followed Scargill into the chapter marked 'irrelevant' in the history books, but it seems the National Union of Teachers has other ideas.

My colleague Jo Geary (we call her the Post's 'blog nanny') discusses the early days of the Post's blogging community here .
Seems a few people think we don't have enough right-of-centre views represented on the site.
As an aside, Wikipedia until recently described the Post as a 'left-of-centre' paper. I changed that to 'free market'.
What do you think best sums up the Post's political stance?

The first rule of good blogging is to post frequent updates - as we're telling the Post's new model army of Birmingham bloggers.
Impressive, then, that the editor willfully ignores this instruction and leaves several days between his first and this latest post.
I think I have an excuse, though: last Friday's gala dinner to celebrate the paper's 150th anniversary rather occupied my thoughts towards the end of last week - and those of the great many colleagues who helped make the event such a great success.
At the dinner, I was able to shamelessly exploit the opportunity to plug this new website, and give a flavour of the challenges 2008 brings the Post and its sister papers.

I write this on the eve of The Birmingham Post's 150th Anniversary Gala Dinner, an event that celebrates exactly what it says on the tin.

We'll be celebrating the newspaper's history with just a little nostalgia, and perhaps a forgiveable amount of back-slapping, but moreover, the night sees the launch of the very website you are now reading.

Even as we look back and celebrate, the attention of my editorial colleagues, advertising staff and others is firmly focused on a future in which The Birmingham Post will be as vibrant a force online as it currently is in print.

The amazing hard work of everyone on the paper has resulted - I believe - in a truly historical advance for The Post. From now on, all the insight, news and analysis you have rightly come to expect from us is just a click away every minute of the day. We'll be breaking news and bringing you information on your sector of interest that you just can't get anywhere else - and even more than you can get in the newspaper.

Have a look around the site - our roster of knowlegeable and provocative bloggers will ensure The Post's reputation as a home for argument and debate live on into the digital age, and you can sign up for email alerts of your choosing. Even Post People has gone online, for heaven's sake!

As with any new project, sending one's new baby off into the world fills one with trepidation. Will it fulfill your expectiations? What are the services we don't currently have that you want to see? Tell me what you like and what you don't like.

I can't wait to hear from you.