LIVE! or, quite frankly, dead?

We all love a breaking news story; that rush of adrenalin when you get a big call, the joy when someone shouts that they have secured an interview with the main player (especially if you're that reporter), the satisfaction at seeing a million-page spread the next day that was created in under four hours. Oh, it's what it's all about.

And in digital realm, or digital sphere, (I love those corporate phrases so much I'm going to continue to use them) the breaking news possibilities are endless; live blogs, reader pics and comments from the scene, videos as they happen... Oh, it's better than sex really.

Imagine though, having to provoke that kind of enthusiasm for something not quite so exciting as a murder, or a hostage situation, or transfer deadline day (for the sport lovers out there)..?

Imagine instead, having to provide a constantly-updated, enthralling live blog of... The Tour de France. Or the World Cup (when noone is playing for more than seven hours), or county cricket (no explanation needed surely?).

Yep, I would imagine due to some impressive viewing figures for early live blogs, such as the BBC's excellent test match efforts from the likes of Tom Fordyce and Ben Dirs (see, I don't just slag off dear old Aunty) and the election coverage from the Guardian, the suits in charge of the digital sphere have now decided that this is the way forward.

Cue live coverage, on this random day, being provided at various news sites of the Tour de France, the World Cup, and county cricket.

By God, do we really need live coverage from county cricket grounds up and down the country, which we all know amounts to a bloke sitting in front of Ceefax waiting for a score to change?
Really?

In a world where we are constantly told, and are constantly moaning, that staff levels are lower than ever, is this really an effective use of resources?

If it is, I want to see those figures. How many people, really, sit and wait for the Guardian to update Durham's score from the County Ground? Although the question should really be, who - who is interested in such rapid-fire updates - doesn't have the desire to find Ceefax for themselves and get the updates more quickly?

It's ridiculous.

A big event is fine, an Ashes Test match, the FA Cup final, the World Cup final, something like that, especially when combined with witty banter and useless stats which we all love.

But we are excited about these things, just like a breaking story. And let's be right, the World Cup final IS a breaking news story, as is the FA Cup, or the Wimbledon tennis final.

But a day of county cricket that will be repeated EVERY DAY (or so it seems) throughout the summer?

Are you sure?

I doubt the adrenalin pumps quite so freely for more than a dozen people across the land.

Still, one thing that did warrant 'live' coverage on this day, was the excellent Sky News blog on the Raoul Moat incident, including video updates etc.

Lovely stuff, and I bet the adrenalin was pumping like a good 'un.

Blog off during the election...

What is the current fascination with blogs on news websites?

I understand the elections - both national and local - can be difficult to cover; finding new lines, anything interesting from the dull manifesto, recycling old stories for lists of nominees etc, but is there really a need for every reporter/editor/cleaner/tea lady at a newspaper to 'blog' on the matter?

Even worse, they insist on calling them blogs, present them in the most basic manner and simply recycle what they read on a Sky News blog that morning, or worse, one of the BBC's awful, awful election space-fillers.

I'm racking my brain to think of where this proliferation of political expertise has come from and the only conclusion I can come up with is that, for local and regional rags in particular, this is the first time they have had this wonderful tool called 't'interweb' to use during a general election.

And so, while scouring the land for ways to make themselves feel like they are covering the main event (when in fact we all know that regionals should'nt be interested in "Call Me Dave" and "Hardy Gordon"), they have stumbled across blogs by the likes of Adam B at Sky and Nick R at the Beeb and decided to copy it.

Yet another clutch at the ever-fruitful straws provided by the internet by an industry reaching further and further into the abyss of cutbacks and slowly but surely disappearing up its own arse in a bid to claim it is "innovating" to any foolhardy MD who will listen.

Anyway, I'm going to post another few cracking mistakes that perhaps the next political reporter wannabe can have a look at sorting before attempting to wax lyrical to me about his theory on the Tories' strategy... Check 'em out shortly.