NWN Media brings in geotagging for news mapping and advertisers

Geotagging has been the focus of an online overhaul for regional newspaper group NWN Media.

The group, which publishes the Wrexham Evening Leader and the Rhyl Journal, has launched a new look for its 10 news websites, featuring news maps with online editorial content automatically plotted onto a Google map.

The maps allow readers to search for and filter news by specific geographic locations, while providing new storytelling and advertising opportunities for the sites.

"Geotagging news stories can be a useful way for our reporters to illustrate stories. For example when writing about a road traffic accident, instead of simply trying to describe where the accident happened the exact position can be plotted on our map," Christian Dunn, digital editor for NWN Media, told Journalism.co.uk.
 
"As well as being able to see where a story is referring to, readers can also use our geotagging system for finding other news articles from a specific area they are interested in."

The publisher plans to bring in advertising around its online editorial that is relevant to the geographic location of the story, said Dunn.

Central to the news maps is the introduction of a new content management system for journalists at the group.

Reporters add latitude and longitude to stories that they write, which are sent to the CMS after editing. Location details can also be added directly to the CMS when an article is uploaded.

"We're at the early stages of our geotagging plans and we're still working out some of the issues surrounding them, but it's exciting developing our websites to keep on making them better for our reporters, readers and advertisers," added Dunn.

Free daily newsletter

If you like our news and feature articles, you can sign up to receive our free daily (Mon-Fri) email newsletter (mobile friendly).