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The assistant editor of Channel 4 News has said blogs and user-generated content (UGC) alone cannot provide the impartial news that the public demands.

Speaking at the Westminster Media Forum, yesterday (14 November 2006), Martin Fewell said: "My view is that blogs and user-generated content, nine times out of 10, will be complementary to traditional news

"I don't believe that it can be the provider of high-quality, impartial news that people want."

Despite all the recent developments of new ways to engage with Channel 4 news, Mr Fewell said he believed appointment-to-view television news would remain the best way for people to engage with news.

He also said that additional Channel 4 News services, such as the launch last week of a blog, were part of a plan to build a community of online users around the brand.

He later told Journalism.co.uk: "Blogs by journalistic organisations are an opportunity to add value to our core products, television news. We gather a lot more information and learn a hell of a lot more during the course of our journalism than we can ever put on the television."

He added: "The blog also has value in allowing users to engage with the journalists, so it stops it being a single, top-down process. I'm hoping the blog we have launched will be a source, not just of comment, but also of news angles and ideas from our viewers.

“We already get a lot. We have fantastic email conversation with our viewers, from which we get lots of story ideas and opinions, and it will enhance that."

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Written by
Oliver Luft

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