We reported yesterday that the Times is dropping its paywall for the first time to share its coverage of the Diamond Jubilee but what are other organisations doing?
As one would expect the BBC is hanging the bunting from every rafter. It has a dedicated Jubilee page featuring archive video footage, dedicated programming and an interactive guide to the Jubilee pageant.
The Guardian, which you may remember gave readers a royalist/republican toggle switch on its coverage of the Royal Wedding, is going all out on Jubilee coverage. The outlet's Datablog has created infographics on how Britain has changed in the last 60 years and a guide to the Jubilee pageant being held in London. Unsurprisingly for the Guardian it will be liveblogging the pageant and various other events. It is also encouraging readers to share their photographs with a Flickr pool, which will see reader pictures published online and in the newspaper.
The Daily Mail's Jubilee page can be found under their Femail section and it is a whopper. This festival of bunting, trifle and Pimm's might just set the record for the longest webpage ever.
In regional news several of Northcliffe Media’s digital titles are using Pinterest to showcase their photography from street parties and events around their area. ThisIsKent’s board is especially active. They have also created custom landing pages for their Jubilee content including a Google map of street parties.
Trinity Mirror's regionals will have reporters out at street parties tweeting updates and are encouraging plenty of user-generated content to feature online and in their newspapers. The Surrey Advertiser will heavily feature the Epsom Derby, which is the first event on the Queen's calendar this weekend.
Several organisations have created dedicated digital products to mark the occasion. ITN has created an iPhone app that will use the phone’s GPS to aid visitors to the capital on a walking tour around some of London’s most famous royal locations. At each point on the tour users will be able to view archive ITN footage filmed from that location.
The "Diamond Jubilee Tour" starts at Westminster Abbey, where users can check in and share with friends on Facebook and Twitter that they are embarking on the tour. The nine mile route takes about two and a half hours to complete but people short of time or energy can adapt the route or choose to skip particular locations.
The videos are also available without completing the tour for those not in London. ITN says it is also investigating other ideas of how its archive footage can be incorporated into themed or event-specific apps.
The Press Association (PA) has produced it first ever ebook in celebration of the Diamond Jubilee. The free book, Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee, uses a visual timeline to track key events in the Queen’s 60 year reign against notable moments in UK and world history. The timeline uses 250 rarely-seen PA images and includes 15 image galleries.
Tony Watson, managing director of the Press Association said in a release: "PA has been charting the key moments, people and events in the Queen's life since before her coronation. The Diamond Jubilee provides an ideal opportunity to explore our extensive photo archive, which includes over 18 million images, and share some of the rarer images we have of the Queen during her 60 years as monarch. We are always exploring new ways of using the wealth of content PA generates on a daily basis, and producing an eBook is the ideal way of sharing hundreds of photos in a simple way."
A cursory glance around the Commonwealth does not show the same levels of enthusiasm. Canada's Globe and Mail and the Australian are featuring very little royal coverage.
And finally... the Sun is covering the Jubilee in its own unique way with articles about Radiohead, patriotic food and Britain’s biggest horse. Oh, and if you were thinking about getting some Pimm's, gnomes and bunting the Independent reckons you might be too late.
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