How DN successfully covered the Norwegian election with live blogs

Dagens Næringsliv utilized Live Center to live blog the 2017 election results

On the 11th of September 2017, Norway held its national parliamentary election to determine the political parties that would form the “Storting” for the next four years. Dagens Næringsliv (DN), one of Norway’s largest and most influential news outlets, organized an extensive live blog coverage of the vote count, providing their readers with a continuous stream of election results and updates. 

 

DN's 2017 Parliamentary Election portal (translated from Norwegian to English)

One central editorial portal at the heart of the action

To cover the fast-paced evening, DN coordinated its editorial staff both inside and outside the newsroom for real-time reporting. Journalists were stationed at DN’s central office in Oslo, as well as at various locations throughout the capital.

 

From the field, journalists wrote live blog posts from their mobile phones, capturing how different parties, party leaders, and voters followed and reacted to the vote count. These posts were published in the same blog channels used by the news desk journalists at DN, enabling seamless collaboration where field-generated text, video, and images were integrated and enhanced by the news desk journalists.

 

 

Two live election blogs, different focus, and design

DN developed two live election blogs with different areas of focus and post frequency.

The main blog covered key developments and announcements of the election count, utilized by multiple journalists simultaneously. Throughout the evening, over 90 real-time posts were published.

 

The other live blog was managed by Kjetil B. Alstadheim, political editor at DN, who covered and analyzed the election from the field.

 

These two blogs provided both a comprehensive live news feed through the main blog and more personalized posts through Kjetil’s blog. Furthermore, the blogs had distinct designs and layouts, integrating smoothly with DN’s overall website while adding their unique touch to enhance the blogs’ focus and communication.

Custom Extensions

To enhance reader engagement in the live blog, DN developed its own custom post visual—a visual representation of the vote count that took less than 1 hour from concept to completion. This extension allowed DN to provide snapshots of the counted votes throughout the evening, creating a more visually appealing experience for the blog readers.

Custom Blog post visual created by DN (translated from Norwegian to English)

Live Center’s flexible technology empowers users to easily create custom extensions, such as charts, tables, or graphs, and seamlessly embed them into blog posts.

 

DN sets the standard for live election coverage in Norway

With their election blogs, DN delivered up-to-the-minute news, analysis, and updates to their readers throughout the evening and late into the night. Through effective collaboration between field journalists and the news desk, DN published engaging and concise journalism, solidifying their position as the foremost financial newspaper in Norway.

 

Proven reliability of Live Center’s capabilities

The election coverage served as a testament to the robustness of Live Center as an enterprise-scale live blogging software. Its intuitive interface allowed journalists to publish directly from the field using their cellphones, while its advanced technology efficiently handled the high volume of journalists and concurrent readers. Live Center proved to be an invaluable tool for DN’s live blogging needs.

 

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