Another difference the public had made was in Little League junior baseball reporting. The journalists had posted photos of the players onto the website – their mums had published photos of each other. “And that is community”, said Carroll.

The “community conversation”, she said, was one of the most important innovations to Gannett’s internet publications, developing a deep knowledge of their customers, and giving them a voice – both to let users share information with each other, and let the websites know what changes they need to make.

In Gannett’s databases, readers can search and learn about their neighbourhoods. If readers want to know anything from how many maths teachers there are in their kids’ schools, to how much their neighbours have paid for their properties, the databases are the place to find out. And if the information isn’t there, they just need to ask for it. “This has transformed the public service of journalism”, said Carroll.

Carroll said that the information centres were “waking up newsrooms”, with a constant flow of dialogue between readers and journalists, and that these new methods are embraced even by veteran journalists, because the new methods are “true to what they love”.

Journalists need to react and adjust quickly to move with changing trends in journalism, said Carroll, and the spirit of innovation has never been stronger.

By Oliver Brock, Wits University Journalism