Brutal double shooting in Croxteth

On August 22, 2019 my team received a tip off about a violent double shooting on Regal Road in Croxteth.

Reporting live from a crime scene is nothing new to us and is actually one of the aspects of news reporting that I personally believe we are best known for.

By the time I arrived at the scene the street had already been cordoned off and forensic officers had begun their investigation outside a property on the road.

Unfortunately, at the time of this incident there had been a spate of gun related incidents and from analysing our figures using analytics such as Chartbeat and HiveAlpha, it was clear that our audience were losing interest.

Facebook Live watched by almost 100,000 people

Our live blog was doing exceptionally well throughout the evening as myself and our staff photographer provided dozens of updates through multimedia posts such as video and images, alongside explanations of what was happening at the scene.

It was clear that there was an appetite for more information so when a statement of confirmation was sent over from Merseyside Police I began thinking about how we could get more readers engaged with the developing story.

To me, it was important to find new ways of telling the story and to get the information out onto as many social media platforms as possible.

I made the decision to go to live on Facebook from the scene meaning that readers could engage with the updates in real time.

Click here to see how we incorporated the Facebook Live into the live blog

The Facebook live meant we were able to reach more potential readers and provide a platform for them to engage with us in regards to what was happening.

Throughout the ten minute live I answered questions from viewers and provided updates on road closures to those who wanted them.

I was also able to share some of the comments that people had posted sharing their well wishes to the victims and the people who witnessed the shooting.

We received an incredible response to the Facebook Live with almost 100,000 clicking to view it.

Almost 600 comments were also posted which showed how enthusiastic readers were to get involved.

I also posted the link to the live blog in the comments and directed people to it when the live was over.

This meant that the Facebook Live did not affect the attention to the blog and in fact helped us drive traffic to it.