Nick Sutton has announced that he will no longer be tweeting out the nightly newspaper front pages with the hashtag #tomorrowspaperstoday. He has handed over the responsibility to @hendopolis, @AllieHBNews and @MsHelicat. He is busy enough running the BBC News website…
It is fair to say that his tweets influence front pages in terms of layout and timing. When tabloids have a scoop they have to weigh up the publicity versus the risk of giving away the one fact story for free. Some of us wonder about Sutton’s definition of a newspaper; the Independent’s digital “front page” only exists in virtual reality to be tweeted and the union-printed Morning Star has fewer readers than Guido, yet is still worthy of BBC promotion. These are quibbles, the initiative sets off nightly social media conversations and is a valuable public service for the chattering classes…