The BBC is to axe its ‘Local Live’ initiative which was originally set up to help share stories from the local media.
Taking the form of a rolling news widget, the live streams signpost stories from non-BBC media outlets and was billed as an attempt by the corporation to forge a closer working partnership with regional and hyperlocal publishers.
BBC Leeds became the first regional BBC site to pilot the initiative in 2014 and other Local Lives followed around the country, including in the North West.
Local Live will now be phased out “slowly” over the course of this year, depending on the success of a pilot project testing a new initiative in the North East next month.
A spokesperson for the corporation said that linking to external websites would “likely” be a part of that project, but the index pages will close.
The spokesperson added: “We’re improving how we provide news to local and regional audiences across England to ensure our digital offer is as effective as it can be. We provide significant support to the local news sector and will continue to direct users to trusted external news websites.”
He also pointed to the success of the BBC’s Local News Partnerships, which is seeing up to £8m a year invested to support local journalism.
