Developing news stories have been used as a digital reporting format for some of the biggest breaking news stories of our times. They are essentially the digital text versions of breaking news stories on TV where rolling updates continually add to an unfolding situation. 

Whether it be election days, World Cup finals, or the coronation of a monarch, these minute-by-minute updates capture the attention of readers who repeatedly hit the refresh button to catch the latest developments of a story. Now, FlatPlan publishers can use this engaging format on their Apple News channel.

Previously, live reporting articles have been difficult to deliver to Apple News. This is due to the heavy use of caching on Apple News which ensures articles load quickly. So even if an article is updated, that reader may not see this until they’ve cleared their cache. But the FlatPlan team’s expertise and knowledge of Apple News means we can work around this to deliver this highly engaging article format.

Like other Apple News article formats created by FlatPlan, Live Reporting articles are adorned with all the necessary branding elements from logos, custom fonts and brand colourways to ensure readers know whose content they are consuming. This is essential on a news aggregator where content sits alongside many other major publishing brands in the Apple News feed.

After that, components which are unique to the Live Reporting format make it clear to readers that they are seeing something different to what they view elsewhere on the app. The first component is a signpost that states the article is updated live. This engages readers and encourages them to stick with the story for longer to catch the latest developments. But if they’d prefer to follow the action on the publisher’s website, a call-to-action enables this clickthrough to drive website referrals.

The second Live Reporting feature is the bullet point summary. This is commonly used for developing stories so that readers can get the gist of the story without having to scroll to the start of the updates and read the entire report. By getting readers up-to-speed, they’re more likely to be engaged with the latest developments in the story.

Lastly, there’s a date and time stamp for every update so that readers can accurately follow the chronology of the updates to discern the exact sequence of events.

But as with any publisher’s channel we help create, they can be made bespoke to your needs. So no matter what elements you use in your developing news stories on your website, we can recreate it for your Apple News channel.

If you use social media embeds in your updates, FlatPlan can ensure these display correctly in your article without forcing readers to click away into X, TikTok or Instagram. The content can be viewed directly in Apple News which boosts your engagement metrics such as Average Active Time. Such metrics contribute to the strength of the signal in the Apple News algorithm.

To retain new readers who reach your Live Reporting article, it’s essential channels are equipped with all the usual conversion mechanisms that FlatPlan enables publishers with. This includes the inline Follow CTA (an in-article Follow button) to ensure that new readers turn into loyal followers. And that those nurtured followers then see promotions for other content streams such as podcasts and newsletters where first-party data can be gathered and leveraged for growth.

Live Reporting articles are particularly valuable for news publishers who report on emerging events around the world. If this sounds like you, get in touch with the expert team at FlatPlan to see how we can help you grow your readership using Apple News.