One of the largest, best preserved and working UK newspaper photo archives just doubled in size. Trinity Mirror has announced plans to unify its regional newspaper photographic libraries. The plans will see the centralisation of all Trinity Mirror’s archives into the existing library in Watford which will bring the huge amount of photographic content together in one location while opening up the historic archives for use right across the group. The whole lot will be licensed by Mirrorpix the newspapers in-house photo preservation, syndication and licensing arm headed up by PAN reader Fergus McKenna – he told us: “We recognise that this collection is of national and international significance which is why we’re taking these steps to organise it, conserve it and, most importantly of all, use it.” Having all the collections in one place will give us the freedom to actually explore and understand them, which wasn’t always the case when they were managed across multiple centres. For the first time we’ll actually be able to discover the role our journalists played in documenting some of the events that shaped modern Britain.”
They say: In addition to making fuller use of the content across core brands the move will also enable increased publication of stand-alone products, such as magazines and books. The archives from each regional centre will be catalogued and held as a distinct entity, allowing Trinity Mirror journalists to easily access their local archive. Meanwhile the consolidated archive will also be searchable in its entirety as a complete unified collection.
The decision over whether to transfer text cuttings to Watford or retain them locally has been left with the regional businesses.
Ken Rogers, Managing Director, Trinity Mirror Sport Media, said: “This project is enabling us to refocus on what we have got while starting the crucial process of digitising and commercialising this content.