By Flora Szandi | April 25, 2025
During major world crises — from natural disasters to wars — live blogs serve as channels of vital information, keeping readers informed minute by minute. In recent years, live blogging has become an essential tool for journalists in modern newsrooms, offering real-time coverage of breaking news, sports events, fashion shows, and other evolving stories in a curated, multimedia-rich format.
In this case study, we examine how the German newspaper Tagesspiegel uses Live Blog to cover the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Introducing the Topic
At the top of the page, before the live updates, Tagesspiegel journalists present an introduction to the topic. In this case, they discuss when the Russian invasion began and summarize the most important military developments of the war, with a link to maps, graphics, and a newsletter. Adding an option to subscribe to the newsletter gives readers the opportunity to return to the live blog for new updates. The live blog is structured in reverse chronological order, with the most recent updates appearing first.
Pinned Posts
Tagesspiegel uses the “pin posts” option of the Live Blog software, which helps readers find the most significant update first. The pinned post changes when newer, more relevant information becomes available.
“Pinned posts help guide reader focus, even when new updates are coming in constantly,” said Aleksandar Jeličić, a Live Blog product manager. “It’s useful during fast-changing situations when readers want to see the most important detail immediately.”
Quotes
The paper’s live blog often includes quotes from Ukrainian and Russian officials, international diplomats, NATO representatives, and other key figures, giving readers an opportunity to see the political dimensions of the conflict. These quotes are carefully selected to reflect different experiences and viewpoints surrounding the conflict. Incorporating quotes to a live blog helps bring emotion and authenticity to the reporting.
Media integration
Social media and embedded posts also play a significant role in the live reporting, with posts and videos from channels such as X or YouTube bringing additional context to the blog. Tagesspiegel embeds links to its own full-length articles, effectively connecting the live blog to its broader reporting.
A live blog platform offers many opportunities to embed different content types — from social media updates and videos to maps, data visualisations, and internal links — helping create a dynamic, immersive experience. Embedding social and official sources adds variety and credibility to live blogs. It also helps the newsroom verify content and direct readers to trustworthy sources.
Visual Elements
Besides social media integration, images and videos help bring the live blog to life. Many posts are accompanied by photo galleries that capture the cost of war — from destroyed cities to scenes of daily life in a conflict zone. Tagesspiegel includes maps and explanations of the military strategies to give more context to the reported event.
“Our image gallery feature in Live Blog was developed to enhance coverage by building a visual story around a specific event,” said Jeličić.
Visual storytelling is an important part of any live blog; it adds emotional depth and clarity, and helps readers understand both the facts and the human experience behind them.
Using Live Blog’s essential features like pinned posts, image galleries, and social media integration, Tagesspiegel’s coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war is a great example of how to cover fast-moving events effectively in real time. Using a live blogging tool ensures that readers not only receive the latest updates but also gain a deeper, more meaningful perspective on the events that shape the world.
