Reply from Ian Mayes from the Guardian (Slideshows)

This guy is basically the bridge between the newspaper and the audience, known as the "readers' editor". He is knowledgeable about online journalism too.

For a more detailed description of the man himself see his online profile.

His (edited) reply:

"We have a strong emphasis at the Guardian Unlimited on interactive features and by looking at the website this is obvious.

"We pride ourselves as being one of the best online providers of news, where slideshows are integral to this..."

[He goes onto explain, quite rightly, that their interactive features are both easily accessible and among the best out there]

"Slideshows are used mainly for timelines, historical pieces, or those that are complicated and need simplifying. We do depend on them a lot...we use a template. Other news organisations may not have this luxury...”

[Additionally there are few articles about this type of online journalism; people tend to ignore them as they seem too familiar]

“Many of those in the industry do stay away as there is an element of them being either too arty, or too amateurish.”

[I should have asked him why there is such an emphasis online-is this not taking away people from the paid papers.]