For decades, publishing companies have posted news bills outside newsagents, promoting the content of their papers.

Wherever you go, in every town and city in countries across the world, there are news bills, declaring the local news in big black type.

News bills still have their place outside newsagents, of course. But they are not without their drawbacks.

For a start, they are at the mercy of the newsagent. As in every profession, there are good and bad newsagents. Some keep the bills up to date, others don't. How many times do you pass a newsagents and see a bill that's out of date?

We need to move on with the times and social media is the modern news bill, driving traffic to our website and encouraging people to buy the paper.

As from last night, we've started a daily Twitter bill at The Northern Echo, promoting the main stories in the paper. It's tweeted around 6pm and then again at 8am the following morning.

With more than 60,000 Twitter followers tied up with The Northern Echo and its journalists, we'd be daft not to make the most of it.