One way that journalism is rethinking itself is the outcropping of hyperlocal websites. It requires too many financial resources to start a community newspaper, but a community website or blog is another story. It is possible to do it as a one-person show in hopes of building and expanding. Or, it is possible to do it with a team who is laid off from a newspaper staff.
Some predict that 2009 will be the year of the hyperlocal website boom. I'm curious. The NY Times recently wrote an article about a few "up and coming" hyperlocal websites. Although I mentioned this article before in this blog, my thoughts keep coming back to this phenomenon. What are the consequences of hyperlocal news? How will Steven Berlin Johnson's "Pothole Paradox" (news of a pothole repair on my street is interesting; news about a pothole repair a few blocks away is totally uninteresting) affect the demand for hyperlocal journalism?
What I am thinking of researching for this class....a series of case studies that are ripe examples of hyperlocal journalism. A few that I have found thus far: patch.com, placeblogger.com, ourtown.com, outside.in, yourhub.com, topix.com. By investigating these hyperlocal sites, I can better understand some alternative ways of telling and distributing news. Who contributes to these sites? What is the business model of these sites? How many visitors/day do they attract?
So, I'm proposing to investigate these sites (and perhaps others) and share with you all the current state of hyperlocal journalism: what it is doing well or not well, the type/quality of journalism on the sites, what it adds to our information environment, what it cannot do, and how it will affect us, as journalists, and the way we define, ingest, and imagine news. These case studies will facilitate our understanding of the ways journalism is stretching and expanding, while giving us models to critique and ponder.
Onward!
--Jen Lovejoy
Love the idea, but I wonder if there's a component to investigating whether the hyperlocal movement can save big media. The best example I can think of is The Washington Post, which has launched a slew of hyperlocal Web sites (loudonextra). Will the Loudon Extras eventually pay for The Washington Posts of the world?
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great research topic. After working on the ATHENSi project last quarter, I am a big fan of hyperlocal media. I think that a community can benefit greatly from having its own form of media that focuses specifically on them. It really brings up the idea of journalists taking on that public servant role. Hyperlocal media could be what puts some credibility back into journalism. On the other hand, Im sure there are arguments that being so focused on one area could cause communities to be disconnected from one another. Great idea though!
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