Citizen Journalists Not Ready to Replace Traditional Media: Pew Report
by Matt on Mar 14, 2010 in Industry | Leave a Comment
With hyperlocal news still in its infancy, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that a new study out tonight says citizen journalism web sites aren’t ready to replace traditional media just yet. That’s one of the conclusions in the very comprehensive “State of the Media” report issued by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism.
The report admits that “citizen journalism at the local level is expanding rapidly and brimming with innovation,” but says that funding isn’t being pumped into citizen journalism at the same rate that traditional media are losing money and resources. As for local blogs and news sites comparing to traditional media, here’s what the report says:
“…citizen media at this point still are not in a position to replace or provide the same type of coverage as traditional outlets. They just don’t have the resources to do so. New research conducted by a team of academics finds that some top citizen news sites average less than one new story a day.”
In general, I’ve no doubt that’s true. But I don’t think anyone should read that and take it to mean that there’s no good, real, substantial, and legitimate journalism being produced by citizen journalists online. There is, and I think we all sense citizen media will continue to improve over time.
Click through for some interesting stats and charts from the study about hyperlocal news sites/blogs.
Do Bloggers Deserve Press Credentials?
by Matt on Mar 8, 2010 in Industry | 5 Comments
Following quickly on the heels of the UK episode in which a blogger was kicked out of court comes the case of Jay Liner and his Baltimore Organ local blog/site. As the Maryland Daily Record reports, Liner is suing the state governor’s office for denying him a press credential to report on state government news.
Liner has no desire to become a trailblazer in the blogosphere, but he acknowledges the lawsuit reflects how the Internet has forever changed the way people consume news.
“This is the modern delivery system,” he said. “Why should this be treated differently?”
It’s a question government officials, media lawyers and even reporters themselves struggle to answer.
To be frank, the article itself wanders and is a bit of a mess, but this is a legitimate issue for local bloggers, and something we should all be paying attention to – but especially those of you who are news bloggers in your hometown.
My take: Local governments (and state governments, for that matter) need to wake up to the realities of modern journalism and reconsider their requirements for defining who is and isn’t a reporter.
(Found this via MediaGazer)
Go Hyperlocal Maps US & UK Blogs
by Matt on Mar 7, 2010 in Promotion | 2 Comments
Here’s a new site that offers both inspiration and exposure for hyperlocal bloggers: Go Hyperlocal. It’s a hyperlocal blog directory that bills itself as “Ideas and Examples from the Best Hyperlocal News Sites.” And even on a super quick glance, I see a couple familiar HLB commenters already have their blogs listed: Kyle from Yellowknife Online and Mike from Go Burley.
The site offers a US map and a UK map of hyperlocal blogs, both of which are obviously far from complete. But you can do your part to help out by using this link to suggest a site for the directory.
Wordpress Users: What Theme Do You Use?
by Matt on Mar 2, 2010 in Blogging | 14 Comments
A little while back, I came across a Wordpress blog theme that’s been developed specifically for hyperlocal news sites. It’s (appropriately) called The Local, and looks pretty nice to me.
If I ever get around to launching the real Tri-City news site I have in my mind, I’d consider using it. But I don’t think it’s appropriate for the four community blogs we’re running now, none of which are geared toward hard news reporting.
So my questions to all you Wordpress users are as follows:
- What theme are you using for your local blog?
- What do you like about it?
- What do you dislike it about it?
Comments are open, so have at it.
UK blogger kicked out of court; NUJ fights back
by Matt on Feb 27, 2010 in Industry | 1 Comment
This is a slap in the face to citizen journalists and local bloggers everywhere: In the UK, a local news blogger was kicked out of coroner’s court this past week, with the coroner saying the blogger wasn’t allowed to attend either as a journalist or as a regular citizen. Meanwhile, the local newspaper reporter was allowed to stay inside.
The blogger, Simon Perry of the Ventnor Blog, has been blogging for four years and is a 9-year member of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ). Now, the NUJ is speaking up on Perry’s behalf. You can get the whole story from these two posts on Journalism.co.uk:
- Local news blogger refused entry to coroner’s court
- NUJ general secretary calls on coroner to allow blogger into court
Lost Remote tries defining Hyperlocal
by Matt on Feb 24, 2010 in Industry | 3 Comments
This’ll be familiar to longtime readers of HLB: Lost Remote (a site you really should be reading, by the way) has taken a stab at defining “hyperlocal.” You may recall my post last fall, Defining Hyperlocal, that tried pretty much the same thing.
In Lost Remote’s case, they’re defining it in terms of a relation to “local” and “niche,” as well:
“Hyperlocal” covers neighborhoods, while “local” covers towns and cities. We get some press releases here about how stations or newspapers are starting new “hyperlocal” websites that cover their city or a given topic in their city (say, “moms”). A mom blog is a niche site. A neighborhood blog is hyperlocal. A city blog is local.
I definitely agree on the “niche” part, but I maintain that the definition of local vs. hyperlocal depends on
- Geography
- Content
Geography: In very small towns where neighborhoods are poorly defined or just don’t matter, you can be hyperlocal and still cover the whole town/city. I live in a city of about 10,000 people and, while we have a few distinct neighborhoods, I maintain that our blog is hyperlocal even though it covers city-wide events and (non-hard) news.
Content: I believe that what you cover also plays into the definition. What sets hyperlocal news sites apart is often a focus on covering minutiae that traditional media ignores — school board meetings, planning commission meetings, Little League sports, etc. Even if you cover a full city/town, I’d say you’re hyperlocal if your blog/site goes deeper (i.e., “hyper”) in its local coverage than what people are used to getting from the paper and TV news.
I know we already went through this definition stuff, but feel free to add your thoughts in the comments if you have an opinion.
-
-
Featured Video
