Do local bloggers need insurance?
The Online News Association is running a survey for the next few days to find out if there’s a need for online journalists (which would include some hyperlocal bloggers) to have insurance:
“With the growth of independent news outlets, bloggers and media entrepreneurship, the need for affordable, reliable coverage has expanded exponentially.
As a result, the Online News Association, in partnership with AXIS Pro (formerly Media/Professional Insurance), is surveying digital journalists to gauge the need for low-cost Media Liability Insurance coverage, which includes libel, defamation, copyright and other publishing torts.
If ONA determines enough need and interest, we will work with AXIS Pro to provide a program tailored for digital journalists under the ONA name.”
You can take the survey here. CyberJournalist says it’s open until this Friday, October 16.
And I’m curious to hear from you local bloggers: Do you have insurance against libel, defamation, etc.? If not, have you given it any thought in the past?
New Local UK Blog Directory
Paul Bradshaw and Matt Wardman recently launched Nutshell, a directory for hyperlocal blogs and web sites based in the UK.
Read the about page to get an idea of the kind of blogs/sites they’re looking to include. If yours fits, this could be a nice way to get some extra exposure and promotion for your efforts.
UK’s Guardian Newspaper is Going Hyperlocal
Spotted on paidcontent.co.uk: Guardian Hiring Bloggers For Local News Network
The Guardian, a UK newspaper, is looking to hire local bloggers for a hyperlocal effort that will launch next year. The full job description is posted online:
The successful candidate will be a confident blogger, know their yelps from their tweets, have a passion for local news and understand how to build relationships with the local community. A journalism qualification is desirable but not essential.
Working from your home, or anywhere with WiFi, as a ‘beatblogger’ you will lead the Guardian’s innovative approach to community news coverage in Leeds.
This will include reporting on local meetings and events with an emphasis on local political decision making, identifying issues of importance to local residents and signposting information and news provided via other sources. You will be willing to collaborate with others to create a vital resource for the city.
Paidcontent UK also says these will be “properly paid positions,” which is stark contrast to the Seattle P-I’s effort earlier this year to hire and train local bloggers on a volunteer basis — a decision that sparked a fair bit of protest.
It’s interesting to watch major newspapers lining up to get their hyperlocal ducks in a row, but I remain convinced that Hyperlocal Sites are Best Done from the Bottom Up.
How do you define Hyperlocal?
I’m curious to learn your definition of “hyperlocal.” When does a web site or blog qualify for the name? How wide/small of an area can a hyperlocal blog/site cover? Let me know your thoughts in the comments, please.
A Day in the Life of a Hyperlocal News Site
This is about a month old, but it’s a great read nonetheless:
WordPress, Twitter, the Elks Club: 10 new routines at a news startup
Nieman Journalism Lab goes behind the scenes with the folks running Ann Arbor Chronicle, a hyperlocal news site in Ann Arbor, Michigan, that’s filling the void left by the Ann Arbor News newspaper. Founders Dave Askins and Mary Morgan talk about a “typical day” — to the degree that such a thing exists.
Creating 10 heavily reported and edited posts a week, maintaining the site’s daily news digests and gossip feature, editing three regular columnists and selling the ads to support it all requires “literally every waking hour” the couple has, Chronicle editor Dave Askins said.
Askins, 44, “sometimes works through the night,” said publisher Mary Morgan, 48, who says she’s dropped 50 pounds since launching the business last year. “I can’t swing that.”
If you’re involved in — or thinking about getting involved in — a hyperlocal news site, consider this a must read.
[Ed. note: Most of my travel is now complete and I hope to return to more regular posts here. One more trip coming up later this month, however.]
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