Hyperlocal News isn’t terrible … if you know where to look
“Noise in the ‘Hood – Why is hyperlocal news so terrible?” is the title/subtitle of a piece by Mark Gimein that was published this week on Slate’s web site, The Big Money. I’ve submitted a comment on it that hasn’t been approved yet, but also want to put some thoughts down here on HLB.
Mark’s basic premise seems to be that, well … hyperlocal news is terrible and only AOL’s Patch project seems to have a chance at making things better. He looks primarily at three sites — Everyblock.com, Examiner.com, and Topix.com, and comes to this conclusion:
The reality of the sites, though, is a scary lesson in just how dreary the local news outlook is. The new local ventures are designed to deliver more news with fewer resources. In fact, they deliver less. That in itself is not a surprise, but just how much less is a shock for anyone who bothers to actually look at what they offer.
The problem, though, is that none of those three sites — with the exception of Topix, which is moving beyond news aggregation — is really a hyperlocal news site.
I love what Everyblock does, but it’s more of a hyperlocal data provider than a news outlet. Examiner.com … don’t get me started on that. It’s just regurgitated news packaged in a Google-friendly wrapper. And as I’ve written before, Topix is becoming more of a hyperlocal content source with its recent move away from pure aggregation.
I think Mark missed the boat by focusing on those large sites. I’ve said before that hyperlocal blogging and hyperlocal news works best from the bottom up. Local bloggers care more and know more about the streets they cover than the Big Media players who are buying up dozens of domains at once and crapping out so-called “hyperlocal news sites” because it’s the hip thing to do.
In his piece, Mark admits there are some good sources of hyperlocal news, “but not so many in any one place that they benefit in any meaningful way from being pulled together into a Google News-like feed.” In the comment I left, I suggested Mark look at the hyperlocal scene in Seattle, which is so robust that the Seattle Times is partnering with five hyperlocal news sites to cover the stuff the paper just can’t get to, and where the West Seattle Blog was one of Google’s most popular search terms in 2009 in Seattle. You may not be able to get a Google-like news feed, but Bing is adding hyperlocal news content to Bing Maps in one of its new features.
Mark’s right, though, about the general lack of hyperlocal news sources. I’m so frustrated by our local scene that I’ve registered a domain name and am seriously considering launching an online-only local news site to cover this area. There’s an imbalance between hyperlocal news/blogs in big cities vs. small towns.
But hyperlocal news is not terrible … if you know where to look.
(BTW, Chris Tolles, the CEO of Topix has also blogged some his thoughts in response to the Slate/Big Money piece.)
Hyperlocal News Roundup
Here’s one last look at recent news and articles related to the hyperlocal scene — blogging, journalism, you name it. As always, if you know of something I’ve missed, please use the CONTACT button up top to send me a link for the next roundup.
- Kevin O’Keefe, who publishes Real Lawyers Have Blogs, recently posted an article called Hyperlocal law blogs offer lawyers big advantages. He introduces the idea of hyperlocal to what I presume is a readership comprised mostly of attorneys, and then offers some content suggestions for lawyers thinking about starting a local blog.
- Christopher Wink, a Philadelphia-based hyperlocal blogger involved in a couple different sites/projects, recently posted Content breakdown of a healthy, efficient hyperlocal news site. The post talks about balancing traditional reporting with reader submission, press releases, and more. Good read, especially if you run a news blog, too.
- eMedia Vitals has a good article about how Gannett balances its newspaper business and its hyperlocal web sites project.
- About a month ago, hyperlocal blogging & journalism was the topic of a public forum in the Seattle area. It featured hyperlocal bloggers sitting on stage next to the president of MSNBC.com – amazing how the world of local news is changing, isn’t it? Serra Blog has a good recap of the forum.
- If you’re curious to know how “The Local” — the New York Times’ hyperlocal project — is going, check out this Q&A with Jim Schacter. He’s heading up The Local.
That’s all for now!
Seeking Guest Blog Posts
Hey gang — one of my goals for HyperlocalBlogger.com in 2010 is to seek and accept more guest posts from people like you. I’ve published a few guest posts already, and they were all very well-received, so I’d like to make that more of an emphasis in the coming year.
If you’re interested in sharing a guest post here on HLB, please contact me with your idea and let me know when you think you’ll be able to send it. The tagline I use here is “Tips & Discussion for Local Bloggers,” so any idea that fits under that theme will probably be welcome.
I think we all get smarter by hearing about the experiences of others who work and play in the local blogging space. Whether you’re a local blogger, someone who provides services for local bloggers, a traditional journalist who has thoughts about local blogging … or whatever! … I want to hear from you. You’ll get some exposure for your ideas, not to mention a link or two that might lead to some new traffic (and help with your SEO).
Give it some thought and drop me a line with your ideas. Looking forward to hearing from you!
FastCompany on recent Hyperlocal deals
Missed this last week: FastCompany has a good roundup of the recent media/hyperlocal deals, including the MSN/NBC/Hearst agreement just announced last week. This quote starts the article:
“Here’s a prediction for 2010 that you can easily bank on: Big media portals are going to do fierce battle in the hyperlocal news space.”
Heck, they’re already doing battle. If you want the cheat sheet on this year’s deals, here it is:
And that doesn’t include all the smaller media entries into the hyperlocal space, like the Seattle Times, Fisher Media, Huffington Post, and the ones I listed here.
Legal Resources for Bloggers
It was just a month ago that Dan Slee made this prediction about bloggers and the law:
“At some point I’m convinced someone will lose their house in the not too distant future over an internet blog post. It’s potentially that serious.”
With that in mind, I’m compiling this list of Legal Resources for Bloggers. My hope is that it’ll be a living document, and I’ll gladly update this with new links as I discover them, or as you send them to me. (Use the contact form or just leave a comment below.) I also hope this is beneficial for all bloggers, not just our hyperlocal crowd.
Legal Resources for U.S. Bloggers
EFF: Blogger’s Legal Guide
Based on my somewhat limited research, this is the pre-eminent resource for bloggers about the law. Lots of read and research.
Citizen Media Law Project (CMLP)
Its mission is “to provide legal assistance, education, and resources for individuals and organizations involved in online and citizen media.” It offers a searchable legal guide.
Online Media Legal Network
A project of the CMLP (above), it “connects lawyers from across the country with online journalists and digital media creators who need legal help.” Participating lawyers will “provide qualifying online publishers with pro bono and reduced fee legal assistance.”
Media Bloggers Association (MBA)
Founded in 2004 by several well-known bloggers. Since its creation, the MBA “has provided a wide range of legal support services to hundreds of bloggers facing legal threats related to their blogs.”
Center for Internet and Society (CIS)
Information resource from Stanford University
CyberSLAPP.org
Created by “a coalition of civil liberties and privacy groups (listed below) who have come together to protect the right to speak freely and anonymously on the internet.”
Media Law Resource Center (MLRC)
The MLRC is a non-profit that was formed “to monitor developments and promote First Amendment rights in the libel, privacy and related legal fields.” See below for related links.
MLRC: Libel and Related Lawsuits Against Bloggers
The MLRC offers a list of cases (with links) in which bloggers have been sued.
MLRC: Legal Actions Against Bloggers
This is a blog from the MLRC that seems to serve the same purpose as the link above. It may be a replacement for that link.
Chilling Effects
A project that “aims to help you understand the protections that the First Amendment and intellectual property laws give to your online activities.”
100 Free DIY Legal Resources on the Web
A big list of links.
Legal Resources for U.K. Bloggers
U.K. bloggers are invited to send in links for this section. For now, I’ll link to a few blog posts I’ve found that address legal issues for bloggers.
Talk About Local: Libel, defamation – keeping it legal
Philip John: Getting serious about hyperlocal, part 1: Legal issues and MA Online Journalism: Law for bloggers and journalists with Paul Bradshaw
Dan Slee: BE LEGAL: Six things a hyperlocal blogger really should know about the law
Paul Bradshaw: Presentation: Law for bloggers and journalists (UK)
Legal Resources for Bloggers: Other Countries
This one’s all yours. Please send in any links which may be appropriate.
Thanks to all who’ve helped collate this resource in some way, whether you know it or not!
Oregon blogger deals with legal threat
Mitch Nolan, an Oregon-based blogger who writes not about his hometown per se, but about the media scene in the area, recently faced an interesting legal threat/situation that really could happen to any of us in the hyperlocal blogging arena. Rather than me trying to sum it up, let me just point you to the link:
KOIN-TV: Delete this tweet or face legal action
Aside from the educational account of what happened, there are a couple legal resources listed in there, too (which is inspiring me to do a separate post). In light of my post last month asking What do you know about blogging & the law?, I thought it might be helpful to share this link with you.
Thx to Ray at My Northwest Journal for the tip.
-
-
Featured Video
