Do Bloggers Deserve Press Credentials?
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)
UK blogger kicked out of court; NUJ fights back
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
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.
Hyperlocal News Roundup
I usually try to share some comments on the links that I include in these roundups, but not much to say this time — and not much time to say it, anyway.
Just this: I know many local bloggers are struggling to “play journalist” when covering local news. If that describes you, don’t miss Dave Harte’s piece linked below.
- Lost Remote: KLAS-TV to roll out hyperlocal network in Las Vegas
- TechCrunch: Fwix Launches API For Realtime Hyperlocal News
- Dave Harte: Notes on pretending to be a journalist
- TVNewsCheck: Hyperlocal: Good For Readers, Advertisers
Recommended Hyperlocal Reading
I made a slightly tongue-in-cheek comment in the headlines of the previous post here on HLB about AOL’s plans to expand its Patch network of hyperlocal sites. And then my post itself was far too brief (due to other commitments) to offer much value.
If you’re a local news blogger, or if you’re just interested in the subject, there’s a much more intelligent look at the AOL news, and some excellent comments, on a post by Jennifer Deseo — When Big Box meets hyperlocal news.
I’ve written before that, even though I don’t think they’ll succeed, it’s good exposure for all of us when Big Media announces a new hyperlocal blog/site network. In her post, Jennifer comes to the conclusion that this same thing can also be good for individual bloggers, but she comes at it from a financial angle. It’s a good read.
(BTW, Jennifer’s blog is new and looks to be recommended reading. She recently shut down her own hyperlocal news blog in Maryland and has a month’s worth of good stuff on The Hyperlocalist.)
AOL: Our Future Hyperlocal Overlords?
If the reports are to be believed, AOL has some massive plans for its hyperlocal blog network called Patch.
According to an internal communication with employees, AOL (AOL) plans to expand Patch, its network of local news blogs, from 30 sites to “hundreds,” by the end of 2010.
The goal: “To be leaders in one of the most promising ‘white spaces’ on the Internet.”
You can read the full article at Silicon Alley Insider. And there’s more discussion on Techmeme.
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