Block by Block Conference Streaming Live

I had hoped to attend the Block by Block hyperlocal conference which is now underway in Chicago. If you couldn’t make it, either, or maybe didn’t even know about it, it’s okay — you can watch online.

It’s streaming live online right now.

The conference continues through Friday afternoon.

September 23, 2010 | Filed Under Industry | 1 Comment 

Hyperlocal News Roundup

newsstandThis is the MEGA edition of the hyperlocal news roundup — 20+ links below that should include something of interest to most anyone. This is what happens when you combine cross-country travel with getting sick as soon as you get home. Ugh. That’s how I’ve spent the past 8-10 days. Hope yours have been better.

Of particular note in the list is the journalist’s guide to jobs at Patch, which I found a pretty interesting read.

September 19, 2010 | Filed Under Industry | 2 Comments 

Hyperlocal News Roundup

newsstandHope those of you in the U.S. had a great Labor Day holiday. The McGee family enjoyed a spur-of-the-moment drive over to Seattle and an otherwise relaxing long weekend. Here’s the latest batch of hyperlocal headlines for your reading enjoyment.

September 6, 2010 | Filed Under Industry | Leave a Comment 

Yahoo’s Hyperlocal Help Wanteds

Following up on last week’s news about Yahoo hiring local writers/bloggers as part of a national push toward local content, how about a look at one of the job descriptions?

You can find a job listing for Local Editor – Chicago on Yahoo Careers web site.

Yahoo! is looking for an expert online editor to raise the level of our content served to the citizens of Chicago. The ideal candidate will be a seasoned editor with a passion for news, new media, and their local market. He or she will synthesize content from a number of sources and publishers into a relevant, addictive offering for residents. You should be flexible, quick-thinking, energetic, efficient, and able to work independently under pressure while maintaining attention to detail. Real-world journalistic experience managing digital news on deadline is a must.

Some other highlights from the bullet list items:

- Crafting clever and SEO-friendly headlines, writing tease copy, choosing and cropping appropriate images

- Reporting and writing engaging and exceptional news stories and blog posts from primary or secondary sources on deadline

- Monitoring blog comments, surfing similar sites for story ideas

- Familiarity with SEO, RSS, Twitter, Facebook and other social media

Maybe the thing that stands out the most to me is this qualification:

- Minimum 3+ years online and 5+ years overall experience at a major media outlet in your market

They’re definitely not looking for beginning hyperlocal hopefuls, that’s for certain. No mention of a salary, but I suspect if you’re expecting to hire someone who’s been working the Chicago media scene for five years minimum, you’re going to be paying that person pretty well.

September 3, 2010 | Filed Under Industry | Leave a Comment 

Hyperlocal: Not for the Faint of Heart

American Journalism Review has an article out that is far from earth-shattering, but I think it does a fair job of summarizing the state of local news sites/blogs at the moment. In a phrase: “not for the faint of heart.”

At this moment, news organizations and startups across the country are betting heavily that hyperlocal news sites will solve the needs of both consumers and advertisers. But this path is littered with false starts and failures, some quite fresh. In June, the New York Times handed the keys to its New Jersey community news site to the hyperlocal veterans at Baristanet.com, after turning over its Brooklyn community site to journalism grad students at City University of New York.

Other news organizations have launched and abandoned hyperlocal efforts over the years, some big like the Washington Post, others small and unknown. The managers of these projects tend to leave a common admonition to those who would follow: Hyperlocal is difficult, expensive and not for the faint of heart.

I’d put an asterisk next to “expensive” in that sentence, actually. It doesn’t take a lot of money to setup a hosting account somewhere and install WordPress. That’s all you need to start publishing. The tools of the trade don’t need to be wallet-busters, either. But to do hyperlocal right, it’s certainly expensive in terms of how much time you spend.

The full article is here: The Hazards of Hyperlocal. And there’s more on Mediagazer, too.

August 31, 2010 | Filed Under Industry | 2 Comments 

Thanks, PBS MediaShift

mediashiftJust wanted to say a quick and public THANK YOU to Brad Flora and PBS MediaShift for including Hyperlocal Blogger in an article last week:

10 Must-Read Sites for Hyper-Local Publishers

That was a real surprise and honor to see this blog included on such a list with so many excellent industry sites. If you’re reading this, I assume you already know enough about Hyperlocal Blogger — so be sure to check out the other nine sites when you can.

August 30, 2010 | Filed Under Industry | 2 Comments 

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