Hyperlocal News Roundup

newsstand This week’s links include more talk about TBD, the new site in Washington DC. Also some Patch-related news. If all goes well, the week will begin tomorrow with a guest blog post about using Facebook advertising to help increase fans/followers of your hyperlocal blog and all your online efforts, for that matter.

Newsday doubles down on coverage as Patch arrives, Lost Remote
This is not a transaction., Philip John
Starting A Hyper Local Real Estate Blog, www.massrealestatelawblog.com
The Cream of the Crop: 10 Top Tips & Quips from Bloggers We Love., Outside.in Blog
Why TBD is Important, recoveringjournalist.typepad.com
5 Open Data Apps That Are Improving Our Cities, Mashable
Lessons from launch: How TBD.com is trying to engage the community to build its business, www.ojr.org
The tabloid goodness of TBD.com, the new Web site from the folks who brought you Politico., www.slate.com
Trinity Mirror forges hyperlocal partnerships with new community news sites, www.journalism.co.uk
Hyperlocal sites are the new black, emediavitals.com

August 15, 2010 | Filed Under Industry | Leave a Comment

Hyperlocal News Roundup

newsstand I really like the first link below — the one about a photographer who used an iPhone to cover recent protests. But there are several articles on the list about the upcoming launch of TBD.com, the new hyperlocal news site in the Washington, DC, area. The Washington Post somewhat arrogantly asks if TBD is trying to “answer a question that no one is asking.” That link is below. The two Patch articles are also pretty interesting.

Newspaper photog uses iPhone 4 to cover immigration protest, louievillalobos.com
10 Reasons to Watch Next Week’s TBD Launch, newsonomics.com
Bloggers We Love: FoodGPS’ Joshua Lurie Talks Food, Drink & LA’s Infinite Possibilities, Outside.in Blog
Patch Dispatch, Lost Remote
Patch Editors Respond To Claims Of Sweatshop-Like Workload, www.businessinsider.com
Six reasons to watch local news project TBD’s launch next week, Nieman Journalism Lab
TBD.com making its move into the crowded market of local news, Washington Post
Ten Questions: Annette Albert of W14 & SW6 London, Talk About Local

August 8, 2010 | Filed Under Industry | Leave a Comment

Hyperlocal News Roundup

newsstand Another good batch of articles below. In particular, check out the Talk About Local piece (by Nicky Getgood) on using platforms other than WordPress to create a hyperlocal blog/site. That’s a topic I’m particularly interested in, and there are several links/videos in Nicky’s piece that I want to spend more time investigating.

We’ve run a guest post before about using a Wiki for your hyperlocal site, and if any readers have experience using the platforms mentions in Nicky’s article — or any other platform — I’d love to run a guest article about it. Email me.

Talking to Anthony Hickey about Mayo Today, talkaboutlocal.org.uk
What’s Really Making Seattle a Hyperlocal News Hotbed, thesunbreak.com
FLOWCHART: Should journalists learn programming skills?, 10000words.net
Just-launched iNeedaGreatStory.com claims it ‘makes life easier for editors everywhere’, www.poynter.org
Newspapers Hit New Low as an Information Source, gigaom.com
The day my hyperlocal blog post was published in a major regional newspaper, philipjohn.co.uk
Cleveland Calling (aka Bloggers We Love: Michelle Venorsky of Cleveland Foodie), Outside.in Blog
Creating community websites with platforms other than WordPress, talkaboutlocal.org.uk
Guest Post: Establishing news sites from the ground up, Lost Remote
Engaging your community – get hyperlocal!, www.advancedaccess.com

August 1, 2010 | Filed Under Industry | Leave a Comment

Pasadena News Site To Launch Hyperlocal, Online TV Channel

pasadenanowtv Pasadena Now, a news site that’s been covering its southern California hometown for seven years, is getting ready to launch a hyperlocal, online TV channel that will offer 16 hours of programming daily, seven days a week. James Macpherson, who publishes Pasadena Now with Candice Merrill, tells me that the channel is scheduled to launch on August 20th and the goal is to equal the viewing experience that locals are used to from watching television.

“The key, in my opinion, to hyperlocal video being successful will be to offer original programming which is streamed,” he said in a recent email conversation. “Protocols and appearance must mirror network TV standards to the greatest extent possible, in order to gain the public’s acceptance. The look and feel must mirror ‘real TV.’”

Macpherson says Pasadena Now will initially feature pre-existing content. By the six-month mark, the plan is that the bulk of programming will be new content. The video channel’s home page currently advertises a weekday, 6:00 pm newscast and a 7:00 am morning talk show. Both are planned to debut in October. Macpherson says the channel will also live stream community events. All of this will be done with a team of 7-9 videographers.

For now, Pasadena Now hasn’t tried to sell advertisers on the concept, but Macpherson has a plan and says he’s “not terribly worried” about finding advertisers.

“Our objective is to create specialty audiences. For example, to work with the Pasadena Humane Society to produce a weekly ‘Pasadena Pet Channel.’ We won’t charge the PHSSPCA, but we will require that they must promote each show with an email blast to their 5,000 members. We will then sell commercials to local pet stores and vets who can be guaranteed that the show’s audience will perfectly match their target audience.”

Macpherson’s math suggests that the channel — if it sells its entire commercial inventory — would bring in more than $13,000 per week: 12 commercials per hour (30-second spots) for 16 hours each day is 192 spots per day, or 1,344 commercials per week. If Pasadena Now charges $10 per spot, that’s $13,440 per week. Is it wishful thinking that every available spot will be sold in a given week? Probably, but Macpherson is confident.

“I am extremely optimistic. Our prices will be reasonable, our costs low, and let’s face it, most people love the idea of being on TV.”

July 29, 2010 | Filed Under Industry | 1 Comment

Google’s Hyperlocal Video Thing – A Yawner

yawning I joined in the excited buzz last month when word spread that Google was doing some kind of hyperlocal video/news project in the San Francisco area.

Turns out that Google’s plan isn’t as exciting as first thought. It’s actually kinda of a yawner.

Google announced on Thursday that the company is working with the local ABC TV station to power their “UReport” citizen video submission service:

ABC7 will use YouTube Direct to collect news footage from people in the San Francisco Bay Area. Residents of the Bay Area are invited to document the news and events happening where they live, work and play, and to submit those videos via YouTube Direct to the producers at ABC7. The team at ABC7 will feature newsworthy videos on television (Channel 7 in the Bay Area), on their website (ureport.abc7news.com), and on their YouTube channel (youtube.com/abc7news).

Like … really? That’s it? Terribly anti-climactic. Citizens are already posting news videos on YouTube every day. You’d think Google could come up with something more creative than this, y’know?

July 25, 2010 | Filed Under Industry | Leave a Comment

Hyperlocal News Roundup

newsstand There are some seriously great articles and blog posts in the list below. If you only have time to read a couple, I’d say you should focus on “How to Tell a Journalist from a Blogger” (and its lengthy comment section), along with Tim Berry’s “10 Blogging Tips. My 1,000th Post on This Blog.” (The Google Groups thread about low-cost marketing is also good.)