Hyperlocal as a concept has always intrigued me. Where I’m from, there isn’t much hyperlocal news presence. Lots of newspapers, but not much that is uniquely online-only. But since I will soon be re-locating to Jacksonville, FL, I decided to have a look at what kind of hyperlocal blogging happens. I was pleased to come across a few lively sites.
He went on say some other nice stuff about me and Urban Jacksonville. Thanks to Ben for doing the interview. Here’s some more about Ben who will be arriving in Jacksonville soon via the UK. He’s a postgraduate student at City University London, his immediate background is in journalism.
More recently I have begun to work in the fields of social media marketing, media blogging and web development. I am currently a junior associate at the corporate PR and marketing consultancy Glasshouse Partnership, where my primary role is devising web, social media and blogging strategy for corporate and individual clients.
If you can’t get enough here are some more recent interviews
Dave Stanton will join us on Urban Jacksonville Weekly Monday, December 21st to talk about new media and journalism trends.
Dave recently started working at The Poynter Institute, a school for journalists, future journalists, and teachers. Previously, Dave taught new media and journalism courses at University of Florida. I met Dave via his podcast Journalism Now, the rest is history.
We’ll look at how far the newspaper industry has come this year and trends for 2010. Here are some questions we’ll discuss. We’ll also look at some trends for 2010 and let you know whether we’re buying or selling.
What, if any value, does Facebook have to the newspaper industry, in contrast to Twitter
Is the social media aspect of the web shifting new consumption more towards individual personalities and away from the institution.
Has there been a shift from bringing audiences in, to pushing content out? RSS, Email Alerts, Twitter and now placing content on different channels, for instance videos on YouTube.
When will we see a shift back to more a more investigative form of Journalism or is that gone forever.
Will Hyperlocal finally step up in 2010? What does it need to do to take the next step?
Have Twitter and Facebook made news real-time or is there still some ground to make up before we can call it real-time.
Before we get started let’s recap the situation with The Florida Times-Union and parent company Morris Publishing. On May 29th Morris Publishing received a fourth extension on a $10 Million dollar interest payment. The next and maybe final deadline is June 12th, just two days away.
I’ve heard time and again from various people that “the Times-Union will be fine” and “just because Morris goes bankrupt, doesn’t mean the Times-Union will”. That’s fine, but the paper has yet to detail the specifics behind these statements. I’d like to know what everyone at Jacksonville.com seems to know.
Recently Jim Currow, Times-Union Publisher, spoke at the Meniak Club of Jacksonville and was heard saying:
I agree. I know journalists are capable of telling the story better, reassuring the public of it’s continued operation if or when Morris goes bankrupt. They have yet to do this.
most of the newspapers published by bankrupt companies are actually turning operating profits. What’s killing their parent corporations are huge debt burdens.
From what I hear, this seems to be the case for the TU. What better time to innovate and make drastic changes than when you have nothing to lose? No one will fault you for failing if you try, but they will point a finger if you sit there and do nothing. So let’s look at some new models.
Reduce Daily to Weekly
Don’t cut print all together, you’ll kill one of your only good sources of revenue, but you know that. Reduce daily printing to weekly or bi-weekly. Getting out of the vicious daily publication cycle could provide more time to write in-depth stories or cultivate online content and relationships.
By producing a limited number of premium-priced, niche publications on only the days when it is profitable to do so, publishers can begin to focus more of their attention and resources on creating the wide array of tightly targeted Internet and mobile products that represent the future for their franchises. – Facing up to life after print for newspapers
Redesign the Website, Again
I know. Jacksonville.com just redesigned a few months ago. While they’ve made huge strides in functionality and interactivity, the design still leaves much to be desired. Design can influence people to stay in your site longer and explore.
Compare the way the New York Times or CNN looks to Jacksonville.com. The NYT is comforting and relaxing, interesting and compelling. There is something off about Jacksonville.com, the design is no tightly tuned.
Small things can be done to tune the current design. It will require a talented graphic designer and a time investment, but the time will be well spent. Until then, thank goodness for Google Reader.
If you’re not writing about local news, your paper’s readers are probably getting what you do from somewhere else. Get over it. CNN and ESPN are not new, and nytimes.com wasn’t far behind. Write local. There are plenty of cooks and painters and poets in your neighborhood. Go out and meet them.
I’m not saying drop everything and start doing what I do at Urban Jacksonville, but hyperlocal fills a gap in what media outlets are choosing to cover, or more accurately choosing not to cover. The Times-Union is already aggregating select hyperlocal news sources in the city, they should take the next step and launch a hyperlocal team. Or maybe, I’ll beat them to the punch.
When it comes to dollars from hyperlocal content, the money is in the advertising. As we get better geo-location tools, serving ads on a block by block neighborhood will be more valuable than ever. Start building niche audiences now so when the tools arrive you’re ready.
I’ve seen the value in hyper-targeted, local advertising. I think my readers will agree the ads on my site are better than ads anywhere else in the city. Why? They feel like content, not advertising.
Moving reading off the web and onto a wireless device makes it possible for newspapers to create exclusive content that would provide incremental revenue.
The newspaper doesn’t scale with a hit, or it can’t make incremental revenue off more popular articles
Here are some comments from me friend Andrew Connell on the Kindle and his new reading habits. While AC does not fit the profile of your average Times-Union customer, he is an emerging market the TU could reach out to and engage. And guess what, there’s thousands more behind him.
I know many folks, including myself, who would start subscribing to the TU if they offered it in a Kindle format. Kindle is quickly catching on… you almost always see them in biz class when you fly. 9 of the last 10 flights i’ve taken people have asked about mine.
Many folks are canceling print subscriptions and electing for the Kindle version because it’s cheaper and more convenient. I cancelled my WSJ subscription and get it on my Kindle every day now. When I travel, I’ll usually buy a USA Today and an occassional NYT as well… all via the Kindle.
While journalist are re-establishing local beats and focusing on producing hyperlocal content, you can use something like Spot.us to fund in-depth stories and investigative reports with community funded reporting.
Producing investigative stories requires large amounts of time and resources to get the story right. If the community could decide what stories they wanted the paper to report on and finance those stories it seems like a win-win. While some at the Times-Union may not like asking for money, I think desperate times call for innovative measures.
Like graffiti on the Southside, Urban Jacksonville Weekly is going All City!
Tonight we’ll be adding more audience interaction (hopefully) to Urban Jacksonville Weekly. We’ll be rolling with Cover it Live which means you’ll be able to chat with us, ask questions and make comments, live.
We’ll also be integrating Tweets from people who use the #ujw hashtag. All you have to do if you want to participate via Twitter is include #ujw in your tweet and we’ll find you.
Come to Urban Jacksonville tonight around 5:30 to watch the live feed and participate in the chat. You don’t need any plugins or special hardware, just an Internet connection.
I won’t have another blog post today (Jonathan might), but I will announce tonight’s topics via the Urban Jacksonville Twitter feed and the new Urban Jacksonville Facebook Fan Page. If you haven’t already join the fan page please do. I’m migrating the current Urban Jacksonville group to a fan page, because it makes more sense. I’m trying not to duplicate the same content on the Facebook page as you see on Twitter or this blog, or at least learning not to.
Finally for all the breaking blog and other news you can check out my shared items on Google reader or friend me there. You’ll get a constant feed all things awesome in the city.
Jonathan and I are serious about hyperlocal journalism, especially in this picture. Tony, not so much.
When the video begins I pitch the show to people who might want to pick it up, help us market it, and up the production values. We’re looking for another media partner to help us take it to the next level. Contact me if you are interested or read my more about my Urban Jacksonville Weekly pitch. (Still in draft status!)
Inside video coverage of UrbanJacksonvilleWeekly.com episode number 17 which covers hyperlocal news of Jacksonville, FL. One of the topics was getting a park bench at Mickey King Park, my dad’s park. Two past blogs posts on this subject are here, and here. (via Globatron)
