A report has called for an end to the notion that a “silver bullet solution” exists for the development of the hyperlocal news sector.
Swedish journalist Carina Tenor has produced a report on the sector for the London School of Economics, looking at how hyperlocals have developed in both the UK and Scandinavia.
In her report, Carina praised the work of organisations such as trade body the Independent Community News Network in promoting independent and local publishing.
But she also said it was important to adjust expectations instead of projecting “false hopes” about what the sector can achieve.
Carina quoted research from Cardiff University lecturer Andy Williams, who found that while some hyperlocal publications could be described as local journalism, much of the content is “partial, amateurish and trouble-making or just descriptive, banal and mundane”.
Commenting on the future of hyperlocal publications, Carina wrote: “When working on this report, a lot of people have asked me for good examples, or more specifically how a certain hyperlocal has succeeded or been helped by a centre or a network.
“But perhaps it is time to finally give up the preconception of a silver bullet solution, a role model or a recipe that could be applied broadly.
“Networking may strengthen sustainability, lobbying may increase financial preconditions, education may increase quality and press regulations accountability. But a lot of these sites will come and go due to their own personal or local conditions.
She added: “The most interesting discussion will be how to promote independent and local publishing as a whole. Even though there are different conditions in different countries, I do not doubt that the experiences of an organisation like ICNN can provide valuable insights across nations.”
“Instead of projecting false hopes, it is important to study the research and the empirically informed evidence, especially for policymakers and people with influence on the future of news and democracy.
“There are several ways to support financial sustainability and accountable journalism within the sector, as well as acknowledge democracy values in a broader sense. To quote Andy Williams: ‘I think the hyperlocal sector should be celebrated for what it is, and not denigrated for what it is not.'”
The ICNN, which represents the independent publishing sector, declined to comment on the report.
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Sadly I’m inclined to agree with Andy Williams’ comments on the content of many “hyperlocals”. I’ve been keeping a curious eye on several (some in the area where I work, others where I live and others in an area where I worked years ago) and the overall quality is pretty poor.
Given the parlous state of many big publishers’ titles, I’d like to see hyperlocals succeeding as they’re often shooting at an open goal. But based on what I’ve seen so far, they usually either recycle press releases exclusively or stuff the sites with with partisan, ill-informed content written by people with too much free time and axes to grind.
However, I’d love to see some good examples and I’m sure they must be out there…?
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The common denominator with hyper local Independent publishing is its use of knowledge of the local area and doing the basics very well,providing strong local community news and advertising platforms the bigger players cannot or do not offer any longer and running lean and effective operations where everyone plays their part and works together unencumbered by the amount of mangers and unproductive deadwood the bigger groups are weighed down with.
it’s not about in depth analysis, research groups or countless internal meetings,the papers I’m familiar with in the Eastern counties are the result of individuals spotting an opportunity and using their contacts experience and knowledge of the locale to produce decent and popular newspapers.
One of the many drawbacks of the bigger groups has been complacency,that and a failure to respond and adapt to a changing market,having meetings and consultations rather than getting out there and doing it is why the new publishers have captured the local audiences both readers and advertisers.
Hyper local is the future of regional publishing and is doing very very well, if anyone wants to know how to do it, speak to those who are actually doing it.
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Andy Williams here, I’m quoted in the report and felt I should leave a comment to clarify my position.
I think, broadly speaking, Carina’s written an excellent report here. But the bit that’s been pulled out from me doesn’t really convey what my research over the last 6 years or so has found about hyperlocal.
On the whole I’m hugely optimistic about the sector, and think that it does a lot to play the democratic roles of journalism so often being abandoned by a shrinking established local news industry.
There *is* variability in the field, for sure – that’s to be expected.
But that doesn’t mean there’s not a *huge* amount of really good work being done in it covering local life, connecting people in communities, holding those in power locally to account, and even doing really important investigative work in many cases.
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You can see an evidence-based, digested read of what my research finds about the value of hyperlocal here: http://senedd.assembly.wales/documents/s63453/NJW09%20Dr.%20Andy%20Williams%20Cardiff%20University%20-%20Hyperlocal%20Community%20News.pdf
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“However, I’d love to see some good examples and I’m sure they must be out there…?”
Jimbledon, please see 20-year-old Rochdale Online for an example:
http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk
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Interesting read, Andy Williams.
One of the major ways a difference could be made is local public sector organisations placing advertising with local websites that employ local people and contribute to the local community and economy rather than to American social media sites that employ no one locally and contribute nothing to the local community or economy.
Here in Rochdale we have built our audience over the past 20 years to an average of over 160,000 unique users per month and yet the local council spent four times as much last year on Facebook adverts seeking to get its message to local people.
Its most ironic paid Facebook advert recently was seeking views on how it could spend more money with local businesses!
The local CCG recently launched a new website and advertised it in print media, based out of town with a fraction of the audience, rather than place the advert with Rochdale Online were readers could have simply clicked on a link or banner to view the new site!
It is these attitudes that need to be changed if local news sites are to thrive.
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She’s been reading the wrong hyperlocals
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