Poynter :: When Ted Mann started Gannett’s InJersey hyperlocal news sites two years ago, he wanted them to become a nexus of community conversation. He envisioned that about half of the sites’ content would come from Gannett staffers and half would come from local community members. That didn’t happen, though; there were not enough community contributions or enough Gannett staffers to keep the sites going.
Just a week after Gannett’s latest round of layoffs, Mann announced on Wednesday that he had decided to close the sites. The site’s demise demonstrates the challenges of sustaining a hyperlocal news site. In a phone interview, Mann told me more about the difficulties InJersey faced and what he learned from the experience.
Ted Mann interviewed by Mallary Jean Tenore, www.poynter.org
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