:: LNR Journalism ::

Local news sites form new trade association

Columbia Journalism Review :: Next month, at the annual Block by Block conference for local news sites, around 100 independent publishers will celebrate the launch of a new nonprofit trade group that will offer support for the growing hyperlocal news industry.

Block by Block - Conference for hyperlocal news Sept. 13-15 in Chicago

A report by Hazel Sheffield, www.cjr.org

Chicago Tribune decides to stick with Journatic

JimRomenesko :: The Chicago Tribune is hiring 44-year newsroom veteran Randy Weissman as a consultant to help develop and implement appropriate changes at embattled Journatic and the Chicago Tribune, which has invested in the hyper-local content provider.

Internal memo, published by Jim Romenesko, jimromenesko.com

Offshore journalism: Not “pink slime,” just a potential new model

GigaOM :: We’ve seen a ton of digital ink spilled over the implications of media startup Journatic faking bylines for some of its content, including my post about the underlying economics that have forced newspapers like the Chicago Tribune to outsource their hyper-local content.

[Mathew Ingram:] Could Journatic be one of those ways, at least for certain kinds of hyper-local content and information?

The current discussion, an overview - Continue to read Mathew Ingram, gigaom.com

Twitter to acquire Sense Networks to better target local ads?

TechCrunch :: A good source tells me that Twitter is set to make its sixth acquisition of 2012 with NY-based Sense Networks. Terms of the deal are still under wraps but it is expected to go through this month. Twitter declined to comment.

Continue to read Peter Ha, techcrunch.com

Hyperlocal Voices, Preston blog: The freedom to change course very quickly.

Online Journalism blog :: For the third in our new series of Hyperlocal Voices we head North to the city of Preston in Lancashire, UK. Damian Radcliffe spoke to Blog Preston‘s Ed Walker and Ryan Gibson about some of the lessons they have learned over the last three and a half years.

What makes a hyperlocal blog such as ours so great is that we have the freedom, both editorially and strategically, to change our course very quickly. This means we that can adapt to our readership much faster than a traditional news operation can.

Clipped from: blogpreston.co.uk (share this clip)

Continue to read onlinejournalismblog.com

NESTA (UK) offering £1m funding to stimulate the hyperlocal sector

Journalism.co.uk :: Nesta has announced the 10 local media projects to each receive up to £50,000 in funding as part a Destination Local project to help develop "the next generation of hyperlocal media services". The charity announced earlier this year it would put forward a £1 million investment for the hyperlocal media industry, along with the technology strategy board, with each body to select 10 projects each - 20 in total - to share the funding.

Continue to read Rachel McAthy, www.journalism.co.uk

Want to save local newspapers? Then break the chains that hold them back

Online Journalism Review :: The economies of scale that once helped place the journalism business among the economy's most profitable now threaten to help sink the industry. America's newspaper chains missed their moment of opportunity to use their scale to dominate the information business online. Now, it's time for those chains to break up, in a last-ditch effort to save many of their newspaper titles.

Continue to read Robert Niles, www.ojr.org

'Times' will end partnerships with N.Y.U., CUNY on hyperlocal blogs

Capital New York :: The Times has decided to terminate its collaborations with the journalism schools of New York University and the City University of New York, or CUNY, on two websites covering the East Village and the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill. Both schools were given notice several weeks ago.

Background and timetable Joe Pompeo, www.capitalnewyork.com

The Netherlands: Hyperlocal network Dichtbij is getting close to sustainable business

Niemanlab :: The Netherlands’ Dichtbij — “close to me” in Dutch — is a hyperlocal news platform that’s generating real revenue despite operating on a much smaller scale. Across its 80 sites, Dichtbij is on pace for revenue of €10 million (about $12.5 million) in 2012.

Continue to read www.niemanlab.org

National brands expect big returns on local ad investment

emarketer :: Advertisers expect similar or greater ROI from local ad efforts compared to national campaigns. As location-based social networks, hyperlocal communities and local search continue to garner consumer interest and use, national brands are seeing the inevitability of extending their presence in the local space.

Continue to read www.emarketer.com