When it comes to news websites’ referral traffic, Google beats Facebook hands-down, with the search giant accounting for 40% compared to Facebook’s 26%. And yet hyperlocals, says publisher John Guinn, are making it harder for people to find them by not making the most of four simple SEO settings. In a guest post for OJB, John explains what those settings are — and how hyperlocal sites can use them to improve their SEO. Continue reading
Should independent hyperlocal news operations expect ‘cashback’ from mainstream publishers who use their copy? In a guest post for OJB, Jane Haynes speaks to Marc Reeves, editor of Birmingham Live, Birmingham Mail, Birmingham Post and Sunday Mercury.
“I’ve had a bit of a love hate relationship with hyperlocals over the years,” explains Marc.
“I started out loving them and then they started hating what we did,” he reflects with a smile. Continue reading
Peter Geoghegan
In a guest post Jane Haynes speaks to investigative journalist Peter Geoghegan of the award-winning news site The Ferret about data, contacts and “nosing up the trousers of power”.
When the Scottish Government announced last month that it was banning fracking, it was a moment to savour for a group of journalists from an independent news site in the heart of the country.
The team from investigative cooperative The Ferret had been the first news organisation to reveal plans by nine energy companies to bid for licences to extract shale gas from central Scotland.
Using a combination of contact-led information and FOI requests, they uncovered the extent of the ambitions to dig deep into Scottish soil.
It was part of a steady flow of fracking stories from the Ferret team, ensuring those involved in making decisions were in no doubt of their responsibilities and recognised that every step would be scrutinised. Continue reading
Groundhog image by Alessandro M
In a guest post for OJB, Damian Radcliffe argues that the need for policy makers to support hyperlocal publishers is stronger than ever – and explains just how that support can happen.
When I first started reporting on hyperlocal media in 2009 it was against a daily backdrop predicting the death of newspapers and clarion calls for public intervention to save this vital resource.
Since then, this hysteria has died down, although it’s clear that many of the structural challenges being faced by the local media sector have not gone away.
In January Press Gazette reported that there had been a net reduction of 181 UK local newspapers since 2005, including a further 11 lost this year, whilst a leaked memo from Trinity Mirror shed light on the commercial pressures many newspapers groups face and how this is influencing reporting on the ground.
Despite this, the UK’s industrious hyperlocal media sector continues to beaver away. Continue reading
In a guest post, Damian Radcliffe says that hyperlocal sites are being held back by regional newspaper snobbery, while he gives 10 reasons why hyperlocal should be recognised as a valuable part of local media.
With decade-old sites like the London SE1 community website and OnTheWight being joined by newcomers such as East Grinstead Online and Alt Reading, the hyperlocal sector is an increasingly established part of our local media ecology.
Research suggests that there are 408 active hyperlocal sites in the UK – compared to 1,045 local and regional newspapers (2011 Newspaper Society figures cited by the NUJ) – and hyperlocal media has attracted attention from funders, policy makers and researchers in recent years.
Despite this recognition, there remains a glass ceiling for the sector, particularly in terms of relationships with mainstream media. Continue reading
To kick off our Hyperlocal Voices series for 2015 Damian Radcliffe hears from Niall Norbury, Editor of Alt Reading. A relative newcomer to the scene, the only magazine celebrates its first birthday later this month.
While initially it was just me behind setting up Alt Reading, it was always my intention to have the content produced by local residents in Reading.
Once the site was launched in January 2014 I was bombarded with emails from people wanting to write and get involved. Continue reading
In our Hyperlocal Voices series we speak to hyperlocal publishers about their journey as they seek to build a successful hyperlocal offer. From time to time we also check in again on some of the more established players to see what’s changed and how their operation is evolving.
One such example is Brixton Blog in South West London.
Originally established by Zoe Jewell in 2010, the site has evolved considerably since, launching the Brixton Bugle newspaper in July 2012 (10,000 copies of which are distributed each month) and working with The Carnegie UK Trust as part of their Neighbourhood News initiative by providing structured work placements for local trainees.
In 2013 The Brixton Blog and Bugle were shortlisted in the ‘Innovation of the Year’ category at the British Journalism Awards, alongside Sun Plus, Guardian Witness and Independent Voices in Danger projects. The team are currently in the middle of a crowdfunder campaign designed to raise money for a part-time news editor.
Co-founder Tim Dickens tells Damian Radcliffe what’s changed at Brixton Blog since we first spoke to them in June 2012; alongside some of their plans for the future.
We still get the most traffic from social media. Facebook is highest for referrals followed swiftly by Twitter.
We also have a lot of offline interaction from people who have read the Brixton Bugle who may not be online – we get a lot of phone calls to the office and letters by post.
Photo: Shaun, from Brixton Blog’s The Faces of Cressingham series
In the long term, we’d love to see a weekly or fortnightly edition of the Brixton Bugle newspaper, although that is a long way off. We’d like to expand the opportunities that we can offer local young people by way of training in the media industry and journalism too.
For the latest in our series of interviews with hyperlocal publishers we head North to Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire, where online journalist Jenny Shepherd talks to Damian Radcliffe about the Upper Calder Valley Plain Speaker.
Formerly the “Changing More Than Lightbulbs” website, Jenny explains the collaborative journey that the site went on to go live – with input and encouragement coming from a range of sources; how she derived inspiration from a combination of boredom and The Archers; and their current campaign efforts to help Save Calderdale Royal Hospital.
At first the DCarb Upper Calder Valley group at Hebden Bridge Alternative Technology Centre were behind the blog. I also met UnLtd at a Screen Yorkshire digital workshop, who strongly encouraged me to set it up. And UnLtd then provided a Millenium Award as start-up funding. Continue reading
In our latest interview with hyperlocal practitioners, Damian Radcliffe speaks to Mark Baynes from Love Wapping. A journalist, professional photographer and user experience designer; Mark explains how his mutual love of data and wildlife has manifested itself in this East London hyperlocal site.
Just me! Fortunately I have an odd mix of professional skills that are invaluable for hyperlocal work: photography, journalism, print production and web design and development. Continue reading
We’re back to Wales for the latest interview in our Hyperlocal Voices series; as Jack Davies tells Damian Radcliffe about the community website for Tongwynlais in Cardiff. Launched in Summer 2012, the site covers a village in the north of the Welsh capital.
I created and continue to run the site entirely on my own. I’ve considered recruiting new contributors but at the moment I have the time and energy to do it myself.
I moved to the village three years ago and felt it wasn’t being adequately promoted as a place to live and to visit.
Many people don’t realise we are in Cardiff. Continue reading
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