Online Journalism News

'We are punk to their stadium rock': the independent news sites challenging regional papers

Posted: 01/12/08 By: Laura Oliver
email this story | post a comment

The fallout from the BBC Trust's decision to reject the executive's local online video plans has continued this week with reports of potential job losses and claims by BBC management that the plans were misrepresented.

Yet as the regional media let out a collective sigh of relief, bloggers and media commentators asked how long the wolf in BBC clothing would be kept out of the local press' 'embryonic' online marketplace if publishers don't ramp up their multimedia offerings.

While the threat of a £68 million investment painted the BBC as newspaper-crushing monolith, a host of hyperlocal, independent online news publishers are setting out their stalls with the aim to plug the service gaps left by local newspapers.

"There's a level of parochialism and patronisation in the local press," says Michael Casey, former regional newspaper journalist and creator of video news site YourThurrock.com.

"There must be an alternative way to express the news and in 2008 for the news to be able to express itself."

Local news coverage by the press is tantamount to 'a form of social control', he says, as publishers' printed news output is frequently restricted by advertising space and predetermined news agendas – crime stories, for example, dominate Thurrock's local print editions.

Combining his journalistic experience with six video tutorials at the local Apple store, Casey and his two colleagues produce between four and eight hyperlocal video reports a day, which are posted alongside community information and contact details.

The site, launched in September this year, now attracts 80,000 'hits' a month or 3,000 unique users and has the potential to be replicated for other areas or even developed into an online TV channel, he says.

"We are punk to their [local newspapers'] stadium rock," he explains.

Local newspapers may have their video output restricted by bandwidth issues, but Casey is concerned with the 'unwillingness' of many journalists and newsrooms to fully adopt a multimedia outlook.

While he acknowledges the staff shortages and budget pressures in local media that have resulted in many journalists being more office-bound, Casey has rejected his desk and is currently converting a van into a branded mobile journalism and video editing suite.

In their opposition to the BBC's plans, he says, local media has relied too long on 'trying to paint themselves as the little paper'. Now it must up its game if it is to 'enter the 21st century' and provide a competitive local news service.

In South London, the regional press isn't even the main competitor for hyperlocal news publisher Rob Powell – it's the local blogger.

Papers can't be expected to provide highly relevant news for distinct local areas when they are tasked with covering large regional areas, says Powell, whose company Uretopia runs four London-based news and information sites.

Last week saw the launch of thecity.co.uk to join existing sites aboutMayfair.co.uk, NewMalden.co.uk, Greenwich.co.uk, which has recruited local resident Andrew Gilligan as a columnist.

With a background in technology rather than journalism, Powell's approach to hyperlocal is governed by both online and geographical niches: he has bought up a host of domain names in under-served news areas.

Free from the apron strings of a print parent, Powell can afford to be more focused on the pure play online nature of his titles.

He is keen to build the sites' credibility with links to other local groups and domains and, as a result of previous experience building website for affiliated marketing firms, acknowledges that some of the more information-based content he carries will be aimed at advertisers or effectively advertorial.

For him and other online independents, it's about tapping into the existing potential of the web – its tools and content – and giving it back to readers in useful ways.

SoGlos.com, the online listings and entertainment site for Gloucestershire, has done just this with the release of a Google map mash-up of its and others' content; while MyFootballWriter.com's Rick Waghorn has created a contextual advertising service aimed specifically at local businesses.

While Casey and Powell's projects are truly embryonic, such independent publishers could provide healthy, hyperlocal competition for other local publishers.

Got a story? Email our news team: Laura Oliver; Judith Townend or telephone +44 (0)1273 384290. You can also follow us on Twitter: @journalismnews / @LauraOliver / @JTownend.