NYC.is website
The success of sites such as Digg and Reddit, where news content is propelled to a 'front page' by votes from users, has not yet been applied to local media, says Columbia University graduate student Susannah Vila.

While studying democracy, the press and citizen engagement for her political science course, Vila created NYC.is - an experiment applying the Digg model to the local web.

"I place a lot of importance in smaller sites that focus on the community, whether they are taking photos of their neighborhoods or attending city council and community board meetings," Vila tells Journalism.co.uk.

"I hope that these site will grow in relevance, size and number. For this to happen, though, there has to be a hub that directs traffic to the best work."

Creating a network of local content is at the heart of NYC.is - now out of private beta - which allows users to submit 'news' and content, as well as voting for items that they think should appear on the sites homepage.

Taking inspiration from sites such as Chicago's The Windy Citizen and the Chicago Tribune's new venture, Chicago Now, Vila sees a future for a local news aggregator fed and filtered by local people - not just for New York, but for other communities as well, she tells Journalism.co.uk in a Q&A.

When did you start up the site and what was the thinking behind doing so?
[SV] The site launched this spring to friends and family, and I began widely promoting it this summer. For me, it was very much an experiment. 

Regarding my inspiration, I'm interested in the future of media and I subscribe to the idea, articulated well by writers like Jeff Jarvis, Jay Rosen and Chris Anderson, that one aspect of the future of journalism will be a pro-am approach in which:
  1. There is less of a barrier to entry - anyone can write about their community;
  2. All journalists - veteran professionals, journalism school graduates and amateurs - have to be more entrepreneurial to succeed;
  3. Reporters and newsrooms are less centralised.
I think that a necessary part of this equation is an online hub that connects the many bloggers, independent reporters and others writing about their community: one site that aggregates everything and lets actual New Yorkers do the editing by voting on what should make the front page. That is my goal for NYC.is.

How does it differentiate itself from other news aggregators?
One of the things that differentiates it is the interactivity: the stories that are shared and that make it the the front page is up to you, the user. I think this interactivity is important for a more engaged community, something that is lacking at national/hyperlocal sites like Outside.in or Topix.

Another local aggregator is the Huffington Post's new New York vertical, which is a great spot on the web and one that I frequent and would love to work with in the future, but it is also curated only by hired editors.

Another way in which I hope to differentiate NYC.is, and open up channels for working with larger organisations like the Huffington Post, is by featuring much lesser known bloggers and citizen journalists. At NYC.is, there is no barrier to entry. Because we are also a self-publishing platform, you don't even need to know how to set up your own blog.

But readers won't be accosted by a lot of very low-quality stuff, because a certain amount of real people need to have voted on a story in order for it to move towards the front page.

What sources does NYC.is use?
Any story, video, or photo can be shared on the site.  So, again, we are trying to really lower the barrier to entry for community/civic/citizen journalism in New York.

As far as the blogs and papers that are being shared the most frequently on the site, I've seen everything from the New York Times to small, one-man-show blogs based in all five or the boroughs. The content of shared stories is also quite varied, so you might be enticed by a story on a new vintage clothing store, but end up reading about Reverend Billy, who is running for mayor here in New York.

Are people consuming news and information in the way offered by sites like NYC.is? What kind of traffic/feedback are you getting?
People are consuming news and information in a more and more active way everyday. I think that when a lot of people go to a site, especially if it's a newer and less established site, it's almost a disappointment if there is no way to interact.

Digg and Reddit have to a large degree proved that people do want to be active consumers of information. I'm not yet sure how well (or if at all) this translates to the local web, but I think it's a worthwhile experiment.

How are you supporting the site commercially?
I will be putting ads on the site as soon as I get the infrastructure in place to sell targeted, locally-focused ads. I will also offer consulting services for NY area community organisations who want help promoting their work on the web, and entrepreneurs in other towns and cities who'd like to replicate NYC.is for their own community.

What are the benefits/disadvantages of letting the users have control?
There is a place for sites where all the editorial control is with the editors. In fact, most sites operate this way. The benefits of letting users have control is that once you get people regularly participating (and that is the hard part) you can count on them to be more engaged with your site and with news and information in general.

I don't think that there are any disadvantages to letting users have editorial input.

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