Community News Revenues: How the Networks Compare to the ‘Indies’
I was surprised — shocked, actually — to discover that the regional community news network Daily Voice has average ad sales of only $38,000 annually on a current basis at each of its 41 sites in suburban Connecticut and New York. Is this the new normal for ad revenue at community news sites? I went to four other community news publishers-owners, all independents, to get their reaction…
Grasping for a New Way Forward at Local Media Conferences
At several recent conferences, the overriding, anxiety-producing theme has been the development of new revenue models for media — whether from foundations to support nonprofit news services, or from advertising, or from something else. But the disquieting fact is that a cure-all response to what ails local media can’t be identified…
Hyperlocal Leaders Weigh In on Impact of Bezos’ Wash Post Buy
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ purchase of the Washington Post is sure to have ramifications all the way down to the hyperlocal level. With all the retail and media disruption, and more on the way, I asked leaders in hyperlocal news how they see Bezos’ purchase of the Post playing out in their territory…
Broadstreet’s Mission: Liberate Sites for What Matters Most
Serving ads can be a big pain for the entrepreneurial publisher of a small community site. Broadstreet Ads’ mission is to make the pain go away. Then, says Broadstreet co-founder Kenny Katzgrau, the publisher can focus on important things like revenue generation, improving editorial content, and enhancing audience engagement.
Street Fight Daily: TaskRabbit Confirms Layoffs, Charting A Future for Local News
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology… TaskRabbit Confirms Layoffs As It Realigns To Focus On Mobile And Enterprise (TechCrunch)… Charting a Locally Owned, For-Profit Future for Community News (Nieman Journalism Lab)… Why Investors Who Got Burned By Groupon Might Still Snap Up An IPO From RetailMeNot (Quartz)…
‘Indies’ and Sustainability: One Destination, Different Paths
In this final column on the subject of sustainability in independent news sites, two editor entrepreneurs, David Askins, of the Ann Arbor (Mich.) Chronicle, and Denise Civiletti, of the RiverheadLocal on Long Island, talk about what they’re doing to keep their sites healthy long-term. A third entrepreneur, Ben Ilfeld, the CEO of AdGlue, talks about why innovation is so important to success…
Street Fight Daily: SMBs Skeptical of Social, Crowdfunding Hyperlocal
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.… Survey: 61% of SMBs Say No ROI from Social (Screenwerk)… How Joey Coleman Crowdfunded His Work as a Hyperlocal Reporter (GigaOm)… Facebook Is Said to Hire Apple Maps Executive Amid Mobile Push (Bloomberg)…
BxB Recap: Is This the Future of Local News?
The passion with the group at Block by Block isn’t just about great journalism — it’s about turning online journalism into a business; it’s about leveraging existing tools and creating new ones; and most importantly it’s about working to collaboratively across these businesses to make an impact…
Block-by-Blockers Respond to Borrell’s Revenue Prescription
“People are beginning to figure out that the display advertising model is a bad carryover from mass media,” says Gordon Borrell. “What does that mean for the future of hyperlocal websites? I think there’s value in them, but I honestly don’t think there’s enough value to sustain the business model in any single market beyond being a very small niche.”
Getting Local Online Ad Dollars to Flow Into Hyperlocal News
Hyperlocal news sites are turning up everywhere, but advertisers aren’t following them nearly as fast. “Advertisers don’t want to be around local news,” Gordon Borrell, CEO of Borrell Associates, told Street Fight. I went to several people building business models around hyperlocal news to find out how they are planning to turn the tables on Borrell’s assessment…
Can Local Publishers Successfully Charge for Online?
The key for small-to-medium-sized legacy publishers online is keeping it local. The New York Times has unmatched quality, The Wall Street Journal has unmatched business insight and analysis, and the Concord Monitors and The Tulsa Worlds of the industry must have unmatched local content. If so, newspaper paywalls, at least in the short term, might be more than just a “Band-Aid on a bullet wound.”
Street Fight Daily: Twitter Localizes Trends, 10M Placecast Users
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology...
Twitter Launches Tailored Trends Based on Location, Who You Follow (TechCrunch)…
Waze And Others Contributing to Apple’s iOS 6 Maps’ Crowd Sourced Traffic Data (TechCrunch)…
Missing the Point on Paywalls (CJR)…
Street Fight Daily: Foursquare Redesigns, $15M for Indiegogo
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology...
Foursquare Gets A New Look: Redesign Makes Checking In Stickier And More Social (TechCrunch)…
Kickstarter Competitor Indiegogo Raises $15M (BetaBeat)…
In Scare for Newspapers, Digital Ad Growth Stalls (Reuters)…
Sheepshead Bites Editor Reveals the Secrets to His Hyperlocal Success
“Local doesn’t scale,” says Ned Berke. “That’s the line, right? And as easy as it is to fall back on that, it is the truth. It really doesn’t. You can’t use a template for a small town in Utah, put it down in the middle of Brooklyn, and have it work. … I do think that the old model of giant newsrooms for communities is gone. I don’t think it’s doable. But I don’t think it’s necessary, either.”
Street Fight Daily: 12.22.11
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal media, technology, advertising and startups.…
DealFind Launches Its Version Of Groupon Now: ‘Everyday Deals’ (TechCrunch)…
AOL Shareholder: Patch Will Lose ‘As Much As $150M in 2011’ (Business Insider)…
The Power of Foursquare (TechCrunch)…
Should Hyperlocal Publishers Accept Barter Deals?
Most of the better known hyperlocal sites we contacted told us they didn’t do trade or barter, and they didn’t want to talk about it on the record. In Dallas, hyperlocal pioneer Mike Orren said people don’t talk about it because they don’t want to attract the attention of auditors, or they don’t want competitors to know that they’ll do barter. He agreed, however, that trade is “absolutely viable” for independents…