After Fits and Starts, Collaborative News Is Finally Making Headlines

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For years, there’s been a lot of earnest talk about digital news sites collaborating to produce editorial content that had more value for users — and to help the collaborators make their often-precarious operations sustainable. But the talk produced as many fits as starts. That’s changing, and for the better.

Community Publishers Mixed on Borrell Prescription for Content

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Gordon Borrell minced no words in Street Fight recently when he talked about content and audience in the revenue-hot digital space that his new annual local media report pinpoints. He said: “It’s so much not about readers. It’s so much more about consumers. So those folks who are trying to develop hyperlocal sites around good […]

How to Get to 5 Years of Success in Hyperlocal Publishing

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This month Scott Brodbeck is celebrating the fifth anniversary of ARLnow, which has expanded into a mini-network of four sites in metro Washington D.C. We caught up with Brodbeck recently to see how he’s made a journalistic and business success out of community news and where ARLnow is headed in 2015…

Street Fight Daily: Square’s New Reader, Layoffs At Clinkle

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology.New Square Reader Offers Better Performance, Thinner Design (PCMag)… 6 Mobile Payment Solutions for Restaurants and Bars (Street Fight)… Uber’s CEO Hints That It Could Branch Out Into Other On-Demand Transport And Delivery Services (TheNextWeb)…

How ARLNow Succeeds in a Market Packed With Competitors

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“Print media types may hear ‘quality’ and think ‘in-depth, investigative reporting’ — but that’s not necessarily what I mean,” says ARLNow founder Scott Brodbeck. “At the moment, I believe that breadth is more important than depth in local. But too much or too little of each can hurt. Striking a good balance in terms of shorter and longer articles, and publishing those articles at semi-regular intervals throughout the day, encourages repeat readership.”

Hyperlocal Sustainability (Round 2): Upbeat ‘Indies’ Say They’re Winning

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Following up on my column from last week, here are more unvarnished thoughts from “indie” hyperlocal editors and publishers I’ve been talking to about sustainability (a word, by the way, that sets the teeth of some of these entrepreneurial journalists on edge)…

‘Indie’ Hyperlocal ARLNow Replicates With New Outlets in Suburban D.C.

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Founder Scott Brodbeck is expanding his “indie” site from Arlington, Va., adding the affluent, mostly white suburb of Bethesda, as well as adjacent and demographically similar communities in Maryland’s Montgomery County. Street Fight spoke with Brodbeck how and why he was expanding his site’s footprint, and what other indie hyperlocal publishers should think about when the look to grow beyond their initial towns…

Block-by-Blockers Respond to Borrell’s Revenue Prescription

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“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.”

Will Wash Post Take Another Run at Hyperlocal Under John Temple?

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After crashing and burning in Northern Virginia’s highly competitive hyperlocal space in 2009, it appears that the Washington Post is again looking for a way to get back into the game in its local markets. The big, signifying tea leaf is the Post’s appointment of John Temple as managing editor for local news…

#SFS11 VIDEO: Survive and Thrive as a Standalone Hyperlocal

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On the first day of the Street Fight Summit in New York last week, our columnist Tom Grubisich moderated a panel about profitability and strategy featuring three successful hyperlocal entrepreneurs — Baristanet’s Debra Galant, ARL Now’s Scott Brodbeck, and The Alternative Press’ Michael Shapiro…