Tag Archive for Publishing

Will hyperlocals be hit by the post Leveson rules?

March 19, 2013 4 comments

Update at 11.30: There’s been more comment on this throughout the morning. The culture secretary Maria Miller is reported in this post on The Guardian to be saying the “one-man band or a single blogger” would not be affected by the legislation because of the definition of “relevant publisher” in relation to exemplary damages.

The piece goes on to say:

Miller said “student and not-for-profit community newspapers” will not be caught under the new rules and that “scientific journals, periodicals and book publishers will also be left outside the definition and therefore not exposed to the exemplary damages and costs regime”

Thanks to @gazthejourno on Twitter for sending through a link to the full document if you want to read up on it…….and we’re expecting Tom Watson MP to pop by here this afternoon to add his thoughts. In the meantime there’s a poll on this issue now running here http://www.facebook.com/n0ticenearby.

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The straight answer to that question is that nobody actually knows yet but there’s a great deal of confusion around the whole issue because the wording refers to websites which have some news content.

One of the key definitions highlighted here says a ‘relevant publisher’ includes:

“a website containing news-related material (whether or not related to a newspaper of magazine)” Read more

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Hyperlocal sites and proposed Press Regulation after Leveson

March 18, 2013 No comments

We have had a few people from Hyperlocal sites contacting us here at Talk About Local to ask about Hyperlocal sites and proposed Press Regulation and how might it affect them.

Well in short, right now, we don’t know, but it looks like some sites may fall within the proposed new regulations if this screen grab is anything to go by. Read more

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Community journalism in Cardiff and some tips on participation

January 15, 2013 No comments

indexHyperlocal issues are looming large for us this week as we prepare for the Community Journalism Conference in Cardiff tomorrow.

I shall be there and, together with Glyn Mottershead from the uni, will be running a workshop at 10am on How to set up HyperLocal platforms, open source sites and using multi platforms.

If you’re going, I look forward to seeing you there, if you’re not – I will blog from the day here and have also set up this noticeboard, CommunityJournalism.n0tice.com, to capture tweets, pics and whatever else happens to make it easier to follow. The hashtag for the event is #CJC13.

On the subject of community publishing, I have today published the latest installment in the ‘making a hyperlocal’ series which is intended to help people starting out on an independent publishing path.

For that post I asked various experts, ie. people who successfully run publications to offer their top tips for encouraging participation in a new venture.

One of those was Emma Bearman who runs The Culture Vulture in northern England who offered this advice which I’ll also share here:

Starting out?
Just Do it, set up a blog, audioboo, twitter etc, ask for help
Use it as your license to indulge your inquisitive curious mind
If you can’t be the source, be the resource. By which I mean if you aren’t brilliant at writing/editing etc then shine a light on others, curate, connect, be generous
Be in and part of the conversation
Make connections with the local university journalism course heads and tutors that really get it
Be guided by your moral compass
Love what you do. No point if it ceases to interest or delight you. Don’t let your blog be a monkey on your back
Be open, kind and compassionate. (those are my own mantra)
See the bigger picture
Take time to check your facts, don’t be a kneejerker
Try to leave your ego at the door.

Agree? Something more to add? It would be great to hear your top tips too.

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The making of a hyperlocal – step-by-step

October 1, 2012 No comments
richmondcastle

The town’s impressive castle

 

Over the years I’ve been involved in many community publishing ventures of different shapes and sizes – but not on my doorstep.

Recently that’s started to feel a little odd as I know more about the local politics, goings on and issues in many other parts of the UK than I do in my home town.

So I’ve decided to do something about that. The Richmond Noticeboard is in its very early stages – I’ve done a little bit of local reporting, compiled some what’s on information and have been doing some signposting of other people’s online content where I think it will be interesting to local residents. Last week’s flooding saw it become a useful point of reference for road closures and other travel information.

Over the coming weeks, I intend to document its progress and reflect on the decisions taken along the way to build up some resources which could be useful for other people looking to set up similar sites.

Coming as it does at the time of year when I know many journalism students will be getting ready to cover their own patches, I hope it will also be an opportunity to share experiences from other parts of the country.

I’ve published the first in this step-by-step series today at a dedicated section on my personal blog: Making a hyperlocal part one: Why?

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Are you in Google News yet? Help us track it

April 20, 2012 2 comments

As we reported earlier in the week, lots of hyperlocal news sites have found their way into Google News.

Presumably some changes have taken place in the giant algorithm and now it seems people searching for local news and information in some areas are as likley to be presented with a hyperlocal blog as they are a local newspaper.

But how extensive is this? And is it all, or just some, content that’s being displayed?

If you run a hyperlocal site, would you spare a moment to help us carry out a quick survey?

I’ve set up this shared Google document to record responses and started it off with a couple we already know about.

If you’ve got a minute over the weekend, please could you carry out a search within Google News for something you’ve recently published and see what you get back in the search result.

This move, coupled with news of hopeful moves by the BBC to include links to hyperlocal sites in their local pages adds up to another good week for hyperlocal – greater visibility and, hopefully, even more connectivity.

Have a great weekend!

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