A lot of discussion has been sparked this week by Richard Jones’ article for the BBC Journalism College ‘Why I couldn’t make a living from my successful hyperlocal’ which looks at the reasons he felt the excellent Saddleworth News wouldn’t give him a livelihood.
Predictably it is being seized upon by those looking for evidence of hyperlocal’s doomed nature in the UK but can you actually draw that conclusion from Richard’s well-articulated post?
If we look at the figures first. £150 a month income.
Two hours a weekday day output – that’s 10 hrs a week or 45 a month.
An hourly rate of £3.30 – not really what you’d call a wage!
Would putting in a 40 hour week have resulted in a scaled up £132 a week income or £570 plus a month? Quite probably not if all the effort was focussed on the content production rather than the business.
But equating the work involved in setting up a business with being employed and receiving a wage is like comparing space shuttles to a hatchback and, as Richard says, he’s a journalist not a salesman.
Many people involved in business start ups don’t expect to take a wage in the early days despite back-breakingly long hours, just one of many reasons start-ups are not recommended lifestyle choice for people with family work-life balance aspirations.
And let’s not forget that many hyperlocal publishers have no intention of generating income from their activities and measure success in lots of different ways, as Talk About Local’s William points out in the comments on the post.
Rick Waghorn of Addiply often says, getting to a not-for-loss situation is the first goal for those hyperlocals who are looking to turn their enterprises into a business. And Richard will have achieved that with the figures he’s published.
The next stage would entail some hard work, not around the journalism aspect, which Richard is so talented in, but around the business model, hiring staff, putting finances in place etc. Whether you sell news or newts, that bit’s the same hardwork for every trader.
Richard’s personal decision to go back into work was just that, a personal decision, and reflects the fact he has highly employable skills – skills that establishing the Saddleworth News actually enhanced rather than detracted from.
In fact he’s told me that some, not all, but some of his new employment wouldn’t have come about had it not been for the Saddleworth News.
Which is why I’m cheekily changing the headline on this story. In the hyperlocal interconnected world, success can come in many shapes and isn’t necessarily measured in ad revenues.
- The lowdown on the first BBC Hyperlocal Forum - 12th November 2015
- BBC hosting first hyperlocal forum this week - 9th November 2015
- Hyperlocals: ‘A growing sector addressing news gaps’ - 15th October 2015
I agree very much with this analysis. The main reason I pulled out of Inside the M60 was financial – I supported myself at the start by maintaining my freelancing on the side but IM60 grew very fast and the result was that I was working longer and longer hours (up to 16 a day on heavy news days) for it, at the expense of my freelance work which slipped badly. I had neither the time to source paying work or would have had the time to do it and I was committed to making IM60 work. But I have to be able to pay my rent and eat at the end of the day – this hard reality meant I simply could not afford to work for no financial reward after 12 months.
I still feel really sad about it a year on, as I think Nigel and I achieved some pretty amazing things in those 12 months. I would do it again if I could afford to, no question.
I’ve followed Richard’s career with interest, and also that of multi-media journalist Adam Westbrook – and I remain inspired by both. I credit them and a few others for motivating me to be where I am now:
I have become a ‘self-employed’ hyperlocal publisher for the last 6-weeks via the Government’s New Enterprise Allowance (NEA) programme.
With £65 a week for the first 13 weeks changing to £33 per week for the next 13 weeks, plus Working Tax Credits – I’m managing (just!) to keep my head above water! Through the NEA I’ve secured two very cheap loans to finance my marketing (which at first will be mainly promoting the website via beer mats!).
My website HU12 Online is building upon what I’ve achieved in a voluntary capacity with the Hedon Blog over the last 3 years, but fundamentally it is creating a new audience from the wider, but still ‘local’, Holderness area. That audience is coming and I’ve been busier than ever before!
Advertising income is low at the moment of course – but the local advertisers are there to be convinced of the benefits of low-cost, high-reach Ads via the internet and social media!
I may not be a journalist, and I’m definitely not a web designer/developer – but my spur is the fact that – after 4 years unemployment – I’ve really nowhere else to go! I can’t simply opt for the alternative career.
So in my case part of my success will be measured in Ad revenues!
@louise, thanks for this. InsidetheM60 was a great initiative and I know how hard you both worked on it. Unfortunately it’s a sad truth that hard work on the journalism doesn’t necessarily = cash but here’s hoping the experience proved valuable in other ways. It’s certainly missed.
@Ray that’s really interesting to hear. I wonder if many people realise that the New Enterprise Allowance (NEA) programme could be used for hyperlocals? I hope it goes well and here’s hoping you’ll be a case study for that elusive ad revenue success. Good luck!
Its a difficult balance for many hyperlocal publishers – I went with a franchise and it worked really well, now five years on my site is the first port of call for the news in the area, during my time one weekly paper has packed up and gone away, another hardly sells any and is not really up to date. Our local evening paper goes weekly next month.
But http://www.aboutmyarea.co.uk/nn12 is updated all day every day, I have contributors, local people upload information, and there is healthy support from the revenue point of view, too.
It is about engagement – this may well be the way forward for others, if anyone wants to find out more, bat me an email jamesrudd@aboutmyarea.co.uk