Bloggasm

The Wall Street Journal has published an article today reporting that the Washington Post’s attempt at “hyperlocal,” LoudounExtra.com, has been a major flop. Traffic is mediocre. It’s failed to engage the community. Too much “hype” and not enough “local.”

This article has found a lot of traction within the journalism community because this site was supposed to be a canary in the coal mine for the newspaper industry. Media hipsters have been shouting praises toward the hyperlocal scene, saying it’s the future of news.

Firstly, I don’t even understand why this site was considered hyperlocal. Not only did it cover an entire county, at 270,000 residents it was a particularly large county at that. We already have a venue for that kind of news. It’s called a newspaper.

Hyperlocal, as I always seemed to understand it, would spiral in to areas that were previously thought too small to support the infrastructure of a newspaper. Perhaps a town or even a neighborhood. Little pockets that are often glanced over in search of the bigger picture. It would cover little league games or homeowners’ association controversies or small petty crimes that would normally be ignored by police reporters. It would only require one journalist and would somehow collect information through collaboration and reader submissions.

That being said, I never really bought into the notion that such a venue would be all that profitable. Assuming that the main funding mechanism would be advertising, you’re severely limiting your list of potential ad buyers. Sure, you might gain a passionate and loyal audience through your uber local coverage, but what good is that if you’re relying on a pizza parlor and a pharmacy as your only potential advertisers?

But let’s say that such a publication could be profitable. I doubt that it’s something that could be manufactured by a big company like the Washington Post. To really engage this hyperlocal community it would have to come from someone who actually really cares about the area. Someone living in the neighborhood. Every reporter who has covered a town council meeting knows that there’s always one or two people who make it to every meeting — not because they have to be there but because they actually give a shit about their surroundings. The people who regularly meet with other neighbors at local coffee shops. The ones who have kids going to the local schools.

This very specific someone would have to start up a blog, maybe on a free blogspot account, and then go home and rant about that night’s town council or school board meeting. The readership would be gradual and organic. And then hopefully, if the person is tech savvy enough, he can slowly redesign his site to really utilize that growing passion.

What I’m trying to say is I don’t think hyperlocal can be pre-planned. I think it just needs to happen. And with the low barrier for entry that is Web 2.0, it’s almost certain that it will happen with increasing frequency. Rather than trying to kick-start its own hyperlocal venture, the Washington Post should just wait for them to sprout up on their own and then offer to sell advertising on the sites.