I’ve been asked a dozen times in the past few weeks what it takes to develop communities on the Web. There isn’t any scientific response, but I’ve started thinking about four Cs that come to mind. Connection — Whether it’s a geographic or topical vertical, or one strictly based around a product, organization or experience, [...]

Read more about this e-mails context here. April 21, 2010 Dear Colleagues, In January, most of you participated in a meeting with Jan Schaffer from J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism, where she presented early findings of her research on the state of public affairs journalism in Philadelphia. We appreciated the feedback that came during [...]

Nearly 200 journalists, bloggers, innovators and technologists have signed up to attend the free-to-attend second national BarCamp NewsInnovation un-conference held this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Temple University in North Philadelphia. Last year, lots of attention came from the first national un-conference dedicated to news, information and journalism, and it was when [...]

Updated 4/13/10 @ 8:50 a.m.: Regionally-specific hyperlocal is just part of the broader system WHYY, the public media station for the Delaware Valley region, is hoping a $1.2 million hyperlocal news initiative for the northwest region of Philadelphia will be the first successful bold Web-first journalism effort from a legacy media player. Updated: That northwest [...]

Update: See October coverage from Newsweek and N.J. Monthly. When the media history books (ha, I mean, media history e-reader files) look back at the beginnings of online hyperlocal news, there will be a clear battlegrounds. New Jersey. Gannet has gone big in the Garden State with its InJersey collective, and the New York Times [...]

If you’ve walked into 2010 with plans on becoming, remaining or sustaining a hyperlocal news venture, there is lots you should already know and have already read. Still, while thumbing through some links I thought were particularly important, I managed to find five stories from 2009 I think are most valuable. A Brief History of [...]

*Updated @ 9:36 a.m. 12/23/09 **Much thanks to Jess Durkin for others. I don’t think anyone’s arguing that a big portion of the future of news will be this hyperlocal movement that continues to dominate the conversation and has grown in focus for many years. So, I’m surprised to say I haven’t been able to [...]

It’s about finding the right mix. I’m working with a couple, following many and thinking about a great number more hyperlocal, niche and other online-only news sites in this country of ours. I talk a lot about where content comes from in a healthy, efficient news-gathering entity today or in the near future. Whether it [...]

Highly localized news and its intersection with profitable, sustainable news is already starting to dominate conversations about the future of news in the United States. The numbers and business plans, relationships with each other and with legacy news organizations and who will be written into history for leading the movement seemed trending themes of the  [...]

Community newspapers in Philadelphia remain wary of the Web, if any stock is to be paid to a morning panel from a journalism innovation conference held this month at Temple University. Their thoughts just might be relevant to community-focused news gathers across the country. Hosted by Temple’s journalism department, the Philadelphia Initiative for Journalistic Innovation [...]