The second annual BarCamp NewsInnovation was held last month at Temple University — see my notes here. In addition to sharing all the failures we’ve had at Technically Philly, I spoke with founder and editor Shannon McDonald about the progress we’ve had with Northeast Philadelphia hyperlocal NEast Philly, including most prominently the breakdown of where [...]

They weren’t from around here, were they, shouted my neighbor across the street over the weekend. She was talking about a pack of young journalists — from Florida and Washington state and California — who had invaded my Fishtown rowhome the weekend before. That was perhaps one of the largest take aways I drew from [...]

Updated 4/25/10 @ 5:41 p.m. with William Penn Foundation clarification Fewer than four months after its Philadelphia media elite round table to discuss the subject, the William Penn Foundation has released a more detailed outline of its intentions of investing and developing local online journalism in the region. The report, which was released Wednesday, comes [...]

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 [...]

I’ve squabbled with people over domains and publication names, of projects and story titles. There was a moment of inaction in creating the technology news site for Philadelphia that I am now proud to say continues to take on readership and bring on partners. Technically Philly certainly isn’t descriptive on its own and makes for [...]

When you’re launching a business or a brand, a check for domain availability has to be part of the brainstorming. I worked with Shannon McDonald to launch a hyperlocal news site for Northeast Philadelphia. Initially in late 2008, she wanted the product to be the Web presence of a print product she wanted to call [...]

I’ve decided to step away from self-employment. I’ve spent the last year of my life freelancing, by some accounts, at perhaps the worst time to do so in my life and arguably the worst time in the history of journalism. After a meeting of the most influential media leaders in the region made clear no [...]

Updated @ 1:50 p.m. 11/07/10 Someone is doing a better job of keeping this up to date, so check that out. *Updated @ 9:36 a.m. 12/23/09 **Many 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 [...]

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 [...]

News-gathering can be profitable — there are oodles of examples of them. The challenge is taking those dollars to create the most efficiently-produced local journalism. The big solution and sure trend of the future is fostering a community that covers itself. The Quick Take Citizen journalism is a transitional phrase that will soon be as [...]