Hyper-Local update: 20 key developments, February - March 2011

Hyper-Local Media Update:Emerging activity and evidence Feb 11- March 11A personal take on things of note in the past couple of monthsDamian Radcliffe, 15thApril 2011Comments and feedback welcome:damian.radcliffe@ofcom.org.ukdamian.radcliffe@gmail.com @mrdamian76

ContentsThis is an update to two previous packs:http://www.slideshare.net/mrdamian/intro-to-hyperlocal-full-12-inch-versionhttp://www.slideshare.net/mrdamian/hyper-local-update-dec10-and-jan11these (and their cut down versions) have already had 4,500 views, suggesting some value/usefulness. These slides are by no means intended to be comprehensive, but cover some of the key hyper-local developments I’ve spotted in the last couple of months. Everything here is in the public domain, but these slides endeavour to bring examples and stories together; as well as possible include some things you may have missed. In the last two months there’s been lots of activity in the US (see the back of the pack) and I’ve focussed on a lot of Local Council related material / issues for the UK round up. All content is referenced so you can go and read original articles for yourself if you want.As ever, I’m sharing this to get feedback and suggestions – so do send them! Any errors or mistakes are mine, and mine alone. Thanks for reading!

DCMS Local TV UpdateThe Local Media Action Plan, published in January 2011, invited expressions of interest (indicative proposals) from organisations or companies interested in providing the new network channel that will support local services.Over 50 responses were received from parties putting forward proposals for the network channel as well as for local services and services in the devolved nations. DCMS has published a list of the parties who put forward expressions of interest. They are now in the process of examining the submissions received to help inform decisions to be taken about the technical solutions, allocation of BBC investment secured through the licence fee settlement and future award process. DCMS expect to publish further details in due course, also taking into consideration responses to the wider consultation, which is open until 13 April. A response to the representations received for this consultation will be issued in May 2011.The process to invite formal bids for the network channel is expected to commence in summer 2011. Adapted from: http://www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/broadcasting/7235.aspx

New round of Community Radio licensingOfcom has launched a new round of community radio licensing following significant interest expressed by more than 270 individuals and community groups wanting to take to the air and provide services for their local community. Community radio stations typically cover a small geographical area with a coverage radius of up to 5km and are run on a not-for-profit basis. They reflect a diverse mix of cultures and interests. This is the third wave of licensing since the first community radio station took to the airwaves in 2007. To date, 228 community radio licences have been issued and around 11 million people are now able to tune into community radio stations across the UK. This figure is up 17% year-on-year and an increase of more than a third (36%) since 2008. Recent Ofcom research reveals these stations are highly valued by listeners, offering unique benefits that cannot be delivered through other media. 8 out of 10 listeners tune into their local radio station first before any other media to find out what is going on in their local area. Source: http://bit.ly/dU5jlR

Regions & TimetableFor more Info visit:http://bit.ly/gVeiJ9

Ten other useful things from the UK

1. Councils and BloggersCLG SoS Eric Pickles, has called on Councils to let hyper-local bloggers tweet as well as film council proceedings, saying: “More and more local news comes from bloggers or citizen journalists telling us what is happening at their local council.”"Many councils are internet-savvy and stream meetings online, but some don't seem to have caughtup with the times and are refusing to let bloggers or hyper-local news sites in. With local authoritiesin the process of setting next year's budget this is more important than ever."Opening the door to new media costs nothing and will help improve public scrutiny. The greater powers and freedoms that we are giving local councils must be accompanied by stronger local accountability."We are in the digital age and this analogue interpretation of the press access rules is holding back a new wave of local scrutiny, accountability and armchair auditors.“Source:http://bit.ly/eKAw3W

Some saw this as part of a process…Chris Taggart, of was also cited in CLG’s press release: "In a world where hi-definition video cameras are under £100 and hyperlocal bloggers are doing some of the best council reporting in the country, it is crazy that councils are prohibiting members of the public from videoing, tweeting and live-blogging their meetings."Councils need to genuinely engage their communities and giving wider access to their meetings through these technologies is one way they can do this."Source: http://bit.ly/eKAw3WWhile Rob Dale over on the LGIU blog noted that the move should not be seen in isolation: “Open council meetings are …. clubbed together with interesting practices fuelled by web 2.0 technologies and driven by a widely-supported localist philosophy.Examples such as London Borough of Sutton, where they are experimenting with a Sutton Council Consultation Finder and Speak Out Sutton, highlights steps beyond the broadcast of council information – aiming more towards deliberative policy making through online spaces. “Source: http://bit.ly/haJghe

… and not the only part of the solutionCatherine Howeon the public-i blog argued: (NB: parts in bold, bolded by me)“But the meat of this story is really around the idea that citizen journalists should be the people capturing (and helping to disseminate) local democratic content. There is clearly some self-interest here (!) but if we really believe that a video record of a meeting is a valuable ongoing democratic resource then we need to be capturing all of the content….” “The public should have every right – and be encouraged wherever possible – to video, tweet, blog and comment on democratic debates. But, at the same time, we also know that while some meetings generate a great deal of attention, others will not. We think that local authorities need to ensure that it isn’t just the bits that generate the greatest fuss that are kept digitally for prosperity.My worry would be that you only realise afterwards that this was the content that you needed and it’s too late to capture it. A systematic record of the content means that its there as a community resource that citizen journalists can add to and enrich as part of their work.We’d also argue that it is absolutely essential for local government to work harder to ensure citizens can play a fuller, richer part in their democratic processes – and the best way to do this is to give them all the content, rather than asking them, simply, to record it for themselves.”

Especially as activity varies area by area…Philip John on Journal Local cited a number of examples including: SE1 who carry AudioBoos of Southwark council meetings

Ventnor Blog who have been live-blogging proceedings since 2007.

Inside the M60 tweetsfrom both full council and Executive meetings of Manchester City Council.

The Guardian’s local sites in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Leeds which all tweet from Council meetings. -----------------------“Council meetings have long been open to interested members of the public and recognised journalists, and with the growth of online film, social media and hyper-local online news they should equally be open to ‘Citizen Journalists’ and filming by mainstream media. Bloggers, tweeters, residents with their own websites and users of Facebook and YouTube are increasingly a part of the modern world, blurring the lines between professional journalists and the public.”Local Government Minister Bob Neill in a letter to local authority leadersSource: http://bit.ly/ektNLF

2. Council Publicity 2.0A new publicity code for English councils came into effect on 1st April 2011. The new rules prevent municipal newspapers being published more than four times a year, and are guided by seven principles which seek to ensure that council publicity is lawful, objective, appropriate, even handed and cost effective, with regard to equality and diversity and periods of heightened sensitivity. "Appropriate use of publicity" is defined as:“Advertising should be balanced, factually accurate and not likely to be perceived by the public as a political statement or a commentary on contentious areas of public policy.2. Councils should not publish newspapers in direct competition to local press. They should not appear more than quarterly and should only include material directly related to local services. Parishes will be able to issue monthly.Councils should not spend taxpayers' money to lobby government through private sector lobbyists or through publicity stalls at party conferences.”The new Government Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity can be found here (it’s eight pages long). The Code was originally introduced in 1988 and last amended in 2001.

Council Publicity – Part TwoCommunities Secretary Eric Pickles’ has been outspoken in criticism of some council newspapers. In November he told the London Councils Summit: "Clearly, if you are funded by the local council you are not the local independent voice.What we need is the voice of independent local newspapers bringing you to account." And CLG’s press release for the new guidelines quotes the Communities Secretary: “These new rules make it crystal clear that taxpayers' money should be for protecting front line services not printing Pravdas or paying for professional lobbyists to put the squeeze on Whitehall.” “Publicity straying into propaganda clearly crosses the line of appropriate public funding whilst film reviews and TV listings sit far beyond the realm of council news.“Image:http://bit.ly/hOqovS

Council Publicity – Part ThreeIn January a report by the Communities and Local Government Select Committee on the proposed code of practice on local authority publicity (which was, at the time, open to consultation) argued that :"We consider that a local authority’s needs to communicate information to Residents would usually be satisfied by no more than quarterly publication, in line with the principle of cost effectiveness contained within the Code. We have doubts, however, about the need to specify a maximum frequency of publication within the Code, especially in the context of the Government’s professed commitment to greater ‘localism’."The Committee also argued:"We found that there is little hard evidence to support the view of the commercial newspaper industry that council publications are, to any significant extent, competing unfairly with independent newspapers at present, though there is concern that such competition may escalate in future.”Read the full report here: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmselect/cmcomloc/666/666.pdf

3. Online Councillor of the YearIn February, East Dulwich Liberal Democrat Councillor James Barber won the award for online councillor of the year from the Local Government Information Unit (LGIU). Kevin Harris, who was part of the team that nominated Councillor Barber, noted: ‘James has published more than 1,300 posts and the thread has been viewed more than 40,000 times. He was not fazed by negative comments or by the volume of interest generated, but stuck to the task and has brought about gains for local people…‘Even the most sceptical of participants on East Dulwich Forum have come to appreciate his commonsense style, and the way he works through the numerous issues raised, brokers solutions, and offers useful information proactively.’More from Networked Neighbourhoods on the impact of this workhere, complete with video interview.Find out more about James' work in East Dulwich on his blog. Or visit The East Dulwich Forum and keep an eye out for him!

4. L launchedmyCllr.com plans to “radically change the way individual councillors communicate with their constituents.” For £9 a month any councillor in the UK can get an interactive map of their ward, to which constituents and the councillor can post pins. A pin can be: 1) A constituent report of an issue they have on their street or in their neighbourhood; 2) A report from a councillor of something positive they’ve done which they want to publicise.Instead of contacting a councillor directly via mail or telephone, a constituent with an issue can also report it by sticking a pin on a map of their ward. The councillor then receives an alert and has an opportunity to respond. Once an issue has been resolved, the pin turns green. More at: http://bit.ly/e5bFOI and http://bit.ly/eIUOsN

5. Council DataMore from CLG…A draft Code of Recommended Practice for Local Government Data Transparency was published in February. It proposed the minimum datasets that should be released, openly and for reuse, by local authorities:expenditure over £500, (including costs, supplier and transaction information)grants and payments under contract to the voluntary community and social enterprise sectornames, budgets and responsibilities of staff paid over £58,200 - equivalent to the lowest Senior Civil Service pay bandan organisational chartcouncillor allowances and expensescopies of contracts and tenders to businesses and to the voluntary community and social enterprise sectorpolicies, performance, audits and key indicators on the authorities' fiscal and financial positiondata of democratic running of the local authority including the constitution, election results, committee minutes, decision - making processes and records of decisions. Source: http://bit.ly/dOt1m4

Some interesting examples of stuff going on…Inthe Guardian, Sarah Hartleynotes that Sunderland Council is opening and exploring historic data about child poverty in partnership a local primary school and Tyne and Wear Museums Service. It is hoped that the project which will unearth data looking at current challenges for the city, possibly resulting in apps and tools for community organisations working to alleviate child poverty.Source: http://bit.ly/e3Dn3a---------------------At the beginning of March Walsall Walsall Council spent the day tweeting a cross-section of what it does as part ofthe Walsall 24 experiment. The purpose was to help builda picture for residents as to what they get in return for their council tax.See: http://bit.ly/eZDbMD---------------------Four councils; London Borough of Barnet, London Borough of Sutton, Kirklees Council and Birmingham City Council are working with NESTA as part of their 'Make it Local‘ initiative. The project aims to identify how local authorities can maximise their use of open data by working with local digital companies to create innovative services that benefit their community. See: http://bit.ly/e5sk58

6. What type of local news site are you?This was the question asked by Joni Ayn Alexander on her blog as she offered a compare and contrast between Neighbourhood Networks and its list of eight types of “citizen-led local internet spaces” and a similar typology from Michele McLellanin the USA; the latter of which suggested seven types of local news sites. Whilst there were overlaps between the two Joni notes: “The US study is focused on sustaining journalism, whereas the UK studyis focused on empowering citizens in a participatory democracy. The US types of sites are significantly more focused on sustaining themselves through business, whereas the UK types of sites are more focused on sustaining themselves through voluntary service. Perhaps it indicates some differences between the US and UK new media local/hyperlocal movements. Is the US movement more concerned with making journalism pay? Is the UK movement more fussed with creating a “big society”? Or, perhaps, is this only a matter of who carried out the research?”Read more: http://bit.ly/gu1aQB

7. Ten Alps launches NI journalism portalThe Detail - an investigative journalism portal for Northern Ireland launched last month. The site is run and - content produced by - Belfast-based independent TV and online production company Below the Radar (owned by Ten Alps). It received 2 years of funding, £790k, from Atlantic Philanthropies (£640k) and Screen NI (£150k). Using this mix of philanthropic and public finance the site notes: “The Detail aims to help put investigative journalism at the core of the news industry in Northern Ireland.It aims not to challenge existing news outlets, broadcast or newspaper, but to supplement them.” It has a team of five full-time journalists, which new content loaded to the portal every Monday morning and updated throughout the week.Sources: http://bit.ly/ha6OV7and http://bit.ly/eTWOTQ

8. Addiply video overlay launchedLaunched at the end of March.On his blog Rick explains:“Essentially, via the good folk at www.StreamExchange.TV we’ve found a piece of video; and then – via the equally good folk at www.emo.uk.com – we’ve found an appropriate advertiser for that piece of video. And over-laid an Addiply text ad atop that video. Simples.”Source: http://bit.ly/eXT5Hq

9. “Sensing an opportunity, the property big guns are moving in. Rightmove, the biggest UK property portal, has been testing RightmovePlaces for a little more than a month. The site aims to help househunters to gain a warts-and-all feel for an area beyond the property listings on the main part of the site.” Susan Emmett, The Times, February 18th 2001As Ray Duff on the HU12.net website says:“The new website acts like a cross between a review website and a social network. Users can post information and photos about a place, and write about their opinions of services in an area i.e. character and personality, neighbourliness, restaurants and eating, etc. Source: http://bit.ly/gSr8VgRightmove has 10m visitors a month, although ‘places’ is still in beta. Visit it here: http://www.rightmoveplaces.co.uk/

10. Talk About LocalUnconference, CardiffSarah Hartley’s blog rounds up the “priceless picks which involved journalism in the hyperlocalspace;The toy medical kit award for forensic work – the tireless VentnorBlog bloggers for their council reporting work which this year included this simple but transparent spreadsheet to show live updates of how votes were cast.Sprinkling fairydust in an urban environment – this went to one of my Guardian Local staff, beatbloggerHannah Waldram to recognise the work she’s been doing engaging with communities in Cardiff.Hottest story of the year – the oven glove of success will be worn this year by Richard from SaddleworthNews for his work on the Phil Woolas story.The mythical unicorn of co-operation – goes to the Birmingham Mail for their work to collaborate with bloggers in that city to produce news content.The site with balls – Manchester-based InsidetheM60 received a fetching pair for their dogged fight for independent journalism.And finally the overall winner is just that. TheBlogPrestonteam, Andy Halls, Joseph Stashko and Ed Walker will have to share a small reporter’s notebook in recognition of some great work this year, most notably incorporating social media elements in fresh new ways and being successful in a bid for Nesta funding which will mean they can increase their involvement in the community there.”

TAL Round-UpIncludes: Slides, Audio and Tweets from Hannah Waldram: http://bit.ly/gwHap5

On the Skillset blog, two posts from Suzanne Kavanagh: Community Activism in a HyperlocalContext and ‘doing’ local news from the ground upandReflections from Ally Tibbett which include the personal impact that last year’s event in Leeds had as well as looking at the impact of Facebook and some useful user tools.You can also see a video of UnAwards cited on the previous slide, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYlqwR_jj0k

Ten useful things from across the Pond

1. Over there, but soon over here…A UK edition of the Huffington Post is planned to launch this summer.The Guardian reported: “Huffington Post UK will follow the same model as the US version – hiring a core team of paid writers and editors, while at the same time signing up unpaid bloggers who will have their writings showcased on the site. Huffington Post currently employs 200 writers and journalists.”Source: http://bit.ly/hNU5KEAs part of AOL's $315 million puchase for HuffPoearlier this year, Arianna Huffington will had up a new entity called the Huffington Post Media Group. She will retain editorial control of all content at HuffPo, and will take over editorial control of AOL's existing sites, including Moviefone, the influential tech blog TechCrunch, citizen-journalism site Seed, and local-news site Patch.Source: http://slate.me/h9c6Ik

2. AOL’s Patch buys Outside.InTechcrunchreported that:“… Outside.In, which has a previous relationship with AOL, will be integrated with Patch, the company’s hyperlocal news platform. The New York-based Outside.In is a local news aggregator aimed at bringing together all the hyperlocal news around a given location. Via its search portal, you simply enter your zipcode, neighborhood or address and the site will surface the most relevant news in your particular area. Outside.Infocuses on sourcing information and news from local bloggers as opposed to large publications.” Business Insider claimed that the deal cost “less than $10m”. state their reach to be “84,254 towns and neighborhoods” Visit: http://outside.in/ to find out more.

3. EveryBlock changes tack…Writing on their blog, founder Adrian Holovaty wrote:“We've just launched the first major redesign of EveryBlock…. In short, we're shifting from being a news feed to being a platform for discussion around neighborhood news.”Going on to add: “While we’re not removing our existing aggregation of public records and other neighborhood information …we’ve come to realize that human participation is essential, not only as a layer on top but as the bedrock of the site.“With this in mind, we’ve changed our site to be oriented around community discussion…”Source: http://bit.ly/i7iDrAEveryBlockwas originally funded by a two-year grant from the Knight Foundation through its Knight News Challenge program. It is now wholly owned by msnbc.com.

It is based in 16 US cities. 4. RIPAlan Mutter argues on his Reflections of a Newsosaurblog that TBD faltered for the same four reasons other previous initiatives such as Backfenceand Loudoun Extra. Namely: Small audiences; Big expenses; Small revenues; and Big losses.Read “Hyperlocals like TBD: More hype than hope” here: http://bit.ly/h7CamrOver at Poynter, Mallary Jean Tenore looks at “the rise & fall of innovative D.C. news site” whilst Rick Edmonds offers Six business lessons from TBD’s early demise.In short these are: Branding, Effective Ad Sales, Filling an existing need, “Pedigree does not equal strategy”, “Building out big is a risk” and “Fail Fast”.

5. Rockville Central goes Facebook-OnlyHyper-local news site Rockville Central has decided to close its main website and go Facebookonly. (Is this a first?) This is despite editor Cindy Cotte Griffiths told Nieman Journalism Labthat 2,000 of the site’s average of 20,000 monthly hits come from Facebook. “(Facebook is) where the people are. Everyone’s always trying to get people out of Facebook, and we’re like“Well, we’re already here.” It seems like a place where people are themselves. We’re curious to see what happens with that.”

6. More useful research from PewA few choice quotes from a recent Pew Report on “How the Public Perceives Community Information Systems”:“Those who are avid news consumers are more likely than others to be civically active.” “Broadband users and library patrons are more likely than others to feel good about their ability to gather information to meet their needs. Those who have found helpful government information online feel better than others about their own ability to make their communities better.” “Broadband users are sometimes less satisfied than others with community life. That raises the possibility that upgrades in a local information system might produce more critical, activist citizens.” Some 32% of the residents of these towns now get local news from social networking sites like Facebook; 19% get such news from blogs; 12% get it on mobile devices like smart-phones; and 7% get local news from Twitter. Source: http://bit.ly/fkcoz9 and http://bit.ly/holSIu

Not my words, but a heading from an article covering new research by Borrell Associates, a consulting firm that tracks local advertising in the US. In its report, “How Unique is Unique?: Gauging the (Actual) Size of Local Web Traffic,” Borrell surveyed 16 local websites and found overall that:30% of a local website’s visitors don’t live in the market, 20% of page views are delivered to “fly-by” users who won’t come back for a year, if ever, and the average unique visitor count overstates the number of local users by a factor of five, meaning a site that sells local advertisers on a half-million monthly uniques is in the end probably only delivering 100,000 local users.Ouch. But, it also notes: aside from the “fly-bys,” who have been led to the site for a particular story by another site, but have no abiding interest in the site; “core loyalists,” visit 18-20 times a month, and “incidental loyalists,” visit just 1-3 times pcm. At a newspaper site cited as an example by the study, incidental loyalists accounted for 48% of the persons visiting the site; core loyalists for 27%; and fly-bys for 25%.The core loyalists drove page views, accounting for 82% of them.Cited at: http://bit.ly/gWErpH7. “Hyperlocalaudience is hypersmallaudience”

Hyper-Local update: 20 key developments, February - March 2011

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