SUSTAINING HYPERLOCAL MEDIA

Abstract

As traditional media operations struggle to find their footing in a world of rapidly evolving interactive technology and economic turmoil, media innovators are exploring new ways to identify, collect, and disseminate information. One innovation that is attracting attention is the development of hyperlocal media. Hyperlocal media are characterized by their narrow focus on a handful of topics or geographic areas, but they vary widely in the type and reliability of funding that supports their operations; the training, expertise, and size of their staffs; and their ability to attract an audience. They also follow in a long line of media reform efforts that have tried to fill the gap in public affairs coverage left by the shrinking traditional media, including civic journalism, C-SPAN (Cable–Satellite Public Affairs Network), and statewide public affairs television networks. And like these earlier reform efforts, hyperlocal media operations face the same dilemma—how to create a sustainable funding model that will allow them to provide the information members of the public need. This paper examines the various funding models used by hyperlocal media operations and assesses whether they are sustainable for the long term.