Carry the Bags

Phil Gomes, biker and blogger extraordinaire, alerted me to his new interest in online wordsmithery- hyperlocal journalism. My take is that this type of reporting gets down to the real nitty-gritty of what is going on in a community, or maybe even just a street.

When studying journalism (which I am about to start again by the way), one of the key news values that we were taught was proximity. People are more interested in stories about the places or subjects closest to them. It makes sense really, as we all want to be in touch with what is going on around us.

Suburban newspapers have until recently been the most ‘local’ that journalism gets. Online hyperlocal journalism opens up this field to anyone and makes participating in the media process accessible.

I think that this can only be a positive thing- the more that we are involved in selecting and making the news, the more it will be demystified.