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Hyperlocal....

Hyperlocal? What on earth is that? It may well be the savior for newspapers - as Jeff Jarvis explains in the Digital Media section of The Guardian:

"The New York Times is embarking on a test of blogging in two neighbourhoods and three towns around New York. So far, there's nothing remarkable in that: another attempt by a newspaper to grab for the elusive golden fleece called hyperlocal - the ability to serve readers and small advertisers in highly targeted geographic niches. But what is new in this effort is that the Times is trying to create a platform to help others - not staff reporters, but community members - make journalism. A wall just fell.

For this experiment, the Times is devoting two reporters - one in Brooklyn, one in New Jersey - to report and help the community. But the paper knows that this will not scale, as we say in online businesses. No metropolitan paper can - or ever could - afford to station reporters in every town and neighbourhood around a city. This project will succeed and expand only if the community reports on itself."

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