A few weeks ago I wrote about this idea of hyperlocalism – that folks want local news to be really local, from their neighborhood, development, right around them. And that most news beyond that – at the county or regional level – falls into a dreaded middle ground we don’t generally care about as much. Thus, for this and other reasons, the surprising demise of regional news outlets in places where the number of would be news consumers is rising rapidly, a la Loudoun county. I read about this trend to the intensely local in an article in the Washington Post. Sort of funny then that, at least at first glance, the Post seems to be skipping toward that same deadly ground in between with its new service Washington Post Local.
I’m going to investigate further but on first blush, the chipper introduction I get from my virtual tour guide doesn’t seem to point to anything more local than the Capital Region. Rather it feels more like a way to shift my news around so that my front door to
the Post leads me first to all the rooms with “local” news from DC, MD, VA and the close-in environs of the beltway…. Then deposits me in the back rooms with all the national fare. (If I want I can also reverse the order and leave the local bits til the end.) Call it My Washington Post on steroids. But so far the vibe is much more personalization of existing content (not a bad thing in itself) than it is serving up new/different content more personally relevant to me where I live.
Certainly feels like a general nod to the rise of whatever’s local. Just not sure it actually goes anywhere new under that banner beyond moving existing news merchandise around on the store shelves. We’ll give it a whirl and see.
Add a local resource, or comment on this one.
Filed under: Localism Tagged: | local journalism, local news, Localism, lokal good
