I’m going to have a followup post later today about Patch.com and (I hope) the Maplewoodian, but in the meantime I want to call attention to Alan Wolk’s fact-filled post about the NYT launch. I may have gotten my post up sooner yesterday, but he’s done a lot more research. His post starts:
One suggestion for how the newspaper industry can save itself has been for it to go hyperlocal, focusing on individual communities with the sort of local news usually provided by weekly Pennysaver type publications.
Patch Media, a heavily VC (and Google) funded company, has jumped squarely into this space and, as of today, so has the New York Times. Both efforts are happening right in my hometown. The only problem is, The Times is not doing a very good job of it.
To coin a phrase, read the whole thing. (Disclaimer: I didn’t actually coin that.) Tina Kelley has responded in Alan’s comments.
Thanks for the shout-out Pete. Much appreciated.
Whatever the shakeout, nice to see so much attention focused on our neck of NJ (I’m in Millburn.)
Perhaps so much coverage will put an end to all those “what exit?” jokes. (Doubtful, but hope springs eternal.)