Monday, December 1, 2014

local news on the Web


I have mentioned many times the hard fact that local news are not a web favorite. Their readership is sparse, their sponsors are few or depend too much on local government. However, the fate of democracy in Europe or in the US is highly dependant on a comprehensive coverage of local politics and economic challenges.

In France, no regional newspaper, whether it is Ouest France, Sud Ouest or Voix du Nord has been able to launch a credible alternative to the print. It raises a big question: are legacy media better placed to innovate on the Web? They still raise enough money through the print to finance a big newsroom and a network of local correspondants but it won't last. Advertising is running away and will never come back. Permanent losses are the future.

So what about a pure player? It is possible, as long as it covers a huge territory, lets say South East or Britanny. In that case it should have a small team of journalists working on long papers dealing with the major dossiers of the region and a powerful network of corresponadnats able to cover every part of the zone.

What about the public? It should be a population of motivated internauts, willing to pay a monthly subscription, provided that they are permanently informed on what is happening in the neighbourhood. Forget the daily publication of a bundle of news. It is not what they look for. They use more and more smartphones, very good for breaking news, not so easy for long papers which are less urgent and can be read once a week on a tablet or a computer.

Does this population exist? I believe so but it requires fast and valuable news. There is plenty of it in every city. You just need to look for it and deliver it immediately. Then people will agree to pay.