After a thief grabbed his cell phone on a city bus in January, San Francisco resident Lane Becker dutifully filed a police report, thinking that would be the end of it.
It wasnt. The petty crime made headlines -- not in a newspaper, but on EveryBlock, a Web site devoted to "hyperlocal" news.
"It was an interesting confirmation that in some small way the system was working," said Becker, who runs a customer support company.
EveryBlock is part of a trend of Internet micro-level journalism. The site covers San Francisco, Chicago and New York -- neighborhood by neighborhood, block by block.
Theres local news, such as mayoral elections, murders and downtown development. And then theres "hyperlocal" news. That includes, say, a city inspection of the corner pizzeria or a missing bicycle.
Online Lost-And-Found
EveryBlock users enter their address or neighborhood name, and can check out an array of information, including user-posted lost and found, police reports, building permits and local business reviews. They can find links to news articles that mention their particular hood and get free news feeds of neighborhood activity.
Hyperlocal sites such as EveryBlock could lead to increased civic engagement such as neighborhood watch programs. And they might be a vehicle for "hyperlocal social networking," sites similar to Facebook or MySpace, but for people on the same block building, Becker says.
"Its a very new concept. Its hard to figure out how it will work, but I think it will go somewhere," he said.
EveryBlock founder Adrian Holovaty, a Chicago resident, says he launched the site in January to tackle the problem of keeping up with everything going on in neighborhoods.
An overwhelming amount of news is available from many sources, but its not easy to find it tailored to your neighborhood and in one place, Holovaty says.
EveryBlock received $1.1 million in funding over two years from a Knight Foundation journalism grant to develop the site as a "test bed" for the industry.
Compiling what goes on the site takes a lot of work, mostly because the information is spread across many sources in different formats. Crime reports and restaurant inspections, for instance, vary by state, county and municipalities.
"We make it look easy, but its difficult," Holovaty said.
EveryBlock wants to expand to other cities, and that means going back to square one every time.
"Even if you have a tremendous amount of success in one market, if you go to another market, youre starting from scratch," Holovaty said.
With print publications constantly exploring ways to attract and keep readers, hyperlocal news is increasingly on mainstream medias radar.
Many newspapers see it as necessary. But putting reporters in every neighborhood can get expensive, so theyre looking at alternatives.
"Local is turning out to be the last refuge of the daily press," said Ken Doctor, media analyst for Burlingame, Calif.-based Outsell, Inc.
"Local" is loosely defined. Interactivity and "user-generated content," meaning contributions by those who view the site, are considered critical components for some news outlets.
The concept of hyperlocal has been around a while, but no one has figured out how to make money from it yet, Doctor says.
Most hyperlocal sites dont have enough content users find interesting or useful.
Advertisers Leery
And what they do have can be uneven, with some provided by professionals but much of it by volunteer contributors. That spooks advertisers, who are leery of being associated with amateur efforts.
"The business model has not caught fire yet," Doctor said.
But it will happen, he adds.
"Were really at the beginning of this," he said. "Theres no doubt that community-based journalism will be a major phenomenon and will be monetized."
The Washington Post is among the major media outlets providing hyperlocal news.
Its first site -- LoudonExtra.com, for Loudon County, Virginia -- launched out last year. It plans to roll out another for neighboring Fairfax County in May.
LoudonExtras community events stories wouldnt run in the papers print edition or even on its Web site, said Rob Curley, vice-president of product development at Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive.
Besides local crime, sports and City Hall, the site features a county history section and calendar of events that includes every possible charity golf tournament and church concert, Curley says.
"Our threshold for what we call news is very different," Curley said. "It wouldnt be different if there were a daily (newspaper) just serving Loudon.
"Newspapers are about a sense of community. I think its old-school local journalism."
It wasnt. The petty crime made headlines -- not in a newspaper, but on EveryBlock, a Web site devoted to "hyperlocal" news.
"It was an interesting confirmation that in some small way the system was working," said Becker, who runs a customer support company.
EveryBlock is part of a trend of Internet micro-level journalism. The site covers San Francisco, Chicago and New York -- neighborhood by neighborhood, block by block.
Theres local news, such as mayoral elections, murders and downtown development. And then theres "hyperlocal" news. That includes, say, a city inspection of the corner pizzeria or a missing bicycle.
Online Lost-And-Found
EveryBlock users enter their address or neighborhood name, and can check out an array of information, including user-posted lost and found, police reports, building permits and local business reviews. They can find links to news articles that mention their particular hood and get free news feeds of neighborhood activity.
Hyperlocal sites such as EveryBlock could lead to increased civic engagement such as neighborhood watch programs. And they might be a vehicle for "hyperlocal social networking," sites similar to Facebook or MySpace, but for people on the same block building, Becker says.
"Its a very new concept. Its hard to figure out how it will work, but I think it will go somewhere," he said.
EveryBlock founder Adrian Holovaty, a Chicago resident, says he launched the site in January to tackle the problem of keeping up with everything going on in neighborhoods.
An overwhelming amount of news is available from many sources, but its not easy to find it tailored to your neighborhood and in one place, Holovaty says.
EveryBlock received $1.1 million in funding over two years from a Knight Foundation journalism grant to develop the site as a "test bed" for the industry.
Compiling what goes on the site takes a lot of work, mostly because the information is spread across many sources in different formats. Crime reports and restaurant inspections, for instance, vary by state, county and municipalities.
"We make it look easy, but its difficult," Holovaty said.
EveryBlock wants to expand to other cities, and that means going back to square one every time.
"Even if you have a tremendous amount of success in one market, if you go to another market, youre starting from scratch," Holovaty said.
With print publications constantly exploring ways to attract and keep readers, hyperlocal news is increasingly on mainstream medias radar.
Many newspapers see it as necessary. But putting reporters in every neighborhood can get expensive, so theyre looking at alternatives.
"Local is turning out to be the last refuge of the daily press," said Ken Doctor, media analyst for Burlingame, Calif.-based Outsell, Inc.
"Local" is loosely defined. Interactivity and "user-generated content," meaning contributions by those who view the site, are considered critical components for some news outlets.
The concept of hyperlocal has been around a while, but no one has figured out how to make money from it yet, Doctor says.
Most hyperlocal sites dont have enough content users find interesting or useful.
Advertisers Leery
And what they do have can be uneven, with some provided by professionals but much of it by volunteer contributors. That spooks advertisers, who are leery of being associated with amateur efforts.
"The business model has not caught fire yet," Doctor said.
But it will happen, he adds.
"Were really at the beginning of this," he said. "Theres no doubt that community-based journalism will be a major phenomenon and will be monetized."
The Washington Post is among the major media outlets providing hyperlocal news.
Its first site -- LoudonExtra.com, for Loudon County, Virginia -- launched out last year. It plans to roll out another for neighboring Fairfax County in May.
LoudonExtras community events stories wouldnt run in the papers print edition or even on its Web site, said Rob Curley, vice-president of product development at Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive.
Besides local crime, sports and City Hall, the site features a county history section and calendar of events that includes every possible charity golf tournament and church concert, Curley says.
"Our threshold for what we call news is very different," Curley said. "It wouldnt be different if there were a daily (newspaper) just serving Loudon.
"Newspapers are about a sense of community. I think its old-school local journalism."
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