Hyperlocal Media: A Small but Growing

Part of the Local Media Ecosystem

Hyperlocal media has expanded significantly in the UK in the past 12
to 18 months, notes Damian Radcliffe. Supported by new funding and
training initiatives, interest from academics and policy-makers, as well as
the increased take-up of internet-enabled mobile devices, the result has
been a step-change in activity and interest in the hyperlocal scene

Part One: Background and Context
Defining Hyperlocal
NESTAs landscape report Here and Now UK Hyperlocal Media Today defined
hyperlocal media as: Online news or content services pertaining to a town,
village, single postcode or other small geographically-defined community
(Radcliffe 2012: 6). It also noted: Hyperlocal content can be found across all
media platforms and supports a number of different civic and journalistic
purposes, including local news, campaigns, scrutiny of public bodies, and
supporting local identity (ibid: 14).
Much of this content is more localised in terms of geography and types of
content than mainstream media outlets. It also covers a wide variety of genres,
not just traditional news services.
Business Models
Hyperlocal content is produced and funded through a variety of different
models. As a result, there is no such thing as a typical hyperlocal site. Here are a
few examples which demonstrate this diversity:



Funding Models
Although many hyperlocal sites are run on a voluntary part-time basis, an
increasing number of commercial enterprises exist. Their income sources are
diverse and varied, as reflected below.
Examples of types of funding mechanisms used by UK hyperlocal publishers
1


Typology
Not surprisingly, given the range of ways in which hyperlocal media is produced
and funded, there are also a wide range of types of hyper-local media. The first
comprehensive typology for the UK sector was produced by Hugh Flouch and
Kevin Harris (2010) in their study, Londons Digital Neighbourhoods. They reported:
From our review of approximately 160 local sites in London we have
identified eight types. Six of those can be described as citizen-led sites,
typically set up with a civil purpose. The remaining two types are run on a
commercial basis (ibid: 5).
It will be interesting to see if this typology (illustrated below)
2
has evolved as
the sector has matured, or if older communication methods such as forums
continue to resonate with audiences. Sites such as the East Dulwich Forum
remain rich platforms for local discussion and discourse, sitting comfortably
alongside Wordpress sites, Facebook groups and other hyperlocal hubs.


Key Data Points
Earlier analysis of hyperlocal media tended to focus on the role that these sites
play in delivering public value (Ofcom 2009), the implications of local citizen-
run websites for local service providers (Flouch and Harris op cit), or an analysis
of the issues faced by the sector and the ingredients needed to make it successful
(Radcliffe op cit). Research gaps were identified in a number of areas including
the size of the hyperlocal audience, the negative impact of this in attracting
advertising, and the wider societal impact of hyperlocal media on local
communities (ibid).
If we are to grow, sustain and support this sector, there are many areas that
would benefit from further research, and practical experimentation (ibid:
40).
Since this clarion call, a numbers of detailed research projects have been
undertaken. Supported by NESTA, Ofcom and academic staff at Birmingham
City and Cardiff University, we now know considerably more about this sector
than we did twelve months ago. Headline research conclusions include:
45 per cent of all UK adults (and 53 per cent of those with Internet access)
have accessed some form of hyperlocal media (Kingsbury and Pearson 2013:
2).
The number of outlets is growing. Analysis last year showed that 400 active
hyperlocal websites collectively produce almost 2,500 stories a week (Ofcom
2012: 103).
75 per cent of hyperlocal stories are published by a third of the sites (Harte
2012, cited by Turner 2013).
Between 7am and 7pm, a hyperlocal story is published every two minutes
(ibid).
Publishers may need to invest more efforts in discoverability, so that their
content is easier to find. As Mavers (2013: 24) commented: A desire to share
local news doesnt always come with a handy guide on search engine
marketing.
Hyperlocal advertising holds little appeal for national advertisers, but may be
of more interest to local businesses. Due to limited budgets, any transfer of
advertising to hyperlocal outlets is likely to be away from other advertising
outlets (Oliver and Ohlbaum 2013: 7).
Partnerships will help the sector to grow and have more impact. This includes
developing greater cross sector links (hyperlocal to hyperlocal), links with
traditional media (e.g. newspapers, radio and television) and partnerships with
academic institutions or community groups. (Radcliffe op cit: 33).
Part Two: The UK Hyperlocal Landscape
Although earlier fears about the death of local journalism have proved
unfounded, (Toynbee 2009 or Brook 2009) evidence provided to the Leveson
Inquiry (Enders 2011) concluded that 40 per cent of regional press jobs have
gone in the last five years compared to 10 per cent at national level and that
1bn of annual classified advertising has gone from the regional press since
2008. Separately, research in 2012 by the Press Gazette found that 242
publications had closed between 2005 and the end of 2011. In the same period,
there had been 70 just launches (Ponsford 2012).
This has inevitably resulted in geographic and content gaps, which some
hyperlocal publishers have sought to plug. The Port Talbot Magnet is one such
example. Ken Smith, one of the team of journalists behind the site, spoke of
their ambitions, noting: We want to do quality journalism, not regurgitated press
releases (Slattery 2011). In 2013, the team began to also include a regular print
edition ensuring the town had a local newspaper for the first time in four years.
3

Efforts like this provide considerable value to communities, but it should be
noted that the web is not always able to fill gaps at the same pace as they are
being created. According to Johnson (2009):
There should have been a ten-year evolutionary process: the ecosystem
steadily diversifying and establishing its complex relationships, the new
business models evolving, the papers slowly transferring from print to
digital, along with the advertisers. Instead, the financial meltdown and
some related over-leveraging by the newspaper companies themselves
has taken what should have been a decade-long process and crammed it
down into a year or two.
A growing industry
Hyperlocal media is a small but growing part of the UKs local media landscape.
The number of known sites rose from 432 in May 2012 (Ofcom 2012) to 633 by
February 2013 (Turner 2013) and consumption levels are growing too. Ofcom
recorded in 2009 how hyperlocal consumers had increased their use of such
websites over the past two years (Ofcom 2009: 10). This momentum has been
maintained by increased broadband take up and the growth of connected
devices. As a result, Kantar has observed: Just over one-half of hyperlocal
media users use hyperlocal media more than they did two years ago (Kantar
2013: 26).

How levels of hyperlocal use have changed over a period of two years (ibid)

Alongside these developments, there has been a flurry of top down activity
in this space, including:
NESTA provided 500,000 of funding to support 10 prototype services for
the next generation of hyperlocal media. This funding kick-started their wider
Destination Local programme.
4

As part of the same programme, the Technology Strategy Board funded 11
projects
5
designed to encourage the creation of innovative, hyper-local cross-
media platforms and enabling technologies.
6
The value of this joint funding
was 1 million.
Cardiff University launched the Centre for Community Journalism
7
with an
emphasis on supporting and understanding the sector in Wales through
research, networking and advice, training, outreach and monitoring.
8

The Carnegie Trust funded a 50,000 competition Neighbourhood News to
improve local news reporting.
9
Five winners received 10,000 funding in
return for participating in an external evaluation of their new local news
project.
10

A 30-month research project, led by Cardiff University, into understanding
the value of the creative citizen was funded by the AHRC.
11

Ofcom featured hyperlocal media for the first time in their annual state of the
nation Communications Market Reports (Ofcom 2012).
Following consultations with practitioners, DCMS revised proposals for the
post-Leveson regulatory regime to make sure micro-business blogs are
outside of the scheme.
12
As the journalist Sarah Wild recently said on Twitter:
Its all hyperlocal these days.
13

Why Hyperlocal is Growing
The growth of this sector can be attributed, in part, to a number of
technological and economic factors, including:
1. Availability of production tools and platforms which have made it easier
and cheaper for citizens and journalists to publish their own content.
2. Changes in media behaviours smartphone and tablet owners consume
content differently, whilst mobile broadband has encouraged location based
content consumption.
3. In some places traditional media has exited stage right this has created
opportunities for entrepreneurs and digital publishers.
As a result, new entrants have joined more established players such as the
Sheffield Forum (established 2002) or the London SE1 community website
which is now 15 years old. Many community newspapers have an even longer
history.
14
The impact of this is a landscape where, as the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) commented (2011): Professional media
have been joined by a wide range of local blogs, email lists, websites and the
proliferation of local groups on national websites like Facebook or Yahoo!
An Uneven Picture
Just like traditional media, the availability of hyperlocal content varies. Not
surprisingly, research suggests that much of this is focused on major
conurbations such as London and Birmingham. But Ofcom has also noted:
some rural areas were well served, with South Gloucestershire having 11 sites,
largely aimed at small towns and villages, and Wiltshire having ten (Ofcom
2012). Alongside this, areas such as the North East, the East Midlands or the
Devolved Nations appear to be disproportionately underserved by hyperlocal.
The reasons behind this may merit further investigation (Ofcom 2012: 110)


The Real Picture May be bigger
It is likely, however, that these figures underestimate the size of the UK
hyperlocal sector. Because anyone can launch a hyperlocal website, there is no
licensing structure which makes it difficult to ascertain the size of the industry.
The figures quoted by Ofcom, therefore, represent a best guess derived from
sites listed on the Openly Local Hyperlocal Directory.
15
Sites on the directory
are typically self-registered, which inevitably means some will be missed.
Similarly, the directory does not include social network based content like
Whats on Offerton
16
or Remember Old Cardiff.
17
That said, in the absence of a
more effective solution, this remains a great starting point for those interested in
understanding the size and geographic scope of UK hyperlocal media. It will be
interesting to see if policy makers, researchers or hyperlocal publishers
themselves can come up with a better way of showing the size of the industry.
Understanding the Value of Hyperlocal Content
Hyperlocal websites can play an important emotional and functional role
(Radcliffe 2011: slide 10) in providing timely information to citizens and cost
effective advertising opportunities for local businesses. They also help to reflect
local identity and ensure that local businesses and government are held to
account. As a result, politicians and policy-makers worry that the loss of local
media may result in a democratic deficit, whilst citizens appear to be concerned
about the creation of an information deficit at a community level (Moss 2009).
It is therefore interesting to understand what content is produced by
hyperlocal publishers. Last year the Creative Citizens project explored
sources (who gets to define hyperlocal news and in what ways); topics (what
news is covered?); the local-ness of this news; the civic value of the news (in
relation to coverage of politics), but also the role of this developing cultural
form in fostering (or not) different forms of citizenship in communities)
(Williams 2013). Not surprisingly, the researchers discovered that hyperlocal
publishers produce a lot of stories about local councils and the services they
provide with the team noting:
This kind of coverage of local government contrasts somewhat with the
UKs mainstream local news media, which has scaled back its coverage of
local politics in recent years. Other notably large categories included crime
and business news entertainment, and the arts (ibid).

Image adapted from: http://interactivecultures.org/wp-
content/uploads/2013/03/poster_jerome_small.jpg
Consumption Patterns
As research by the Creative Citizens team demonstrates, hyperlocal media fulfills
civic purposes. It is increasingly valued by consumers too as part of their media
mix.
To those that use them, local community websites are very important, with
37 per cent of users rating the importance of services as 7 or more out of
10. Although this is not as high as the importance ascribed to TV by
viewers (59 per cent), it is greater than other services such as local
newspaper websites (27 per cent) (Ofcom 2012: 103).
Arguably, hyperlocal really comes into its own at times where mainstream
medias bigger picture is not local or specific enough. The 2011 riots are a good
example of this. One site, the West Londoner
18
enjoyed record traffic of 1.9
million page views during that week, including 1 million page views during a
single 24 hour period.
19
At other times, mainstream media remains the primary
source of local news for most audiences.
Hyperlocal consumption is not insignificant, but it remains someway behind
that enjoyed by traditional local media outlets. As Ofcom commented (2012:
103): around 1 in 7 (14 per cent) of people state that they use a local
community website on at least a monthly basis.


Source: Ofcom 2012
Part Three: Maintaining the Momentum
As we have seen, UK hyperlocal media has enjoyed considerable growth and
attention in the last year. Whether this growth is sustainable is a moot point. I
believe that it is, but a number of structural considerations will continue to
present challenges for some hyperlocal players. These include sustainability (in
terms of both personnel and income) and discoverability. Nonetheless,
hyperlocal media is becoming a more established player in the local media
landscape. Looking ahead, there are three areas where the hyperlocal sector may
wish to focus its attention:
1. Partnerships: although these do exist this is an area which is currently
underdeveloped. BBC Online, which was recently criticised by the BBC
Trust for the quality of its local offer (BBC Trust 2013), in particular, can
play a key role in supporting the sector by linking to hyperlocal sources
broadening its depth of content in the process. Alongside this, hyperlocal
outlets can also work more effectively together and with other media
providers on campaigns. It is perhaps surprising how seldom this occurs.
A collaborative project on graffiti between hyperlocal publishers and the
Seattle Times shows how this can be done
20
although it must be noted that
J-Lab encouraged this collaboration with initial funding and support. Similar
incentives may be required here, although J-Labs experience suggests that
once the value of these partnerships has been proven they can grow. The
Seattle Times now partners with 54 local news sites and blogs.
21

2. Relationships with councils would also benefit from further development.
This does not just include resolving issues around reporting access (McAthy
2013) but also exploring opportunities for genuine two-way relationships.
Many councils already benefit from content published on hyperlocal
websites (Flouch and Harris 2010) but this often feels like one way traffic.
Literally. Given the continued popularity of cuncil websites (Kantar 2013),
these publicly owned sites could also link to a wider range of local material,
including hyperlocal content and that produced by traditional online
publishers.
3. The sector may benefit from a trade body to represent it. As the hyperlocal
industry continues to grow and mature, it may find it beneficial to have a
body which can provide publishers with a voice, and which can lead on
work with government, policy makers and regulators. Given the cottage
industry nature of hyperlocal media with many practitioners working in
silos this body could also help share best practice and promote cross-
sector debate and discussion. By the same token, it could also lead on
identifying and supporting training needs (such as SEO, html5 and writing a
business plan), as well as establishing some much needed industry wide
audience data.
Funding such a body will probably not be easy, but the potential merits of
such an organisation mean the idea is worth exploring. Having a more
cohesive, unified, voice may be needed if hyperlocal media is to move to the
next level.
Conclusion: Moving Forward
Alongside these potential next steps, practitioners should also carefully review
the hyperlocal research NESTA has commissioned and published over the past
12 months. These reports provide valuable insights into the hyperlocal content
consumed by users, how they search for it, as well as addressing wider questions
around audience demand and changing media behaviours. In effect, these
reports provide the basis for publishers to undertake a review of their services,
so they can ensure that their activities are in line with audience and advertiser
needs and behaviours. By harnessing NESTAs findings in this way, hyperlocal
practitioners may be better placed to ensure that they are getting maximum bang
for their hyperlocal buck.
After a busy 2012, and a hectic start to 2013, it is going to fascinating to see
where UK hyperlocal will be in another 12 to 18 months time.
Notes
1
See http://www.neighbournet.com/, http://montv.yourlocal.tv/,
http://www.london-se1.co.uk/, http://www.hu17.net/ ,
http://www.caerphillyobserver.co.uk/, accessed on 3 July 2013
2
Image available online at: http://networkedneighbourhoods.com/?p=105, accessed on
3 July 2013
3
See http://www.lnpt.org/2013/05/18/magnet-more-great-news-for-port-talbot/
accessed on 3 July 2013
4
See http://www.nesta.org.uk/areas_of_work/creative_economy/destination_local,
accessed on 3 July 2013
5
See
http://www.nesta.org.uk/areas_of_work/creative_economy/destination_local/assets/f
eatures/technology_strategy_board_destination_local_projects, accessed on 3 July 2013
6
See
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130221185318/www.innovateuk.org/cont
ent/competition/convergence-in-a-digital-landscape.ashx, accessed on 3 July 2013
7
See http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/2013/news/university-launches-centre-to-
support-hyperlocal-sites/, accessed on 3 July 2013
8
See http://cardiff.ac.uk/jomec/communityjournalism/ourstrategy/index.html,
accessed on 3 July 2013
9
See http://www.carnegieuktrust.org.uk/changing-lives/neighbourhood-news, accessed
on 3 July 2013
10
See http://www.carnegieuktrust.org.uk/news---events/latest/carnegie-uk-trust-
announces-neighbourhood-news-win, accessed on 3 July 2013
11
See
http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/jomec/newsandevents/news/12ahrc_connected_communitie
s_programme.html, accessed on 3 July 2013
12
See https://www.gov.uk/government/news/leveson-new-proposals-to-ensure-small-
blogs-are-exempt-from-press-self-regulation, accessed on 3 July 2013
13
See https://twitter.com/Wild_Sarah/status/337150544693055488, accessed on 5 July
2013
14
For example, Leys News, a free monthly newspaper in south-east Oxford, was
established in 1998, whilst the ECHO Community Newspaper which reaches residents
in parts of Coventry was first published in April 1979
15
See http://openlylocal.com/hyperlocal_sites, accessed on 3 July 2013
16
See https://www.facebook.com/groups/178753568830557/, accessed on 3 July 2013
17
See https://www.facebook.com/RememberOldCardiff, accessed on 3 July 2013
18
See http://www.thewestlondoner.com, accessed on 3 July 2013
19
Via http://www.multimedia-journalism.co.uk/node/2002 The Story of The West
Londoner
20
See http://seattletimes.com/flatpages/local/graffitiproject.html, accessed on 3 July
2013
21
See http://www.j-lab.org/projects/networked-journalism/seattle, accessed on 3 July
2013
References
BBC Trust (2013) Service Review of BBC Online and Red Button, 20 May. Available online at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/our_work/services/online/service_reviews/online_re
dbutton.html, accessed on 3 July 2013
Brook, Stephen (2009) Half UK local and regional papers could shut by 2014, MPs are
told, Guardian, 16 June. Available online at
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/jun/16/half-local-papers-could-shut-2014,
accessed on 3 July 2013
Enders, Claire (2011) Competitive Pressures on the Press. Presentation to the Leveson Inquiry.
Available online at http://www.levesoninquiry.org.uk/wp-
content/uploads/2011/11/Presentation-by-Claire-Enders1.pdf, accessed on 3 July 2013
Harte, David (2012) cited by Turner, Jerome (2013) Media, Community and the Creative
Citizen at the AHRC Connected Communities Showcase, Interactive Cultures, 18 March. Available
online at http://www.interactivecultures.org/2013/03/media-community-and-the-
creative-citizen-at-the-ahrc-connected-communities-showcase/, accessed on 3 July 2013
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) (2011) The Information Needs of Communities:
The Changing Media Landscape in a Broadband Age, Washington DC: FCC/Federal
Communications Commission. Available online at http://transition.fcc.gov/osp/inc-
report/The_Information_Needs_of_Communities.pdf, accessed on 3 July 2013
Flouch, Hugh and Harris, Kevin (2010) Typology of Citizen-run Neighbourhood websites,
London: Networked Neighbourhoods. Available online at
http://networkedneighbourhoods.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Online-Nhood-
Networks-Typology-rev-1a.pdf, accessed on 3 July 2013
Johnson, Steven (2009) Old Growth Media and the Future of News, personal blog, March.
Available online at http://www.stevenberlinjohnson.com/2009/03/the-following-is-a-
speech-i-gave-yesterday-at-the-south-by-southwest-interactive-festival-in-austiniif-you-
happened-to-being.html, accessed on 5 July 2013
Kantar Media, (2013) UK Demand for Hyperlocal Media Research Report, April. London:
NESTA/Kantar. Available online at http://www.nesta.org.uk/library/documents/UK-
demand-for-hyperlocal-media-report.pdf, accessed on 5 July 2013
Kingsbury, John and Pearson, Mark (2013) UK Demand for Hyperlocal Media: NESTA
Research Summary. Available online at:
http://www.nesta.org.uk/library/documents/Hyperlocal-Media-Research-Summary-
April13.pdf, accessed on 7 July 2013
Mavens (2013) A Report Mapping High Level Topics of Interest and the Digital Landscape around
Hyperlocal Content in Three Areas, London: Mavens/NESTA. Available online at
http://www.nesta.org.uk/library/documents/Understanding_Use_Of_Hyper.pdf,
accessed on 5 July 2013
McAthy, Rachel (2013) New guidance states councils should allow meetings to be filmed,
journalism.co.uk, 14 June. Available online at http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/new-
guidance-states-councils-should-allow-meetings-to-be-filmed/s2/a553272/, accessed on
3 July 2013
Moss, Stephen (2009) Stop press, Guardian, 2 April. Available online at
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/apr/03/local-newspapers-journalism-
democracy, accessed on 3 July 2013
Ofcom (2009) Local and Regional Media in the UK, London: Ofcom. Available online at
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/market-data-research/other/tv-research/lrmuk/,
accessed on 3 July 2013
Ofcom (2012) The Communications Market 2012, London: Ofcom. Available online at
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/cmr/cmr12/CMR_UK_2012.pdf,
accessed on 3 July 2013
Oliver and Ohlbaum (2013) Research on Local Advertising Markets, London: NESTA.
Available online at
http://www.nesta.org.uk/library/documents/OnOHyperlocaladvertisingreport.pdf,
accessed on 5 July 2013
Ponsford, Dominic (2012) PG research reveals 242 local press closures in 7 years, Press
Gazette, 30 April. Available online at http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/node/49215,
accessed on 3 July 2013
Radcliffe, Damian (2012) Here and Now: UK Hyperlocal Media Today, London: NESTA.
Available online at
http://www.nesta.org.uk/library/documents/Here_and_Now_v17.pdf, accessed on 3
July 2013
Radcliffe, Damian (2011) 21st Century News, SlideShare presentation. Available online at
http://www.slideshare.net/mrdamian/21st-century-news, accessed on 3 July 2013
Slattery, Jon (2011) Port Talbot Magnet aims to attract support and revive local media in
town left without a newspaper, Personal Blog, 23 May. Available online at
http://jonslattery.blogspot.com/2011/05/port-talbot-magnet-aims-to-attract.html,
accessed on 3 July 2013
Toynbee, Polly (2009) This is an emergency. Act now, or local news will die, Guardian,
23 March. Available online at
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/mar/24/regional-newspapers-lay-offs,
accessed on 3 July 2013
Williams, Andrew (2013) The Value of Hyperlocal News Content, Centre for Community
Journalism, 11 January. Available online at
http://www.communityjournalism.co.uk/research/the-value-of-hyperlocal-news-
content/, accessed on 3 July 2013
Note on the author
Damian Radcliffe is an Honorary Research Fellow at Cardiff School of Journalism,
Media and Cultural Studies. He has written about hyperlocal media for a number of
organisations and media outlets including: Ofcom, the BBC College of Journalism,
Networked Neighbourhoods, journalism.co.uk and the Democratic Society. In 2012,
NESTA published his report, Here and Now the first comprehensive review of the
UKs hyperlocal scene. Links to his extensive hyperlocal writing and research can be
found via his personal website: www.damianradcliffe.com/hyperlocal.