New Report on Hyperlocal News in UK

Collaboration between AHRC-funded projects in the UK has led to a report on the status and viability of hyperlocal community news.  Some key findings:

• UK community news sector is well-established, with nearly three-quarters of players producing news for 3 years or longer (one-third doing so for more than 5 years)
• 70% see what they do as a form of active community participation; half identify their activities as local journalism, half as an expression of active citizenship
• More than half have formal journalistic training or mainstream media experience
• Most hyperlocal news sites have modest reach, even in their local communities

• Most community news producers classify their activities as part-time (only 11% report spending 40 hrs/wk or more on producing community news).  Also, most producers fund their projects themselves - only a quarter raise enough money to cover their costs.

Source :  UK Hyperlocal Community News: Findings from a survey of practitioners. Research report