The Social and

Economic Value of
Hyperlocal News
Andy Williams (Cardiff University, @llantwit)
Jerome Turner (Birmingham City University)
Dave Harte (Birmingham City University)
Survey collaborators: Judith Townend, City University;
Steve Barnett, Westminster University

What we did: methods

Content analysis of UK hyperlocal news. Sample:
Posts published on the UKs Openly Local hyperlocal
news network blogs, 11 days, May 2012. 3819 posts
were published on 313 active websites, we coded every
other story: in total, 1941 posts. More info on the
sample: http://creativecitizens.co.uk/publications/
Online Survey with UK hyperlocal publishers. We
surveyed publishers on the Openly Local network (using
the Talk About Local email list, and with personal follow-up
emails). 183 responses. Response rate: 1/3 of current best
estimate of active HL sites in the network (Harte 2013).
Semi-structured telephone interviews with 36 HL
producers (from a range of different outlets, geographies,
approaches). Covering motivations, workloads, production
practices, principal challenges, and
economics/sustainability. Average length: 1hr 14mins

Who produces UK hyperlocal news?

The sector is now reasonably
well established (73% of survey
respondents have been doing it
for more than 3 years).
Most (70%) see what they do as
a form of active participation in
community life, with 57%
describing what they do as
local journalism, and 55% as
active citizenship.
Almost half of participants have
some form of journalistic
training/experience, which
suggests an even split between
amateurs and pros (or semipros).

What gets covered?

Top topics

Freq.

Community

252

13.0

Politics
(Government)

227

11.7

Sport

224

11.5

134

6.9

133

6.9

109

5.6

98

5.0

Crime/Legal
(Individual)
Business/
Industry
Environment/
Nature
Entertainment/
Leisure
n=1941

Geographicallyfocused,
communityoriented form of
local news local
clubs, societies,
leisure time
activities covered
regularly
Lots of coverage
of local politics
which is declining
in mainstream
press (mentioned

Hyperlocals Investigate and Campaign

44% of respondents have
carried out an investigation
which has helped uncover
controversial new
information about local civic
issues or events in last 2
years
42% have started their own
campaigns, and 72% have
publicized the campaigns of
others in the same period
Issued varied, but many
examples of serious public
interest investigations and

How is hyperlocal
funded?
Around 1/3 participants make
money, mostly quite modest
amounts: 12% make less than
100 per month (but 13%
generate more than 500 per
month)
Most producers self-fund the
running costs of their sites, but
around 1 in 4 raise enough cash to
at least cover their costs.
Advertising is the dominant form
of income generation, but a
number of other methods are
employed.

Alongside the celebration, some

notes of caution
A sector based primarily on the volunteer
labour of individuals is potentially precarious
for (at least) 2 reasons:
1. Many community news ventures are run by
individuals or very small teams, and are not
guaranteed to survive should key contributors
move on; and
2. Their informal nature, & consequent lack of
institutional support (e.g. legal, professional, etc)
for news producers, means hyperlocals may
struggle to maintain independence and produce
critical watchdog news in a sustained way.

And a little perspective

From the start we sought to
test hyperlocal news ability
to plug holes left by the
retreating local newspaper
industry.
It clearly has the potential to
do so in many cases, but we
need to retain some
perspective.
In terms of the numbers of
news producers, and the
amount of time they can
spend on news production,
hyperlocal has only very
partially plugged growing
local news holes.