Distinctions between mainstream media and citizen media have become so blurry that it’s often hard to know where one stops and the other begins. Perhaps it’s time to evolve the way we describe media. There’s really just media–pro, semi-pro and amateur. But even those distinctions become blurred as cross-pollination occurs between the camps.
For instance, Seattle-based Fisher Communications, which is mainly a broadcast news operation has just taken a big step toward creating and cultivating hyperlocal content in the Seattle market–a project that requires deep engagement and collaboration with members of the communities served.
Puget Sound Business Journal has the story:
Fisher Communications Inc. — the parent company of KOMO-TV and KOMO-AM radio — is making a major foray into neighborhood blogging to compete with newspaper websites such as Seattlepi.com, as well as MyBallard, West Seattle Blog and other popular neighborhood blogs.
Seattle-based Fisher (NASDAQ: FSCI) on Monday unveiled a network of 43 hyperlocal neighborhood websites in Seattle. The broadcast company said it will restructure its Seattle newsroom to report and post community news on a real-time basis, and will also rely on content from readers and non-staff bloggers.
In other hyperlocal news, Tech Flash, reports that MSNBC is buying Chicago-based EveryBlock. EveryBlock operates a Seattle site, in addition to several others, so the competition for readers is the Emerald City is particularly thick.
Fisher also plans to introduce their hyperlocal concept to Portland this fall. EveryBlock has no presence in Portland at this time, but The Oregonian publishes a ragtag collection of neighborhood blogs, and indie Neighborhood Notes is also on the rise.
