Hyperlocal comes into focus for Serra Media intern

Posted: March 22nd, 2010 | Author: Serra Media | Filed under: Behind the scenes | Tags: , , , | No Comments »

By Jay Huerbin

At the halfway point of both my time with Serra Media and my final semester at the University of Pittsburgh, I can look back — and ahead — on my internship and say that it’s been both useful and a learning experience.

I’ve never visited the northwest, nor had I heard of hyperlocal news before starting with Serra Media. But by the second week of my internship, I felt like I’d been there a thousand times and started to understand what is so special about hyperlocal news.

I’ve worked extensively with two of Serra Media’s Newsgarden sites — one a small city paper and the other still growing — so far this semester.

With the Olympian’s site, I felt like I was walking into an already solid community. The news is constant and always evolving. And because Olympia is at the heart of Washington government, politics are what define the area. They’re the most popular topics and what power conversation.

But the Union-Bulletin’s Newsgarden was different. It’s a smaller newspaper in a smaller town and implements a paywall, but that doesn’t make their website any less important. This is the site with the most to do. But with that comes the potential. While still growing and gaining an audience, it’s important to keep the site fresh with different and new material to engage the reader.

It’s two different areas with two different sites. But the audience is still the same, in that they are there to learn about their community, and they want to be engaged. Despite the differences, both of these Newsgardens could learn from each other.

In Walla Walla, community involvement and town meetings are important to keeping the area connected. In Olympia, knowing what happens with their tax dollars is always the hot topic. Perhaps more of the other is just what one needs to keep strong when it comes to hyperlocal news.

Now, Serra Media has launched another Newsgarden, this one in Kent, and just like the Olympian and News-Bulletin, the Reporter will become part of the local community.

Now, just like in Olympia and Walla Walla, it’s time for the Reporter to find its niche.

Jay Huerbin, a journalism major at the University of Pittsburgh, is interning this semester at Serra Media. You can read more from Jay on his blog and follow him at @jayhuerbin.