Recent Stories with tag media

Every time I read a story like TIME's "Are Hyperlocals Replacing Traditional Newspapers?", my first reaction is generally a little thrill of recognition at seeing Tracy Record's name.

Seattle's hyperlocal scene (and social media mavenry for that matter) is the envy of the nation, and West Seattle Blog, as a more-than-full-time, news-breaking enterprise is the stuff of future HBR case studies. A six-figure revenue stream in the placeblog space? 750,000 page views per month?

But on the other hand--as Record would be the first to tell you--this is a dog bites man story. Listen to TIME characterize hyperlocal content: "Hyperlocal sites also frequently publish upbeat accounts of parades and high school sports, as well as information on which local vendors sell the best produce. Recent headlines on Record's site noted a 'mega-low' tide and an upcoming garden tour."

What does that sound like? TIME sums it up for you: "Record sits in her living room reinventing the role of an old-school newspaper editor." Reinventing may be stretching it: Record is swimming with the online current, rather than against it, but she's a journalist-editor in the mold of many newshounds who came before her.

West Seattle Blog is a local newspaper that's not printed on newspaper, but otherwise, what's different is a question of degree, rather than kind. It's supported by local advertisers: insurance and real estate agents, yoga and massage practitioners, car repair shops and dog-walkers (thanks to "Sales Guy," co-publisher, and husband, Patrick Sand). Its online presence makes community-driven (and -supplied) stories that much easier, but news tips are not new. The WSB forum fills in for classifieds, and augments reader contributions.

Record is fond of reminding people that a blog is just a delivery system. It would be a huge mistake to focus solely on the platform, and overlook the veteran, up-all-night journalist who knocks out stories on the hour. Coming from broadcast journalism, Record seems to have had zero fetishistic attachment to ink-smudged sheets; if there's media (video, audio, social) she hasn't leveraged in her quest to connect readers with WSB, please drop her a line, she'd love to hear about it....

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The Rainier Valley Post alerted me to the existence of another Seattle online magazine, and it feels less lonely out here already.

Southend Seattle magazine has 15 contributors listed and translates into 23 languages (that sounds excessive, but as the site points out, "over 60 languages are spoken within the 98118 digits that are the cradle of the Southend."

What we are doing here is looking to ourselves. The contributors to this grassroots movement have come together to build bridges within the community by sharing the valuable resources of their experiences, knowledge and passions.

One story is about family dining options in the Southend, another is about growing roses. Sounds very bucolic down there. ("On the average, we're as safe as people living in Ballard.") The new Rainier Beach Community Center gets some attention, too.

Great design, beautiful photography, the only quibble I have is with their disregard for the Oxford comma. Hey, no one's perfect.

Noting on TechCrunch that they have writers in "Silicon Valley, New York, London, Brussels, Paris, Tel Aviv, Tokyo and, absurdly, Chicago," blogger and "serial entrepreneur" Michael Arrington tries to justify moving to Seattle, which he has previously portrayed as an underperforming tech outback--the "minor leagues," in fact. (Though he admits the skiing is superior.)

The justification doesn't really take. He ends by saying, "to be honest the biggest reason I've moved is to simply mix things up in my life. Like many people I tend to get bored if I stay in one place too long--five years is the longest I've lived anywhere since high school. It was time for a change." Hey, just like Mark Emmert!

TechFlash, our homegrown, indefatigable tech blog, didn't miss a beat in securing an interview with Arrington, wherein he reveals he really does have a heart--adding that he also wanted to be nearer his parents, who retired up here.

And, we may be getting him for the long haul: "The house that I had in Silicon Valley, I was renting. It was time to buy a house, and so that is a pretty permanent thing buying a house."

A TechCrunch commenter supplied this Wolfram Alpha comparison of relocating to Seattle from the Bay area. Turns out a dollar goes a lot further here.