Seamus McCauley, strategic analyst at Associated Northcliffe Digital, has revealed that the company is developing a series of hyper-local websites that 'combine social networking with news', journalism.co.uk reports.
McCauley, speaking at the City University, said the first 30 sites will go live next month. The initial six-month trial will target towns with populations of between 10,000 and 40,000 people that currently have no dedicated local newspaper or website.
journalism.co.uk quotes McCauley saying:"There is a real fear in the journalism industry about the future of local newsgathering. This at the moment is our hope for the answer. In every town, there will already be a person who writes match reports for football games, businesses who like to talk about their work, churches who host events every week. We want to co-ordinate that activity."
The 30 sites scheduled to launch in June will be concentrated in the south west of England and will stretch from Gloucestershire to Cornwall, including 10 towns in the Bristol area.
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