Experience and Passion

The hyperlocal site Backfence.com may have failed as a business, but a network of grassroots sites could still tap into a very lucrative advertising market for a low investment relative to the potential gain, long-time journalist and current online editor Tom Grubisich writes for Online Journalism Review.

That investment would include both editorial and technical staff, as well as a fund for paying citizen contributors more than a pittance.

Success, he suggests, would hinge on whether the sites succeeded in connecting with their communities and producing content that users found `generally interesting, sometimes significant and occasionally indispensable.’ To that end, sites would need ‘above all, experienced and passionate editors collaborating with experienced and passionate citizens.’

Details and additional suggestions are available at www.ojr.org/ojr/stories/070719grubisich.