Hartsville Today Report - Microsoft Word (1.88 MB)
Hartsville Today Report - PDF (7.45 MB)
This research, tracking the conception, launch and first year of a community media site was produced by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), an instructor at the University of South Carolina School of Journalism and Mass Communications, who partnered with the twice-a-week Hartsville Messenger. The project was funded by a J-Lab New Voices grant.
- Mar. 15: The State of the News Media
- Mar. 2: Lessons to be Learned by Legacy Media
- Feb. 18: New News Site Mirrors Others
Hartsville Today: The first year of a small-town citizen-journalism site
By Doug Fisher, Instructor USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications
Hartsville Today Report - Microsoft Word (1.88 MB)
Grass Roots Editor, as presented at the Huck Boyd/NNA conference - PDF
Grass Roots Editor, as presented at the Huck Boyd/NNA conference - PDF
The Hartsville Messenger, a twice-a-week newspaper with a staff of five, has its hands full trying to cover an area of about 20,000 people around Hartsville, S.C. So in 2005-06 it partnered with the University of South Carolina to launch a web site both to give its staff a place to publish community news more quickly and to give the community a place for some citizen-generated content. The effort was funded by J-Lab’s New Voices project.
They came up with HartsvilleToday.com - plus a 72-page “cookbook” (see Resources box on the right) that details what they did and how they did it, sprinkled with advice from their learning curve. While it’s a guide for small daily and non-daily newspapers, the lessons apply to anyone seeking to start up a community news project.
Some Do’s
- Include an events calendar.
- Allow photo posting.
- Recruit endlessly.
- Budget for training.
- Update daily.
- Get a good weather “bug.”
- Expect to spend $10,000 to start up.
- Remember Pareto’s Principle: 20 percent of the people will do 80 percent of the work.
Key Choices
- Will the site be edited?
- Who will monitor posts?
- Must people post under their real names or may they use screen names?
“This project is vitally important to smaller papers because if newspapers don’t ‘get there first’ in the communities we serve, you can be sure someone else will.”
—Publisher Graham Osteen
Contents
Executive summary
Future of journalism
Hartsville Today - At a glance
Site creation
Advice for small newspapers
Recruiting, training
Sales
Technology
Freelancer agreement
Content analysis
Comments
That is a great article. You make some excellent points that we should all review when we are thinking about doing a website. Their website is very well done also!
The ‘Cookbook’ on yhat site is simply great, thanks for sharing! The lessons apply to anyone seeking to start up a community news project.