The interest around the New York Times' new activities in hyperlocal is great for Neighborlogs. Anything that draws this kind of attention to the space will help us grow.
Even better, however, is chatter like this. Reportedly, the NYT is considering getting into the neighborhood blog service game:
The long-term business model, Schachter said, could involve distributing a local-blogging platform to people in other communities who would start their own sites without any Times reporters or editors at all. They might pay the Times to license the platform or share revenue from a Times-run advertising network that’s under consideration.
To which we say, why wait? Neighborlogs is ready today for independent site owners to start their own local news and information sites with all this and more:
- Easy to use blog editing tools with built-in geolocation and maps
- Community driven content features including user posts, ratings and comments
- integrated self-serve advertising service designed for small, local businesses
- Revenue sharing to let you automatically share some of the spoils with your best contributors
- Mobile publishing features
And it's free. We are in private beta so please register today and we'll be in contact. If you already have a site running on another service it's easy for us to import your content. If you want to wait for the New York Times, that's cool. We're sure there will still be a few neighborhoods left un-covered by the time you get your site started.
We also know that our vision of what a neighborhood news blog should be is one-of-a-kind: We mesh the ability for everybody to post to a Neighborlogs site with strong editorial and community control. The results are neighborhood news and information sites that redefine journalism and elevate community conversation.
Worried about being at the mercy of a huge national media company? You are the sole owner of your Neighborlogs site, including all the content that gets added to it. It's your baby - we just provide the crib, parenting help when you need it, and tools to help you build up the college fund.
