The Internet is a great equalizer. Due to cheap self-publication and easy communication provided by the Internet, hyper-local news sites have been popping up everywhere. Hyper-local news has become a trend in journalism because people are interested in news that is relevant to their community and that often gets overlooked by larger news organizations. Here are some of the best hyperlocal news sites that provide news for thousands of communities across the United States.
Patch is a hyperlocal news site that reports on news in small towns in several states. They only cover small towns, not big cities or communities within them. It is a lot like a traditional news organization in the sense that the news is reported by trained journalists, but community input is highly valued. There are hundreds of individual Patch sites, across the country. Unfortunately, Patch is not currently in every state. The community sites are concentrated in mostly the East and the Midwest, but they are constantly expanding, so if there isn't a Patch for your community yet, hopefully there will be soon.
Outside.in is a hyperlocal news aggregator, meaning it pulls news from other sites and consolidates them in one place. On the home page you can type in your town, neighborhood, or even your address into the search bar and it will return the latest headlines for your community, blogs about your community, events in your community and more. Think your community won't be listed? Search it anyway! Outside.in aggregates news for 84,254 communities, so chances are you will be able to find your community.
EveryBlock is a bit different than the previous two sites. You can find information specific to your community, but there are no news stories or blogs on this site. You can find crimes reported in your community, real estate listings, events, business reviews, and public records such as building permits. EveryBlock also features several maps to show you where things are occurring in your community. Even though there are no news stories, the information on this site is so specific, you can find out what is happening on every block in your neighborhood (hence the name EveryBlock). There are also several forums on site, so you can interact with others in your community.
Neighbortree.com refers to itself as a neighborhood social networking website. It is different from the other sites because people who live in a community set up their own site, rather than the company creating several local sites. This means that there may not be a site for your community on neighbortree.com yet. Any kind of community can set up a site, including traditional neighborhoods and apartment buildings or condos. This site provides many of the same features that other social networking sites do, such as news alerts, comments, forums, events, and private messaging.
Lydia Kanthak - I'm a journalism student at DePaul University in Chicago, graduating in June. Im currently working as an intern for CHICKago, a women's ...
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