Good stuff I've read recently, haven't linked to yet, but don't have much to add to right now:
- The Nichepaper Manifesto - an articulate and well argued guide to how niche publishing might looks going forwards.
- Media as a Hobby is not Sustainable As a Business - you can always rely on Alan to beat the ideas of idealists soundly with the hammer of reality. (Boy, was that a Friday afternoon metaphor)
- Some Thoughts on Local News - Some ruminations from long-time south east London blogger 853 on how hyper-local (ie geographic hyper-niche) journalism might look.
- Reed New Boy Smith Makes a Big Splash - Some hints here as to what we're focusing on within RBI.
- Comments Add Value to Newspaper Websites - I've long been ambivalent about adding comments to traditional journalism, but Patrick makes some compelling arguments around how they can really be made to work.
Interesting, I'm looking forward to the silly season coming to the close this weekend in Scandinavia:-) July is certainly the main holiday month in Norway, and even my Twitter and Facebook newsfeeds have taken on a distinct holiday feel. In Norway the silly season is called the cucumber season though, denoting its distict (hyper)local roots. Once upon a time it was the season when vegetable prices dominated the local headlines. As I've increasingly come to see the value and major implications of news on vegetable prices as I've grown older, I've wondered aloud in various fora how the term "cucumber season" moved from hyperlocal news to banalities - are there any UK parallels here?