New York Times turf war with Google
ADOTAS — The Gray Lady, in what I guess is supposed to be cutting edge, has created The Local, sites that will have content provided by amateurs or what are now called citizen journalists.
It is targeting five towns, including Fort Greene and Clinton Hill in Brooklyn. Reporters, I am assuming not veterans,* recruited writers, for free of course, since replacing paid reporters with free labor is the online model. But what are we going to get? The CUNY Journalism school is helping to ‘train’ the local writers, and they would be? friends? bloggers who are looking for attention? local celebrities? Is this a low stakes grab at local online advertising? (*Here is the Fort Greene site, staffed by Andy Newman, Times reporter for 11 years, and interns, and the NJ site, staffed by Tina Kelly, 10-year veteran, and interns.)
And why Fort Greene and Clinton Hill? Neither is underserved by reporters or suburban communities. Wouldn’t it have been better to start a pilot program in towns that need more coverage? How about East New York or Washington Heights? Not enough subscribers?
As for the New Jersey towns, Gawker pointed out an obvious reason South Orange, Maplewood, and Milburn were picked. Those are the towns Google’s top US sales executive Tim Armstrong picked for Patch, his local-news startup, and a company which promises to develop “hyperlocal” websites focusing on news coverage specific to their communities.
Is the New York Times fighting an online turf battle with Google? If so, I fear it is completely undermanned.
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