The New Age Of Local News: Newcomers Battle For Worcester-Area Media Landscape
A mere 16 months ago, AOL's hyperlocal Patch.com was the newest Internet player serving the local news market.
While Patch is still going strong with a dozen Central Massachusetts websites, the media landscape is shifting quickly.
The first development came in May of last year, when CentralMassNews.com — operator of 10 area hyperlocal websites of its own — was bought by Connecticut-based Main Street Connect, a company many have compared to Patch, but with a more organic growth strategy.
Main Street Connect, founded in 2010, changed its name to the Daily Voice shortly after the CentralMassNews acquisition. It now has 53 local news websites in Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut, and plans to launch more.
Meanwhile, a Providence Internet news startup decided to set up a second shop in Worcester.
GoLocal24, riding a wave of rapid growth of its GoLocalProvidence website, planted its flag downtown in February, and claimed 1 million page views in July, up 100 percent in just five months.
By comparison, the city's daily newspaper, the Telegram & Gazette, claims more than 9.2 million page views a month in addition to its print circulation of 79,958 Sunday subscribers and 74,563 daily subscribers.
GoLocal24 co-founder Josh Fenton said his company decided to enter the Worcester market because he feels it's undercovered by media and even largely ignored by Boston media, despite the fact that it's New England's second-largest city.
"There is a huge void in high-quality local content, especially on digital platforms," Fenton said.
Leah Lamson, executive editor at the T&G, begged to differ.
"No one else covers the 72 [Central Mass.] communities the way we do," Lamson said. "No one else has a news department that numbers 100 people that are working daily, producing the best, highest quality information we do."
Lamson feels the T&G "stands head and shoulders" above its competitors in watchdog reporting.
Varying Approaches, Styles
GoLocalWorcester and the Daily Voice each cover the Central Massachusetts region, but in different ways. The Daily Voice focuses largely on immediate local news and has a separate website for each town it covers. The style of each local website is uniform and follows the design and layout of the Daily Voice's other websites.
Mitchell Silverman, chief marketing officer of the Daily Voice, said the CentralMassNews sites have been switched to Daily Voice layouts and styles.
"The look and functionality of the site has changed, and our advertising offering is much richer," Silverman said.
Those options include different ad sizing as well as packages in which an advertiser can sponsor a profile of a community hero. Another package gives an advertiser the ability to "recognize" an employee or community member with a small headshot at the top corner of the page.
Like GoLocal, Daily Voice's 10 reporters focus on smartphones, Facebook and Twitter because that's where it thinks its readers are looking for news.
"We believe in a 'boots-on-the- ground' approach to journalism," Silverman said. We're often covering events live and alerting readers through breaking news emails."
CentralMassNews founder and Grafton resident Jack Schofield became Daily Voice's Massachusetts publisher when he sold the company. He did not return emails seeking comment for this story.
But the Daily Voice hopes to expand.Since the acquisition, it has added a site in Southborough.
GoLocal, which has eight reporters and 15 contributors, covers local issues, too, but its coverage touches an array of broader issues, like state politics, local and Boston sports, and business and education, all with heavy emphasis on art and photos. Its front page features a news carousel that displays a mix of news and opinion pieces, including those from its so-called "Mindsetters," which include former Massachusetts House Speaker Thomas Finneran and former State Treasurer Timothy Cahill, as well as activist and former gubernatorial candidate Grace Ross.
Though he's based in Providence, Fenton keeps close track of stories in Worcester, tweeting when a larger news outlet picks up a GoLocal scoop.
The organization's coverage of the Scott Brown-Elizabeth Warren U.S. Senate race has drawn attention from the Huffington Post, The Boston Globe, Politico and others.
GoLocal's editorial staff also has an affinity for rankings — from public schools in Central Massachusetts to the best places to buy bubble tea or play miniature golf.
The Daily Voice and GoLocalWorcester are different in many ways, but they're both making a go of news on the web. The big question is: Are they profitable?
Both say they aren't, but expect to be.
The Daily Voice would not disclose revenue numbers. Silverman did say the company is not yet profitable, but he believes Daily Voice is "much closer [to profitability] than any of our competitors."
Fenton would only say that GoLocalWorcester revenue is "ahead of schedule" and said changes planned for this fall will help expand its market reach.
Advertisers Taking Note
Alan Berman, executive vice president of Davis Advertising, said GoLocal carried the credibility of its rapid growth in Providence when it came to Worcester. GoLocalProvidence reported more than 2.3-million page views in July, up more than five times over the past year.
"They did really well when they launched in Providence," Berman said. "Then they launched Worcester, and it takes time to get your name out there and gain some credibility, but they seem to be doing that."
Berman said GoLocal is getting enough ad views to attract area advertisers. He said the website seems to be a good value, though "not a steal."
He's not sure if GoLocal is drawing advertising dollars from other media in the area, but he said smart advertisers keep doing what works, and will switch from one to another if it isn't.
But he said print publications tend to have more loyal audiences who read every day. Advertisers value that too, he said.
Fenton said he's pleased with the advertising response in Worcester and feels it results from area companies' acknowledgement that people want local content on digital platforms.
Like its coverage, Daily Voice's advertising also appears to be largely hyperlocal.
Silverman said advertisers are targeting the organizations' local readers.
"This goes beyond banner ads," he said.
Read more
New Worcester News Website Debuts
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments