Grassroots journalism in your own backyard: How citizen reporters build hyperlocal communities

Americans are flocking to the Internet for news and information. However, the majority of online journalism targets a national audience, thereby lacking a proximate focus.;Hyperlocal media sites---online news outlets that form small, virtual communities of citizen reporters to cover real-world, geographic spaces---are multiplying on the web. The sites aspire to bring neighborhood news to the net through the work of citizen journalists.;In order to further investigate the emerging grassroots media phenomenon, the researcher conducted interviews with hyperlocal practitioners. In the pages that follow, the insider perspective behind hyperlocal media will be illumed through the eyes of the pioneers who aim to change the very definition of journalism