Devoted to online marketing, viral marketing, and web marketing

An upcoming Baltimore news Web site scheduled to launch in the spring of 2007 may represent a glimpse into what the future of local online news could become.

While the site will have all the typical text, audio and video news bites, what makes it somewhat unique is that it's combining a group of professionals that will enlist the input of citizen journalists in a certain way.

Sean Carton, chief strategy officer for Charm City online consultancy idfive said, "For example, you might have professionals writing about a zoning issue, but citizens providing photos and their personal perspectives."
 
Carton added, "The point is not to create a printed newspaper online but to do something that couldn't possibly be done on paper."

I do like the last point he makes, as so many print newspapers only transfer their print content to the web, not really doing a lot different than they are offline.

While none of the above is exactly compelling, what is important to me and online marketers is the local news focus. I think that this area has a lot of potential for online success; it is a vastly underserved market that could be tapped from city to city across the country. It also has potential in a lot of localities in a number of countries.

I'm not sure the model of professionals doing the majority of the content with people adding support material will have much value, as people can already do much more than that online. The factor that is important is the local one. Sometimes people will react differently in connection to local fare than national or international.

I do believe that local news markets will become a huge business in the next decade online. Those that are attracted to this type of business should do very well. People that do it right could take a large share from a lot of the existing online local news sites.