A presentation on the evolution of selected highly engaged hyperlocal news sites for an industry conference in March 2012.

1. Way Beyond News:
A Template for Assessing and Meeting
a Community's Information Needs
Elaine Clisham and Ed Efchak
America East
March 2012

2. Today’s Discussion
• A new example of local information delivery
• A better understanding of customer needs across
multiple groups
• How “community” has changed in a digital
environment
• How the user now determines what is relevant
• What this means for you
• No easy answers, but lots of big questions
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3. August 27, 2011
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5. What Did You Care About?
• What’s going on in my immediate area?
• How do I separate fact from rumor?
• How can I get information quickly, especially
information that will help me stay safe?
• How can I get help/offer help?
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6. Jersey Shore Hurricane News
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7. Existing Information Sources
• Not local enough – regional or bigger in scope
• Not fast enough – local newspaper sources were seen
as too slow
• Any rapid information came from sources neither local
nor relevant – from New York or Philadelphia
• Not trustworthy – local media was regarded as
inaccurate and unreliable
• Not easily available via mobile
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8. Hurricane Irene and JSHN Launch:
23 August – 30 August 2011
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9. Hurricane Irene and JSHN Launch:
23 August – 30 August 2011
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10. Vermont Flooding 2011
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12. 12

13. 13

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24. Jersey Shore Hurricane News
26,395 like this
3,406 talking about this
From hurricanes to trusted local source:
What has JSHN become?
17 February 2012 24

25. JSHN Today
• Weather briefings
• Traffic updates
• Breaking local news and emergencies
• Local assistance
• Community sharing and outreach
• Good news about local places
• A community discussion board
… MANY items shared by Facebook fans!
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26. Jersey Shore Hurricane News
“A bottom-up, two-way news outlet, JSHN is news
for the people, by the people. JSHN covers weather
emergencies, major breaking news, traffic incidents,
and silver/amber alerts. JSHN is also a community
resource (events, missing dogs, etc).”
Some examples…
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35. A Facebook Page
with Engagement
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36. Jersey Shore Hurricane News
Compared With Selected Media
Facebook Pages
Facebook
“Likes”
News 12 New Jersey 90,343
Palm Beach Post 27,410
JERSEY SHORE HURRICANE NEWS 26,350
Newsday 24,589
Pittsburgh Post Gazette 17,189
Dallas Morning News 15,216
Bangor Daily News 14,501
Chicago Reader 11,026
Orange County Register 11,010
Press of Atlantic City 10,062
Albany Times Union 8,267
Asbury Park Press 7,186
Philadelphia Inquirer 6,484
Bergen Record 1,221
20 Feb 2012 36

37. Jersey Shore Hurricane News
Compared With Selected Media
Facebook Pages
Facebook
“Talking About”
News 12 New Jersey 3,874
JERSEY SHORE HURRICANE NEWS 2,028
Palm Beach Post 1,446
Newsday 1,488
Pittsburgh Post Gazette 1,120
Dallas Morning News 427
Bangor Daily News 1,284
Chicago Reader 269
Orange County Register 459
Press of Atlantic City 642
Albany Times Union 334
Asbury Park Press 994
Philadelphia Inquirer 540
Bergen Record 44
23 Feb 2012 15:02 EST 37

38. JSHN Has Evolved Into Far More
Than Its Weather Emergency Origin
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39. JSHN Averages 88 Posts / Day Driven by Weather,
Breaking News, and Traffic
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40. Examples of “Breaking News” Reporting
on Jersey Shore Hurricane News
• Phone outage in Hunterdon County
• Homeless tent fire in Lakewood (Ocean)
• Fire in Glen Rock (Bergen)
• Vandals in Toms River park (Ocean)
• Shooting /Woodbridge Center (Middlesex)
• Robbery suspect in Asbury Park (Monmouth)
• Fire in Hoboken (Hudson)
• Edison transformer fire (Middlesex)
• Fire in South Plainfield (Union)
• Burglary in Jackson (Ocean)
• Assault in Cliffside Park (Bergen)
• Military artillery live fire training at Ft Dix
(Burlington)
• Warning of sex offender in Buena Vista (Ocean)
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• Missing child /Manahawkin (Ocean)

41. The JSHN Community
• 75% Women
• Families
• Commuters
• Age Group 25 - 44
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42. Hearing The Voice of the JSHN Customer
• Created a website specific to the project
http://communityneeds.wordpress.com
• Site content audit conducted daily February 12 – March 9
• Conducted two waves of survey research
• 62 Individuals responded to our initial digital site inquiry
• 132 follow up interviews conducted
• Conducted February-March 2012
• Other research efforts
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43. Digital Survey Research
• Site/page utilization
• Overall satisfaction
• “Jobs” or “needs” definitions
• “Community” definitions
• Participative role within the community
• Level of engagement
• Demographics and behaviors
• Site options (monetization, etc.)
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44. JSHN:
Basic Premises
• News that can delivered and used
immediately
• Information I can trust
• I can contribute to this community
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45. What we asked:
You’re here because you have a relationship with Jersey
Shore Hurricane News; because they provide you with
something you don’t feel like you get anywhere else.
What is that?
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46. Customer Needs/JTBD:
“Give me information I can use right now”
“It’s great to have a real-time
connection like this”
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47. Customer Needs/JTBD:
“Give me information I can use right now”
“Local news as it happens. Community
collaboration and information.”
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48. Customer Needs/JTBD:
“Give me information I can use right now”
“Current, up to the minute local news
information. A sense of community in
reporting coming from multiple sources.”
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49. Customer Needs/JTBD:
“Give me information I can use right now”
“Up to date EXTREMELY local news
concerning not just big headlines,
but issues that affect us directly (lost
pets, people in need of help, etc.)
It helps bring the people to the
forefront, and really get things done
rather than just report events. It's
a great sounding board for up to
the minute news directly from the
mouths of those in our area.”
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50. Customer Needs/JTBD:
“Give me information I know I can trust”
“The information has never been wrong.
As with any business you obtain customers
by forming a trust with them. If you break
that trust you will lose them. There has
never been a story on the page that created
any sort of negative buzz. Many times I
notice the source is even cited.”
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51. Customer Needs/JTBD:
“Give me information I know I can trust”
“There seems to be a level of trust
among the members of this group
that monitors what’s posted and
discourages false and misleading
information.”
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52. Customer Needs/JTBD:
“Give me information I know I can trust”
“It is trustworthy because we all have a
vested interest in providing precise
information on subjects that we have
knowledge in. The fact that it is a
“user”-supported venue of information
brings forth the best in all of us ... we
are there to help each other.”
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53. Customer Needs/JTBD:
“Give me an opportunity to participate in a
community that is important to me”
“A community that I can relate to and
communicate with in an adult manner
as opposed to ‘trolls’ on many other
forums such as the comment section
of an online newspaper.”
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54. Customer Needs/JTBD:
“Give me an opportunity to participate in a
community that is important to me”
“Local traffic, alternate routes, weather,
local events and people that I care about
because they are here in my neighborhood.
All of these things are reported by my
neighbors who also care about our
community as much as I do. My only info
link during Hurricane Irene was JSHN. I was
able to ask questions of my neighbors who
stayed behind while we evacuated.”
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55. Customer Needs/JTBD:
“Give me an opportunity to participate in a
community that is important to me”
“I feel it is my duty to post information
if it is relevant to the community of
JSHN…”
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56. What we asked:
Why do you stay connected to Jersey
Shore Hurricane News even now that
there is no weather emergency?
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57. Customer Needs/JTBD:
“Give me news that is relevant to me right now”
“It is literally news from the source
from the people who see things
happening with their own eyes ...
uncensored and minor issues that
aren’t pushed to the back burner like
other news outlets.”
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58. Customer Needs/JTBD:
“Give me news that is relevant to me right now”
“It the most up to date and relevant to
me and my family. I trust my
neighbors more than the other semi-
local media outlets.”
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59. Customer Needs/JTBD:
“Give me news that is relevant to me right now”
“[I rarely get local community
information] from newspapers
because quite frankly, it's very
‘yesterday’ in what it portrays.”
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60. How has this happened?
• Traditional newsmedia organizations do not trust
people.
• Traditional newsmedia organizations are afraid to take
risks, do new or different things.
• Traditional newsmedia organizations are not structured
to be fast.
• Traditional newsmedia organizations have forgotten
what it’s like to be the customer.
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61. JSHN and Vermont Flooding
succeeded because …
• Traditional newsmedia organizations see only
audiences – they do not see contributors or partners
• These sites welcomed readers as active creators; they
already have trust in the community
• Legacy journalism is perceived as farther from the
source: farther = less value
• In today’s world, the connection among audience
members is what gives content its value
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62. Social Media has Changed the Paradigm
• JSHN is an example of, and capitalized on, the way people live
their lives today; it never had to change the way it operated
• JSHN is a perfect example of unique local news, a key reader
interest driver
• JSHN’s value is in streams/always on, always there; will have
(or can get) critical information when you need it
• JSHN makes you feel you are part of what happens/you are
there; your contribution is valuable to other community
members
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63. News flash:
The Internet isn’t the problem
“ … crappy newspaper executives
are a bigger threat to journalism’s future
than any changes wrought by the Internet.”
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64. News flash:
The Internet isn’t the problem
“The biggest threats to newspapers aren’t just
their familiar revenue problems and ever-
proliferating competitors, but also the
opportunity costs of failing to innovate more
boldly — to be transformative, not incremental,
in moving forward.”
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65. The Real Issue for Newsmedia Organizations
is in How Little Information has Personal Relevance
Detailed Content Analysis of
One New Jersey Daily Newspaper Folio
January 29- February 10, 2012
ABOUT ONE-THIRD OF THE CONTENT IS “NEWS VALUE-ADDED”
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66. Refocusing today’s resources
CONTRACT OUT/
Adds
OUTSOURCE/ INVEST RESOURCES
great
AUTOMATE
value
MAXIMIZE
OUTSOURCE/ EFFICIENCIES/
STREAMLINE/ STANDARDIZE
STOP DOING IT STOP DOING IT
Adds
little
value
Someone must do it ONLY we can do it
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67. Refocusing tomorrow’s resources
• What will be key growth drivers in three years?
• How much am I investing in them now?
• What will be irrelevant?
• How much am I investing in those things now?
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68. Chances are …
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69. Implications
• The need for “tech-knowledgy” staff and future
thinkers – a training responsibility
• The reallocation of staff and other resources to
new opportunities – for example, to mine and
cultivate this community to be truly “many :
many”
• The importance of measuring the right metrics,
not taking no for an answer
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70. Lessons for all of us
• We have forgotten how to be our customer (reader
or business)
• Our job today is to provide information that will
help our customer— regardless of where it comes
from originally. It’s no longer one : many and we
are The Source.
• Aggregation/curation from many sources is a key
service
• What we think is news might not be important
information
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71. Some bad signs
• You don’t have control any more
• You don’t have much trust
• You’re over-investing in the present,
and under-investing in the future
• You’re not looking for unmet needs
• You’re not seeking ways to grow community
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72. How the “Vermont Flooding” Community Grew
• Passive/lurker
• Shared experience => photo contributions:
“I can add value/makes me a member”
• Seek expertise from the crowd: “Is this road open?”
• Ability to provide expertise => greater value
• Self-organize to help => shared activity => belonging
• Celebrations (rituals)
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73. What’s next for us
• Answers varied widely on whether community members
would pay, but many wouldn’t and all thought it would
lower participation
• Therefore, need to identify revenue streams that don’t
hinder engagement!
– Audience: Offline conversations and events
– Businesses: How do they want to be connected with
their customers?
• Also need to develop success metrics that reflect engagement
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74. What’s next for you
• What are the important conversation-drivers
in your community?
• How can you facilitate those conversations?
• How can you liberate resources:
– Nimbleness
– Future investment
• How can you build your community?
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75. Elaine R. Clisham
http://eclisham.net
eclisham@gmail.com
Edward Efchak
www.customersbydesign.com
eefchak@gmail.com
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