MsinterPReted: Hyperlocal Journalism

October 13, 2023 |Allison Lester

On this episode of MsinterPReted, we discuss hyperlocal journalism. This form of journalism focuses on reporting news and information at a very local level, typically targeting specific neighborhoods and communities. It emphasizes coverage of local events, issues, and stories that directly impact the immediate vicinity, including topics like local government, community events, business updates, neighborhood developments, and other hyper-specific news that may not receive attention from larger media outletsJesse Mayshark and Scott Barker are both former journalists who also worked on the public relations side and started a hyper-local news media outlet for the city of Knoxville, called Compass.Jesse worked as a reporter and editor at the local and national level for 20 years before going into communication for Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero in 2011. Jesse worked as the editor of MetroPulse, Knoxville’s last AltWeekly. He was a copy editor and freelance music writer for the New York Times, a reporter for the Knoxville News Sentinel and Mountain Press in Sevier County.

Scott was hired as a reporter at the Knoxville News Sentinel in 1999 and has won numerous national, state and regional journalism awards as a reporter and editorial page editor.

On this episode, Jesse and Scott discuss:

  • The need for local journalism
  • Why they started Compass
  • The business model for making this type of journalism successful
  • PR blunders
  • How PR pros and journalists can better work together
  • The changing face of journalism

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