Tag: Citizen Journalism

Local blogs for neighbourhood managers in Handsworth and Birchfield

Screenshot: Be Heard in Birchfield website

Let me introduce you to two new blogs about neighbourhoods in Birmingham, both run by public servants

Hands on Handsworth is written by Tracey Thorne – the neighbourhood manager for Handsworth in Birmingham. Be Heard in Birchfield is being nurtured by Yvonne Wager – the neighbourhood manager for that particular part of the city. (Click here to see Tracey’s explanation of neighbourhood management.)

Both Yvonne and Tracey are in jobs funded by Be Birmingham – the local strategic partnership. They were inspired to start a neighbourhood blog by their colleague Kate Foley who had been running Life in Lozells – a site set up originally to address the problem of all the bad news you find when googling Lozells. Kate explains in more detail in this video made by the Chamberlain Forum.

What do they do?

They talked to us about helping them develop these sites during the social media surgeries we ran in Lozells last year. Both are built on WordPress with some changes to the backend that make it a little easier to blog and listen to what the web is saying about your neighbourhood.

There’s also a simple events system with mapping, and the sites include a facility to easily turn plans into commentable  consultation docs. We also provide a service that ensures the software stays updated, plugins don’t clash etc, plus training and support on using it well.

Tracey is a natural – she really enjoys writing for the site and is on a roll. Yvonne is equally enthusiastic but needs a different sort of support, so it is taking a little longer.

Why bother?

The sites are the neighbourhood managers’ home in a wider web conversation. It’s only fledgling at this stage. The point is that over time they help the neighbourhood managers share information, ask questions, pool expertise and begin to collaborate in new ways with their community.  I’m not convinced they should attempt to become THE site for their neighbourhood.

Such an idea concerns me, because if THE site gets switched off or someone begins using it to be self-serving that’s a problem for the whole neighbourhood. Instead I’m interested in how we can nurture a range of online resources and voices in a place. These blogs form  part of that process – providing a tool that can also help neighbourhood managers link to and encourage the wider conversation.

What do you think?

It will take time and patience for these sites to bed in – but what do you think? Could you encourage them by commenting a post or do you have any advice for Yvonne or Tracey?

Why maps will become THE way we pool very local information.

I think it is only a matter of time before we switch from hyperlocal blogging to hyperlocal “mapping”.

Below is a short TED2010 talk from Blaise Aguera y Arcas of Microsoft Live Labs.

He is demonstrating augmented-reality mapping technology from Microsoft. It’s quite a substantial extension from where Google appears to be just at the moment and shows glimpses of great possibilities.

If you serve neighbourhoods,  interested in very local media or work for a news organisation, whether press, web or broadcast then it may be worth sparing a few minutes to watch this:

December Central Birmingham Social Media Social

Our brains are fried, we’ve done a bunch of great social media stuff… it’s time to kick back and have a chat with friends we have met through the Birmingham Social Media Surgeries this year.

Our December Social Media Surgery is going to focus mainly on the ‘social‘ part of ‘social media’. It’s a great chance to come a meet other people who have been to surgeries in Birmingham, discuss your ideas and work, and hopefully go away feeling supported and inspired for the new year.

The Social Media Social will take place on Tuesday 15th December from 5pm – 7.30pm at the studio on 7 Cannon Street, Birmingham, B2 5EP (link to map).

Talkbar Bar Area
Photo: Edward Moss

The lovely people at thestudio are letting us take over their bar area free of charge – all the more reason to buy another drink or two. They are located right in the centre of Birmingham and couldn’t be easier to get too (see directions below).

Feel free to drop-in anytime during the evening. There’ll be no agenda and it is up to you whether you come to share and show ideas, or just socialise. It is a space for voluntary groups, organisations to chat and get to know each other. Whether you’ve been to a surgery before or are interested in finding out more about what we do – all are welcome. We’d also love it if the surgeons (our voluntary social media experts) who have helped over the year come along too.

If you want to let us know you’re coming, – sign-up using the form on the BeVocal site here. Or just turn up on the night.

How do I get there? From New Street Station walk down the ramp out of the Pallasades, turn left onto New Street (past H&M) and Cannon Street is the first road on the right. Thestudios are further up on the right (opposite Jigsaw), and the restaurant is on the second floor.

Find out what normally happens at a Social Media Surgery here.

Hyperlocal news models

This is the third post in our series from the C&binet conference on what the government should do about hyperlocal. Highly developed in the US, Rachel Sterne from GroundReport presented four types of hyperlocal news models.


US Hyperlocal News Market –

Whether networked or single locality journalism, hyperlocal start-ups all have some sort of editorial position and a hierarchy and production system which favours skilled editor roles. The voluntary start-ups often have an authentic and raw feel, but can be inconsistent in maintenance (thus professionalism) and attract small audiences. Hyperlocal sites which have a media parent, such as the recently launched Guardian Local and Associated Press’ Local People sites provide an instant audience, content pool, and access to the technology and resources, but can lack innovation which is prohibited by the internal politics of the media legacy of the publisher which need to be followed.

Models from the US showed how giving content providers (who write and upload articles voluntarily) a platform to publish content rewards them with being pitched next to writers on a site which give them credibility and an impetus to work hard. Similarly deputised editors will work on the basis they feel privileged to have access and control over content. GroundReport and The Huffington Post are good examples of this.

The final slide in the presentation on hyperlocal models shows government funded sites while delivering high quality of coverage would gain limited audience and less sustainable.