Susan Brenna, reporter

Optimistic about their influence on community issues and their financial prospects, operators of hyperlocal online news sites say they plan to press ahead, according to interviews conducted as part of a national study of the sustainability of citizen media.

The study, funded by the Ford Foundation, also will include an online survey of community news site consumers and operators, said Jan Schaffer, J-Lab director (see bio).

In the study's first phase, freelance journalist Susan Brenna (see bio) interviewed operators of 31 sites. The oldest of the sites had existed for three years; the youngest for 2 months. And while they plan to stick around, they do not intend to replace – or to duplicate – traditional journalism.

"Their aspiration is not to be comprehensive necessarily," Brenna said. "And in fact, many of them are hoping that what they're doing on their sites is going to lead to better local coverage by the existing media."

"There's a lot of voice, and a lot of subjectivity," Brenna said. "But one thing that you see on these sites that you don't see a lot of in newspapers or traditional journalism is that there's also a lot of kind of naked caring and passion: 'I really care what happens in my community. I'm raising this because it means something to me and the people I know.'"

Among the findings from the first phase of the study:

• Optimism abounds. Across the 31 sites, operators and content providers were consistently positive in their thinking about the site's impact and future.
  
• One size does not fit all. Community news sites are vastly varied, ranging from sophisticated operations backed by major media operations to lone bloggers attempting to document life where they live.
  
• The future looks bright. Most site operators say they already are successful or expect to be in the near future.
  
• It's not always a numbers game. Even sites with low visitor tallies and few contributors say they think they are having an impact in their community by influencing decision makers and public discourse.
  
• The marketing challenge. Only nine of 31 sites surveyed said they had conducted any marketing to drive traffic or contributors to their sites.

Jump to other panel summaries:

•  Panel 1: New Kinds of Hyperlocal Start-ups
•  Panel 2: Solo-jos with Community Impact
•  Panel 3: Mainstream Media: Past Lessons, Future Vision
•  Panel 4: Building Sustainability
•  Panel 5: Citizen Television Correspondents
•  First Release: Highlights of Phase I,
      Ford-funded study of citizen media projects