Daily Voice: There Is Twitter
May 12, 2013
I read “Daily Voice Bankruptcy Is a Setback for Hyperlocal News.” The key is “hyperlocal.” The idea is that people in a locale want news and information about that particular area. Sounds good and makes sense. I live in Harrod’s Creek, Kentucky, and I don’t know what’s going on at the local college. After the fact, I might learn about a lecture or a musical event.
Monetizing good ideas is tough unless a person or an institution just gathers the information and posts it on a Web page which few may see. Hyperlocal doesn’t work where folks don’t read all that much (rural Kentucky) or where there isn’t much news because there is no local college (again Harrod’s Creek). But New York and Connecticut? Slam dunk. Smart people like those who work at Bloomberg and Goldman Sachs and similar outfits. Lots of real universities.
According to either Fortune or CNN Money:
Tucker blames the bankruptcy filing on a lawsuit filed last year by some former reporters who claim they were incorrectly classified as “exempt” from being paid overtime. The company, formerly known as Main Street Connect LLC, “does not have the financial wherewithal” to continue fighting the lawsuit,” and that it is scaring off potential investors, Tucker said in court papers. The company says its legal costs are already at $500,000, and that it is relying on debt to finance operations. Tucker says he has lent the company $250,000 of its $550,000 of secured debt. Its total debt is $867,000, and its assets are worth less than $400,000. Its remaining local sites drew about 437,000 unique visitors in March, for an average of less than 11,000 each.
Yep, staff and readers – definitely a potential problem. A setback for sure.
My view? There’s Twitter.
Stephen E Arnold, May 12, 2013
Sponsored by Augmentext which is not a two way service like some real information systems headquartered in the same region as the Daily Voice
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