Keeping a Citizens’ Eye on the local news

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting John Coster, the editor of Citizens’ Eye, a local newsagency in Leicester that is at the forefront of the ‘hyperlocal’ revolution in journalism. Unlike traditional local reporting, Citizens’ Eye is staffed by an army of volunteers local to the patch that they cover – who thanks to modern technology, can do with one mobile phone what used to take a reporter, a photographer and countless other members of staff.

Recently Citizens’ Eye have started using ipadio to report on events, and get audio online in the fastest way possible – and there are some exciting plans for the future too.

Many analysts are predicting that hyperlocal journalism will be the future of local journalism – with the business models for local newspapers no longer proving sustainable, due to changes such as classified ads moving online – so I’m delighted to see a project in my hometown in Leicester blazing a trail for the rest to follow!

If you’re a journalist, or are involved in a hyperlocal project, and would like to find out how to use ipadio, you can always drop me a line on james.omalley@ipadio.com.

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