News is changing. In a fundamental way. And that’s no big secret. But, what news is changing into is still up the air. And it looks like with NPR’s (National Public Radio) latest move, they’re betting on the answer being “local”.
National Public Radio recently debuted its Argo Network, an online venture created solely to produce in-depth local coverage. Let’s say you live in Chicago. Chicago news is probably very relevant for you. But if you’re in the Chicago suburbs, not as much. And sure, your town may have a local paper, but come on. That’s not really the level of journalism you’re looking for.
National Public Radio’s local-focused news site swill still cover a wide range of topics, including global health, climate change, public safety, politics, gentrification, education, military, immigration and music. But each local Argo station will choose its focus based on relevancy to the local area.
There are stories about local papers doing something similar to this. A local paper in Texas who claims they wouldn’t write about a nuclear bomb in New York unless the ash landed in their city. They also try to put as many townspeople’s names in their paper as possible. They’re the first generation of personalized news. And NPR’s Argo network looks to be the next.
Each Argo site will feature an online news blog, that allows for community participation and audience engagement. But as cool as I think this next level is, doesn’t your Facebook wall already skip this one and go straight to the hyper-personalized news level?