The Times and the New York Times shine spotlight on Hyperlocals

It isn’t every day the editor gets a call from the New York Times or The Times UK. 

Given the interest in the decline in journalism – news coverage at a local level it seems that hyperlocal news is news. 

The pervasive view of industry experts and politicians UK wide is that the news industry is on a steady downward trajectory. 

I won’t go into the long and rather depressing details here but suffice to say you have more chance of seeing Elvis than a local reporter in Llanelli or many other towns and villages across Wales unless there happens to be someone with an axe in their back sipping on a can of Felinfoel and toking on a joint with twelve children in tow and a badly treated dog with one leg. 

Not one to bang on about the merits of our own modest outfit we have just got on with the job in hand and reported what we consider good old fashioned local news along with any national or international stories we believe you our readers would like to read. 

For a number of years now we have been campaigning and giving evidence to countless politicians, university researchers and committees. Our evidence is merely how we see the state of media in Wales. 

As with anything like beetroot flavoured custard there is a time when it is en vogue and on the lips of those sitting at the top tables bedecked in gold and bestowed with honours. If one is not in the know on some contemporary issue one can find oneself slightly embarrassed and call for the passing of the port just to divert attention. 

Here at Llanelli Online and Wales News Online we rarely make the news so it has come as a pleasant surprise to family, friends and supporters that on Saturday July 16 The Times Leader contained a piece written by Jake Kanter on this very humble and extremely busy news service. 

Jake called and we had a long chat about the media industry and to his credit apart from an erroneous reference to me as a former builder the article is an excellent overview of what is happening now on the political stage where a lot of eyes appear to be fixed on an overhaul of the media industry. 

The New York Times Article by Claire Moses and articles in The Journalist, the Press Gazette and Hold the Front Page have also focussed on what we do. If that does not whet your appetite you can read our very own OurStory on the subject of hyperlocal news. 

After a day at the Royal Welsh Show where we spoke with the First Minister and shone a light on the plight of local farmers we would safely offer a completely unbiased view by saying, you have to be in it to win it.