Going local

The Washington Post's announcement that it will create a separate site to cover Loudoun County is one of the first encouraging bits of news I've seen in a while. (Somehow, the phrase "hyper local" has been applied to this trend.)

This is the result of Rob Curley's creative mind and is something smart newspaper executives will follow. The Internet has always been about local.

The difference between this effort, and others, is that there's a staff dedicated to gathering news and info. Other efforts have hoped (prayed?) that users would contribute content. They will. But only if there's a solid foundation to build on.

Another smart aspect -- creation of databases. There's countless opportunities at a local level: gas prices, church schedules, lunch menus. You name it. Communities live off this stuff.
This effort will be interesting to watch.

Update: Richard Waters has an interesting perspective on how this will work. Most important, he wonders how many other big media companies are thinking this way. My guess is few.