Grassroots Web site in Denver model for future?

By Marcelo Duran
Associate Editor

The (Denver) Rocky Mountain News last month rolled out a wide-ranging grassroots journalism initiative that could set the stage for how newspapers compete in today’s fractured media landscape.

The scheme, dubbed YourHub.com, is both a Web site and companion weekly print edition touted by Rocky Mountain News Publisher and Editor John Temple as a “virtual town square.”

“We expect people already involved in community life, whether through sports or clubs or social organizations, schools or churches, to be especially active on YourHub.com,” he said.

The site is portioned into 40 specific home pages for each community in the seven-county Denver metro area. Access is free, and users do not have to subscribe to the News to view stories or calendar events. But users must register before they can contribute to the site.

“They can write their own stories, post as many photos as they want, share their opinions on any topic and sell things,” Temple said.

In addition, the site is peppered with myriad information features such as volunteer requests and local calendars to help keep citizens informed about events and opportunities in their own backyard.

Positive reaction

The Rocky Mountain News is also providing editorial content for the YourHub.com sites through a dedicated staff separate from the newsroom.

The Denver Newspaper Agency, which publishes the News and The Denver Post through a joint operating agreement, is handling distribution and advertising for both the online and print editions of YourHub.com, according to Fran Willis, vice president of interactive and product development.

“Advertising will include retail and classified display and liner ads in print,” she said. “Online will include online versions of all the print advertising as well as online-only banners, contextual ads and transaction-enabled classified liners where users can sell their merchandise online through an auction, negotiated or fixed price.”

Temple said the newspaper registered more than 1,400 users in the first 24 hours after it launched the sites and reported 15,000 page views over the first two days.

“Whenever I explain YourHub.com in the community, I only get positive reactions,” he said.

The weekly print editions, the first of which were distributed in late May, spotlight the best stories on each YourHub.com site, Temple said.

By August, the News plans to print 15 editions, which will be inserted in both the News and The Post.

DNA has promoted YourHub.com in both papers as well as ads on cable television and Denver movie theaters.

“We have yard signs and flyers, and there will be a whole effort to do grassroots marketing including branded cameras, water bottles, sunscreen, baseball caps and soccer balls that will be distributed at community events,” Temple said.

Many sources

Temple said the primary role of the staff working on the site is to provide links to content that readers may find valuable.

“If you want to know when the library is open, you can go to YourHub.com, but we also link to every news story we can find about every community.”

This is one of the radical aspects of YourHub.com, Temple said, since the site is not giving preference on a regular basis to stories produced by YourHub.com staff.

“Our goal is to be a hub, a place where readers can come and find out everything they need to know about their local community. So we link to everybody, including Rocky competitors, in addition to generating our own stories and content.”

Currently the Web site has 10 full-time editorial employees, with plans to add more. There are three advertising staff and DNA’s interactive team has two full-time people working on YourHub.com with one from marketing.

The News’ YourHub.com is the latest in a series of attempts made by companies to encourage public participation. One of the most successful, Korea’s OhmyNews.com, reportedly attracts more than 2 million readers a day and has more than 26,000 registered citizen journalists.