As a result the paper, a mid-range, quality broadsheet with a daily circulation of about 350,000 in printed form has parlayed its reach to 30 million unique users a month around the world. The paper has successfully penetrated both global news markets (through its establishment, for example, of Guardian America) and global niche markets: media – for example – through MediaGuardian, which has a big following among anyone interested in our industry, and the purchase a year or so ago, of Rafat Ali’s Paid Content, which is a strong example of a quality specialist blog (“legacy journalism” snobs should take pause when they read the number of stories Ali breaks and the depth of coverage he provides in his given beat).
As we have seen over the past several years, the Guardian has consistently been ahead of the curve compared to most big news organisations when it comes to experimenting with new media.
As a result the paper, a mid-range, quality broadsheet with a daily circulation of about 350,000 in printed form has parlayed its reach to 30 million unique users a month around the world. The paper has successfully penetrated both global news markets (through its establishment, for example, of Guardian America) and global niche markets: media – for example – through MediaGuardian, which has a big following among anyone interested in our industry, and the purchase a year or so ago, of Rafat Ali’s Paid Content, which is a strong example of a quality specialist blog (“legacy journalism” snobs should take pause when they read the number of stories Ali breaks and the depth of coverage he provides in his given beat).
Now they are at it again: yesterday the paper advertised a number of new positions – “beatbloggers” in regional centres such as Leeds, Edinburgh and Cardiff.
“The successful candidate will be a confident blogger, know their yelps from their tweets, have a passion for local news and understand how to build relationships with the local community. A journalism qualification is desirable but not essential.
Working from your home, or anywhere with WiFi, as a ‘beatblogger’ you will lead
the Guardian’s innovative approach to community news coverage in
Leeds.
This will include reporting on local meetings and events with an emphasis on
local political decision making, identifying issues of importance to local
residents and signposting information and news provided via other sources. You
will be willing to collaborate with others to create a vital resource for the
city.”
The paper has covered the story here, and you’ll see from the comments below that a fair number of cynics are accusing the Grauniad of trying to exploit the enthusiasm of its freelance bloggers – obviously it remains to be seen what their terms and conditions are. But the idea of engaging experienced, enthusiastic local bloggers to cover their beats in a new community-driven way could be a hugely valuable signpost for a model to fill the growing gap in mainstream coverage of local issues. Could it work in Australia? Who knows? Is anyone going to try it? Hmmmm.
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