Archant plotting maps for regional news localisation

Posted by Martin Stabe on 10 May 2007 at 10:29
Tags: Archant, mapping, maps

Regional newspapers are all about providing local information. But the legacy of print distribution has meant that the information on those sites has always been tied to a distribution area radiating outward from some regional urban centre.

Suburban areas and the marginal areas between various papers’ distribution areas tend to be badly served as a result of this approach. This is part of the reasoning behind the current fashion for “hyperlocal” news sites that break down traditional distribution areas into ever-smaller units, like Teeside Gazette’s postcode-based blogs.

A more radical approach to online news localisation is possible, though. By embedding geographical metadata in stories (or geotagging), it is possible to personalise content based on the geographical location of the user, rather than the location of newsrooms or the distribution areas of various newspapers.

Regional group Archant is planning to attempt this sort of user-centric localsiation. Archant’s stable of news sites will gradually relaunch later this year with a emphasis on geotagging stories to allow them to be plotted on maps.

Archant’s local classified advertising sites already plot the location of properties on Google Maps, allowing users to zoom in on what is on offer in their area. Now they are planning to do the same for news and listings.

When the new sites go live beginning in August or September, journalists will be able to add geographical metadata — probably postcodes associated with locations mentioned in their copy — to the online version of the story. Archant development director Ian Davies says users will be able to enter their postcodes and see a news site which prioritises stories in a radius around that location.

“Once you’ve geographically tagged your stories, your ability to do hyperlocal sites is so much easier. I can create a web site for half a village if I want, because if all of the stories are tagged, they are the stories that come top of the list,” said Davies.

“I’ve long felt that people live their lives within the space that they dictate themselves. Because of the nature of print publication, we’ve had to define territories. We notice it particularly because we have titles in Norfolk and titles in Suffolk. Lots of people live ion the borders between those two counties and they choose their sphere of influence, and we force them, effectively to have one title over the other. And neither of the titles necessarily focuses on what interest them sat in the middle, or don’t deal with them adequately or in the level of priority that they would like.”

Commercially, this will help local advertisers better target readers in specific corners’ of particular newspaper brands’ distribution areas. Of course, geotagging will also allow new types of journalism, such as identifying crime hotspots based on previous reporting of crimes in particular locations.

Archant also plans to use geotagging for its local listings. Archant hope this will give users the ability to find local information without having to move over to mapping sites to find the location of events they hope to attend.

Davies said Archant’s mapping plans were inspired by mapping mashups being built by developers at regional newspapers abroad and non-newspaper local information sites that are making extensive use of geographical metadata and online mapping tools.

“There are some examples — certainly in Norway — where stories are placed on a Google Maps-type map so you can see where they are and you can narrow down and only see stories in on particular area,” he said.