Information…stone tablets, ink, scrolls, pamphlets, Gutenberg, movable type, news print, radio, television, internet.

The way information has been stored, processed and presented over the centuries has changed dramatically. Each step in the development of how information is shared has made information available to exponentially more people. If I am so inclined, in this day and age, I can easily access current weather and late-breaking news for most anywhere in the world. Even 20 years ago the average citizen would have gone to great lengths to gather this information. Imagine how hard it was 50, 100 or 500 years ago.

We are now entering a new phase in the way news is gathered and presented. It goes by many names: citizen journalism; participatory journalism; people journalism. My favorite incarnation of this new type of news is known by the term “hyperlocal”. As a blogger this term is particularly pertinent. Hyperlocal, as I define it, is news that takes place at a local level under the radar of most media sources (tv, newspapers). The web, and more specifically, the blogsphere is bringing this new type of journalism to the forefront.

Cell phones, coupled with their built-in cameras and the ability to post to a blog or website from anywhere, have made it so “citizen journalists” beat the major media outlets in breaking a story by several minutes and in some cases, several hours. Who better to report on an event that someone who actually saw it happen?

Print newspapers will cease to serve a purpose. Print magazines might survive. News is changing and so are the people who bring it to you.

This article, in the current issue of Wired, gives a glimpse into the hyperlocal future.

Filed under: Cultural Curiositites, F.Y.I.