Written By Drupad Sil | July 30, 2007 | Share This |

As reported by Mathew Ingram at reportonbusiness.com, Vancouver-based journalism site NowPublic has raised $10.6 million in funding from Rho Ventures/Rho Canada, Brightspark, and the Working Opportunity Fund. The windfall increases the company’s resources to $12.5 million in all.

A self-described “crowd powered” site, NowPublic uses citizen journalism to produce its local news content. Founded in 2005, NowPublic claims more than 100,000 members spread across 140 countries, generating over a million monthly unique visits.

The company plans to utilize the funding to several ends, including expanding its technology, making it easier to submit news tips and photos from mobile devices, and compensating members for certain stories. Though NowPublic is currently partnered with the Associated Press, they’re also in partnership discussions with 7 to 10 major organizations.

NowPublic’s mainstream media partnerships and recent funding sets it apart from other local news competitors like Bayosphere and the recently folded Backfence. The company attributes its resilience to more than just its larger media friends, however. Liz Gannes at GigaOM interviewed NowPublic CEO Len Brody last week:

“‘I’m not a believer in local anymore,’ said Brody. ‘I used to think that hyperlocal was what mattered to people, but for 35 and under especially, the concept of local is very different. Like Facebook publishing the news feed… it’s changed from hyperlocal to hyperpersonal.’ Weather, traffic, and crime are important, but they’re commodities, he said, adding local politics might be the exception, but nobody cares about them anymore.”

NowPublic’s “crowd power” supplies that hyperpersonal edge, by allowing multiple users to contribute different content on the same story. Editors at NowPublic then consolidate all the smaller, personalized parts to create a whole picture. This reporting process works especially well during large scale events, wherein event participats contribute news through ongoing, real-time updates. From Nick Gonzalez at TechCrunch:

“NowPublic seems to work best in times of crisis where it can serve as a hub for reports from people on the ground. During Hurricane Katrina, the site received over 2,000 people writing and posting about what was going on. NowPublic also reportedly broke news in the Virginia Tech shooting, the grounding of an Alaskan ferry, a bombing drill gone wrong in New Jersey and a murder in Vancouver.”

Not everyone agrees, however, with the usefulness and growth potential of NowPublic. Donna Bogatin at Insider Chatter dismissed NowPublic’s chances at becoming a notable news agency:

“What IS a news agency? Encyclopedia Britannica: “organization that gathers, writes and distributes news from around a nation or the world to newspapers, periodicals, radio and television broadcasters, government agencies…”

NowPublic is operating in the exact opposite fashion, however. NowPublic “contributors” are not generally posting original, primary-sourced “news”: NowPublic “news” stories appear to be predominately of the derivative blogging style ilk, merely “borrowed” cut and pastes of ”news” stories originally reported by real, professional news reporting organizations and/or other blogs.

Whichever way your opinion lies, there’s no denying that $10.6 million is a sizable donation for a startup website. Though NowPublic may not meet the Encyclopedia definition of a “news agency”, its success to date suggests that crowd-sourcing is a truly powerful way of covering local news.

Topics: International, Publishing, Social Media |