Andrew Huff speaks about generating advertising revenue (Photo by Michael Reilley)
Speaking to a class of 20 M.A. Journalism graduate students last week, Andrew Huff, the founder of Gapers Block, Chicago’s first community hyperlocal website, was optimistic that his version of the community forum had a bright future, despite the competition in town.
“Right now, there’s a lot of people throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks,” said Huff, who created Gapers Block with design partner Naz Hamid way back in 2003.
Seven years later, Chicago has many incarnations of the hyperlocal websites. Chicago people are determining who will control the community forums of the future and what they will look like.
The mighty Chicago Tribune, got into the game back in August 2009 with its community forum Chicago Now.
By most accounts they have been generating a large audience. The fact that the home page of the Tribune often links to Chicago Now blogs in its Around The Web section certainly helps generate traffic.
But Chicago Now has received some negative press. It has been criticized for paying their writers poorly, and for lacking innovation and purpose.
Last year, Gapers Block entered into an agreement with Chicago Now, which quickly turned sour.
Some animosity clearly remains. “A lot of it is worthless chaff,” Huff said, describing the content of his competitor. “How many times can you talk about Justin Bieber?” he asked rhetorically.
The Chicago Now section, presented by the Gapers Block team, was called On Ramp. Huff announced the end of the collaboration between the sites on New Year’s Day of this year. Continue reading
MPBaileyMp's ting 