Comment by MetaWhirledPeas
4 years ago
> How does one incentivize this?
"Local influencers" needs to become a thing, if it isn't already. That's the answer to the local news problem. If you want to know how to become a successful influencer just ask the popular kids at a school. Yes quality of content matters, but there's a mystical charisma component at the center of it.
Once local influencers have been established in an area then quality can gradually take on more of a role. Those who provide sensationalistic news will get their crowd, but some (hopefully those with citations, less sensationalism, and less bias) will eventually gain the status of "trustworthy". And over time some will gain enough popularity to start looking more like a normal business again, with local sponsorships and the whole thing.
This may seem a bit depressing at first but it's completely normal. As publication relies less and less on expensive machinery and elaborate organizations it will naturally gravitate toward individuals. Conglomerates like Sinclair only exist to pick on the carcasses of dead mediums.
> "Local influencers" needs to become a thing, if it isn't already. That's the answer to the local news problem
If that's the answer, then I hope the whole industry curls up and dies now. If you want me to pay a single cent for trash like that, you'd have to stick a gun in my face.
I'm just being a realist, and I'm not suggesting people will pay. I realize "influencer" is a trigger word, but not all of them are Tik Tok dancers and vapid teens. I lump people like YouTubers in here. They've learned how to make money from sponsorships, and maybe that sort of thing can happen at a local level too. And hopefully with written media of some sort (written, not printed... so blogs).