Hyperlocal news operation Backfence.com to close down

The ambitious citizen journalism venture Backfence.com is closing down.

Paul Fahri has an excellent look at what went wrong and the financial prospects of citizen journalism site in the American Journalism Review:

"The failure of Backfence may offer no greater lesson than the old one about pioneers being the ones with arrows in their backs. New ventures fail all the time. But it could also sound a cautionary note about the present--and immediate future--of hyperlocal news sites. As big-media companies and entrepreneurs alike rush into the hyperlocal arena, it's worth pausing and asking: Is there a real business in this kind of business?

Jul 09, 2007 | E-MAIL | SAVE | PRINT | PERMALINK | DISCUSS(0)

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