A platform for the future of local news died today
A dream of a new future for local news took a blow Sunday when the conceptual platform Village failed to meet its crowdfund goal.
About $10,000 was raised from 228 backers, short of a $25,000 goal.
The idea came from Brooklyn-based Bushwick Daily, which has run an online magazine for the New York neighborhood since 2010. The new platform would have included loyalty rewards program for local shoppers.
Village joins CrowdNews and BirdSpin, two other platforms that failed to reach funding goals this week.
Funding from the Village campaign would have gone toward payment of coders and designers and the like. The product of that work would be used by Bushwick Daily and made available to other small or local online news outlets.
Beacon Reader championed the idea in an email to users earlier this week.
“If it works, it could be a model that comes to your neighborhood, too!” the email reads. “Their coverage isn’t just for Bushwick residents, though – it’s for all local news enthusiasts. As local news struggles through some of the hardest times in journalism, Bushwick Daily is at the forefront, seeking a solution to keep community-based storytelling alive.”
A bubbly, GIF-jammed post by Bushwick Daily founder Katarina Hybenova explains the idea in more detail.
