Should Hyperlocal be Hyperniche?

I’d like to share something with you. Something that has made me very happy. Something, in fact, about sheep. This sheep, in particular:

You see, this “tup”, as the livestock breeders call ’em, was sold for a staggering £230,000 yesterday, a story that’s being covered from the BBC to the Daily Mail.

But where was it broken?

On the Farmer’s Weekly livestock and sales blog, that’s where. But it was the above photo that really got the commenters going.

I mention this, both because I think it’s a fun story, and because I think that blog in particular illustrates something that I think is missed in much thinking about the future of news. We keep talking about hyperlocal, and that’s a thought process that’s rooted in the geographic nature of most newspaper circulations, particularly in the US. What our experience in RBI is teaching us is that hyperlocal is just a subset of hyperniche – and that there are many niches calling our for good, community-focused journalism.

Something to chew on over the bank holiday weekend. With some mint sauce.