Should Hyperlocal be Hyperniche?


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](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/north_east/8226054.stm) to the [*Daily Mail*](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1209744/Ewe-joking-Record-breaking-sheep-sells-Ferrari.html). But where was it broken?

On the [*Farmer’s Weekly* livestock and sales blog](http://www.fwi.co.uk/blogs/livestock-and-sales-blog/2009/08/lanark-texels-hit-220000gns.html), that’s where. But it was the above photo that [really got the commenters](http://www.fwi.co.uk/blogs/livestock-and-sales-blog/2009/08/world-record-220000gns-texel-b.html) 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.