AR&D Reinventing Local Media

After years of careful planning, Media General’s NBC affiliate in Raleigh, WNCN-TV, has quietly launched what is one of the most creative and exciting approaches to relevant and hyperlocal information anywhere on the Web. MyNC.com is a highly organized portal featuring user and staff-generated content from even the smallest communities in the area. The site launched earlier this spring with just one neighborhood but has expanded since to include a big chunk of the overall market. There’s no reason it can’t eventually cover the entire state of North Carolina.

The brainchild of WNCN President and General Manager Barry Leffler, the pioneering idea was funded by Media General in hopes of discovering new business opportunities. It’s one of the few new enterprises I’ve seen coming from a local media company that really hits a business development home run. The site aggregates content from the entire region and isn’t branded as a part of the TV station.

Content is king when it comes to hyperlocal, and Leffler’s approach was to assign staffers to deal directly with each community to prime the pump and find contributors. These employees are called “Community Content Liaisons,” and they are a key to the success of the entire project.

WNCN has also re-engineered its entire operation, and that was designed to fit with the new portal. WNCN still maintains its own traditional website. Leffler answered a few questions about the project via email.

What is the general vision behind the site? What are you trying to accomplish?

While there are a huge number of sources for national and world news — and a good amount of places for people to get regional (DMA) news (i.e. local television, newspaper, radio) — there is no one source that people can go to daily for news and information about their hyper-local community. The initial websites that make up MyNC.com are designed to do just that — aggregate content, from both the professional media and from members of the community, together in one place.

What are “Community Content Liaisons” and what do they do?

Our Community Content Liaisons are responsible for being our eyes and ears in the community. They are helping us listen to what a community’s needs are so we can respond accordingly. They then work within the local communities to facilitate content for the sites.

Is this something that is uniquely Raleigh or do you think it could be duplicated elsewhere?

We have a great theory that is off to a terrific start, but only time will tell if it is a great idea in practice! With that said, this is absolutely an idea that should travel with the right set-up and support. While not branded as a product of WNCN, the changes we have made to our newsroom structure work hand-in-hand with this new market brand/product.

The site is constantly evolving and will soon have a new home page. I encourage you to take a few minutes to navigate the site, for it really is an excellent approach to meeting the information needs of people throughout the community.