Another way
The internet has empowered people to publish news on websites encouraging "citizen journalism".
Quality and reliable journalism becomes an issue as everyone is a potential journalist.
Some hyperlocal sites have developed in small areas, managing to combine quality journalism with financial viability.
Technology enables citizens to act as journalistsLondon-se1.co.uk was established in 1998 by journalist James Hatts and his father. It prints a monthly newspaper with a circulation of 5,000 copies and sends a weekly newsletter with 6,800 subscribers. The website attracts over half a million page views per month.
Mr Hatts says his news operation is more professional than citizen journalism sites.
"We're fairly unusual in being quite news driven and journalistically driven as a local website compared to some of the others," he said.
"We're quite unusual in quite consciously covering the same kind of local news that you would expect from a good local paper."
Advantages of independence
Mr Hatts explained that remaining independent and covering a very local area allows journalists to get a better feel for an area, enabling them to write stories which readers care about.
"There is no substitute in terms of news and information gathering than actually walking the streets and seeing changes.
"Every time you go out delivering copies you come back with half a dozen things to follow up that might be possible news stories or things to update on a local restaurant listing or community events. A publication covering a larger area simply can't expect to have that kind of 'on the ground' contact with the territory that it's covering."
Mr Hatts believes the independent hyperlocal model has been quick to use the internet and can adapt to changing technologies quicker than larger media companies. Google's Adsense system allows London-se1 to attract ad revenue but Mr Hatts says that although his news operation has been successful he doesn't see it replacing traditional newspapers.
Expansion
"Publications like ours prove there is an appetite for local news and information that is put together by people who know and understand the area that they're trying to cover."
The London-se1 model has proved so popular that Mr Hatts is planning to expand the operation to other areas of London.
"There are two drivers behind that," he says. "One, because it makes economic sense, you can share a certain amount of infrastructure between certain sites – that helps to sustain the whole enterprise but secondly and more important is people have asked us to do it.
"There are people in the adjacent area who look at our site and say 'we don't have anything like this for our neighbourhood.' That emphasises that there is a demand there for good quality local news."