Panel Proposal
Hyperlocal news sites have become an increasingly important component of the media landscape in the 21st Century. Because start-up costs are minimal, they have proliferated. More importantly, they are filling gaps in local news coverage that resulted from years of downsizing, cutbacks and layoffs in the news industry.
In this session, presenters will outline the roles played by hyperlocal news sites by examining the operation of TAPinto, a successful group of New Jersey and New York hyperlocals.
- TAPinto Founder and CEO Michael Shapiro will discuss the business side of hyperlocals. Shapiro believes one of the keys to TAPinto’s success is its commitment to professional journalism standards.
- Jackie Lieberman, owner and editor of TAPinto Westfield, will explain how she handles news coverage. Lieberman studied magazine journalism at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, and has worked for national, international and local publications, including Woman’s World, Better Homes and Gardens, Family Life, Field & Stream, Produce Business and Deli Business.
- Danny Jones, TAPinto’s Assistant Director of Social Media, will outline how social media is used to promote news stories and attract readers. In addition to popular social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, TAPinto uses its own E-news feature that informs readers of new stories.
- Anne and Richard Lee, who teach journalism at St. Bonaventure University, will share their experience in using a TAPinto site to provide students with real-life news experience. As part of a six-credit experiential learning course, St. Bonaventure journalism students staff TAPinto Greater Olean and cover news in the communities surrounding the university.
The suggested format for this session is to have each presenter speak briefly and to then open the floor for questions and discussion.
About the presentersMichael Shapiro
Founder and CEO, TAPinto.
Jackie Lieberman
Owner and editor, TAPinto Westfield.
Danny Jones
Assistant Director of Social Media, TAPinto.
Anne Elizabeth Lee
Anne Lee, a lecturer in journalism at St. Bonaventure University and assistant director of SBU’s Francis E. Kelley Oxford Program, worked as a journalist for 25 years and taught composition and critical thinking courses at Mercer County Community College and the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford. A graduate of St. Bonaventure’s journalism program and of the Pratt Institute School of Information, Anne also worked as an academic librarian and writing tutor and in government communications.
Richard Lee
Richard Lee has been a music critic, political reporter and deputy communications director for two NJ governors. He also was a founding member of the Hall Institute of Public Policy - NJ. Rich left NJ in 2011 to teach at his alma mater, St. Bonaventure University, where he is a professor in the Jandoli School of Communication and Executive Director and founder of the Jandoli Institute, a research center focused on media issues.