Seattle media jumps into neighborhood blogging

Seattle has been called the epicenter of neighborhood news blogs, and for good reason. Over three years ago, sites like WestSeattleBlog.com and CapitolHillSeattle.com started growing respectable audiences with hyperlocal coverage. In late 2007, my wife and I launched MyBallard.com, also a neighborhood news site in Seattle, followed by four others as part of our Next Door Media network. And there are dozens more — all of them created by people who are passionate about their neighborhoods, working day and night out of their homes.

Now, two Seattle media companies are jumping into the fray, creating their own neighborhood news sites in a competitive effort to build hyperlocal communities, and presumably, neighborhood advertisers. The Hearst-owned SeattlePI.com, now a web-only paper, has launched InQueenAnne.com, the first of a new network of sites. And KOMO TV, the Fisher-owned ABC affiliate, is preparing to launch a couple dozen neighborhood sites in a new network of its own. The SeattlePI effort taps free labor — community volunteers who are trained how to cover the news — as well as relationships with community newspapers. The KOMO TV network, while not yet launched, appears to focus more on leveraging their own online and TV coverage staffs.

As you might imagine, there are some strong feelings surging through the independent blog community, but I’ll leave them to your imagination. In the meantime, if you’re interested in the quickly-emerging future of local news, keep your eyes peeled on Seattle.

Update: As expected, KOMO launched a network of neighborhood sites.