A local media experiment by The Guardian newspaper – comprising three local online reporters based in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Leeds – is to be closed down.
Already, the so-called 'beatblogger' for Edinburgh, Michael MacLeod, is promoting himself for hire, following a statement published by the newspaper, headed: Guardian Local: an update on the experiment.
Guardian Local was launched in March last year. Says the statement: “As an experiment in covering local communities in a new way, it has been successful and enlightening. Unfortunately, while the blogs have found engaged local readerships and had good editorial impact, the project is not sustainable in its present form.
“So over the next month or so, we're going to be winding down the Cardiff, Leeds and Edinburgh blogs and retiring the local project. Don't worry – nothing's going to vanish or stop suddenly, and we're going to integrate communities and topics into our wider site coverage wherever possible.”
The Guardian reported its Edinburgh service had attracted 34,388 unique visits in December, a figure that is understood to have since aproximately doubled.
