'Lokal' newswire launches with Ole! Media Group

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The platform is a newswire, and will align community-based print publications with the digital world. It also takes into account the necessary requirement for independent publishers to digitise and generate sustainable revenue. The partnership will see OMG making a customised version of the group's online content management and distribution system available to AIP members, to upload their stories. OMG will curate and distribute the news via its systems and, in collaboration with the AIP, promote the newswire service to a broader publishing base.

Lokal News and current affairs

Based on a subscription model, these 'Lokal' stories will be available through a syndication newswire from which subscribers can draw their stories on an ongoing basis. Louise Vale, MD of the AIP, says "The SA-Lokal News Network will be able to meet the growing interest in and need for, community news that can be shared with broader audiences, keeping the national and regional news channels, and the public at large, current."

The AIP has 230 independent members across South Africa, comprising mostly small newspapers, newsletters, magazines and online publications, which do not form part of any national media groups. Just over 40 of these will participate in the pilot project, which is scheduled to launch at the end of March. The initial six-month pilot will incorporate different streams of content - hard news, socio-political and economic issues on the ground, celebratory and celebrity stories. The projected aim is to have in the region of 300 stories per week.

Seeking sustainable revenue streams

According to Tim Legg, Group CEO of OMG, "In addition to making local news more accessible, the service also seeks to generate different streams of sustainable revenue through newswire subscriptions and optimised advertising programmes - revenue which is essential for the long-term survival of the independent media in our country."

Should the pilot service prove successful, a second phase of the project sees the development of further digital assets for AIP members, with the aim of creating a vibrant, online network of local news sites. Powered by local, independent media across the country, the network will address a nationwide audience, comprised of a wide cross section of the population.