Patch's hyper-local schtick might not be working out

Very hard to figure out what's going on with AOL's network of local news sites, but Rick Robinson says that the new emphasis seems to be on "trending topics" (i.e. sex and sensation) that will generate lots of clicks and might not have anything to do with the individual Patches. Of course, community news was the whole point behind Patch, or at least it was before the Huffington juggernaut moved in.

Some of the network's programming has turned toward the model followed by The Huffington Post and various (successful) content "farms" that draw readers in with off-topic sex appeal then deliver them off-site -- thanks for the clicks and ad views! Apparently Patch is not the only AOL property being tooled by Arianna Huffington and her corps: AOL itself has dipped into such urgent topics as how men who fake orgasms should masturbate more. Titillating for sure, and likely a clicker, but is this really helping anyone (not least the online business that oversees Patch)?

[CUT]

In the early days, editors at the local level had a great deal of control over editorial voice and direction. That began to change as we turned the corner from a disparate band of individual city sites connected by little more than ethos to a contiguous network that the sales group could sell to national advertisers. Managing that change is very difficult. It's a hard task to create relatively equal quality across a network while also assuring local personality, as Patch clearly is discovering today. But again, that HuffPo influence... it could mean less hand-wringing is in store for editors around localization and more about simply sexing things up.

More by Mark Lacter:
American-US Air settlement with DOJ includes small tweak at LAX
Socal housing market going nowhere fast
Amazon keeps pushing for faster L.A. delivery
Another rugged quarter for Tribune Co. papers
How does Stanford compete with the big boys?
Those awful infographics that promise to explain and only distort
Best to low-ball today's employment report
Further fallout from airport shootings
Crazy opening for Twitter*
Should Twitter be valued at $18 billion?
Recent Media stories:
LA Times sells out its front page to a Disney movie
THR's Stephen Galloway wins entertainment journalist of the year
Maria Elena Durazo profile names a key name *
Finke, Waxman, Penske, Min: Battle of the Hollywood trades
The real bad news from Tribune

New at LA Observed
On the Media Page
Go to Media

On the Politics Page
Go to Politics
Arts and culture

Sign up for daily email from LA Observed

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner


Advertisement
Mark Lacter
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.
 
Mark Lacter, business writer and editor was 59
The multi-talented Mark Lacter
LA Observed on Twitter and Facebook