HereCast on Hiatus
Digital media has put so much of the world at our fingertips, but it’s still too hard to find out what’s going on right here, in the physical place where we live our lives.
We created HereCast to bring the ease and reach of digital media to local communities and their residents.
Local.
By locals, for locals.
No paywalls or subscriptions, just free and open access to what matters to you about where you live.
We split ad revenue with the people who publish on HereCast — our “Casters” — to encourage more local voices to speak up.
Casters, readers, and advertisers embraced our approach — far exceeding our expectations.
HereCast showed that — given the opportunity — people from all walks of life will step up to inform and engage their communities.
Hundreds of locals published tens of thousands of pieces on HereCast/DailyUV over the past four years, reaching more than half of Upper Valley residents month-in, month-out.
HereCast proved local advertisers and readers value an authentic local resource uncluttered by clickbait ads.
So why stop now?
Growth
First, we overestimated how quickly we could expand our readership beyond the Upper Valley.
We’re growing, but not quickly enough to support the cost of continuing to develop and maintain our platform.
We’ve been farming just to pay off the tractor, as they say, so we need to rethink our strategy before seeking new investors.
Timing
Second, we underestimated the hostility of traditional media.
Local professional journalists and editors should be the cornerstone to building sustainable local digital communities, but most of them still work for media businesses that are simply fighting for their survival.
It was naive to think they could risk exploring a different future with us under those circumstances.
But the problems with traditional local media go much deeper than losing money — and probably have to get much worse before they get better.
So, in that respect, HereCast may still be a year or two too early.
Ahead of our time?
Who will do the work informing us about what’s happening locally? Can they make a living doing it?
The questions aren’t going away, but it’s time for HereCast to take a step back — go on hiatus, catch our breath, and reconsider our plans for the future.
Thanks to everyone who has been a part of building a better local digital future.