City University of New York announced today an expanded relationship with New York Times’ “The Local” project. CUNY will assume day-to-day editorial leadership of The Local’s hyperlocal site covering two Brooklyn neighborhoods, Fort Greene and Clinton Hill.
“Our goal is to build on The Times’s work in creating a scalable platform to help communities organize their own news and knowledge,” said Jeff Jarvis, head of the J-School’s Interactive Program. CUNY J-School faculty will serve as editors of the site, and NY Times journalists will act as advisors, both in the classroom and in the neighborhoods.
It’s interesting to note that the collaboration is funded by a variety of grants, so the project will focus primarily on journalism and community-building, not on the challenge of creating a sustainable business. More about the collaboration in this press release.
