Back in February, the New York Times announced a collaboration with NYU to launch a hyperlocal site in the East Village, and today they’ve set a launch date — next Monday, September 13th. “We intend to add new value — in all media formats — to the East Village’s already rich and vibrant online presence,” said Brooke Kroeger, director of the Carter Journalism Institute at NYU.
One of the interesting components is a “virtual assignment desk” which provides an “editorial work flow system for both assigning stories, and receiving and managing ideas, tips, and finished work from community and student contributors.” Any registered user of NYTimes.com can see what assignments are available. And interestingly, the technology was created as a WordPress plug-in. We’ll be looking forward to seeing this in action.
Similar to the NYTimes’ hyperlocal site in Brooklyn, the new East Village site will be hosted on NYTimes.com under the brand “The Local.” Back in June, the Times handed off its hyperlocal site in New Jersey to Baristanet.