Media General’s station in Raleigh has launched new hyperlocal site called MyNC.com. It combines aggregation with user-generated content organized around North Carolina communities. They’ve tapped liasons in the community to help get the word out and foster more content submissions. And yes, it’s not branded with the TV station in any way (watch video of them wrapping a couple SUV’s with MyNC.com branding.)
I’m a big fan of this approach to hyperlocal — using aggregation as the “core” content and letting users build around it — as it’s the same approach behind CitizenRain.com, which we launched earlier this year when I was working at KING TV. The challenge is “jump starting” the community, especially when just about everyone else in the world is trying to do the same thing. But having a local media company with a big megaphone, respect in the community and established sales relationships is a big advantage.