leftskewed:

“A new study has found chemicals injected into the ground as part of the controversial natural gas drilling process known as “fracking” could reach drinking water supplies at a far faster rate than initially believed. The study, published in the journal Ground Water, focused on the Marcellus Shale, a massive rock formation stretching through New York and other states where thousands of natural gas wells have been drilled. While scientists previously thought the rock would contain so-called fracking fluid and its blend of dangerous chemicals, keeping it away from water supplies, researchers found the fracking process is making the rocks highly permeable. They concluded the chemicals could reach the surface in “just a few years.”

futurejournalismproject:

AOL’s hyperlocal network Patch is struggling.

Via Fortune:

It was supposed to be a savior. AOL’s hyperlocal news venture Patch was created to fill the void left by the death of local newspapers around the country. Finding a dearth of online news in his Riverside, Connecticut hometown, Tim…

rwashburn:

“Smart mobs,” the title of Howard Rheingold’s 2002 tome, is a term that was first used to describe group activity coordinated by real-time communication technologies. In 2002, it was cell phones. Fast forward a decade and now smart mobs have evolved into powerful societal infrastructures that use cell phones, digital images, Twitter and Facebook to overthrow North African governments and occupy city parks. “Flash mobs,” first seen in 2003 in New York City, were localized variants where groups coordinated physical events, like synchronized dancing or pillow fights, for artistic or entertainment value.

rwashburn:

Recently, media guru Bob Garfield and others have argued for the inevitable demise of the hyperlocal media industry, citing AOL’s struggling Patch network; Gannett’s decision to shutter its hyperlocal parenting network, MomsLikeMe; audience fragmentation and the inexorable downward spiral of online advertising prices.

gilasakawa:

AOL is already burning through so much money floating Patch sites (some are successful businesses, most aren’t) that I wonder if they can afford to pony up the funding to beef up staff beyond just the one (usually young, underpaid and overworked) journalist in each town.

newsblag:

Patch paid Quinnipiac students to test whether one full-time journalist could provide all the content necessary to make a hyperlocal website about the community viable.

The answer they gave – “No” – was not what Patch wanted to hear. Hanley said that their test in Hamden found the town to be too diverse, too complicated, too time-consuming for one person to handle.

Oh snap.

The George Washington professor argues small newspaper publishers are hanging on to false optimism that the importance of their work will save their business.

Hello corporate media, why are you selling out the people?