Bklyner[1] (pronounced "Brooklyner", often stylized in all-caps) was a hyper-local news site from the borough of Brooklyn in New York City.[2]
Type of site | News website |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Founded | 2017 |
| Dissolved | 2021 |
| Headquarters | Brooklyn, New York , United States |
| URL | bklyner |
It has been described as "telling the stories considered too small for the major newspapers to bother with." Exclusives such as a 27,000 gallon oil spill "that the authorities had not made public"[3] led to legal changes.[4]
Major New York City newspapers[5] such the New York Daily News and the New York Post cite their information as a source.[6][7]
History
editThe site began in 2017 when several hyper-local sites merged into one.[2] The publication mostly publishes material online, but has also published printed newspapers.[2]
A neighborhood news website named Ditmas Park Corner,[8] after five years on its own, was folded into Bklyner.[9] Prior to merging into Bklyner, Ditmas Park Corner funded paying a reporter to walk around the neighborhood.[8][10]
On 26 August 2021, editor Liena Zagare announced that Bklyner would cease publication on 10 September 2021 after over 50,000 articles, citing financial sustainability issues and a burnout caused in particular by the two years prior.[11]
Funding
editBklyner, although it carries ads, in 2017 "cut its staff from six full-time reporters to two-and-a-half, primarily because ad revenue had fallen"[1] and also sought "paying subscribers, even though the site remains free." As of early 2020, ads and subscribers was still the support model for free access.[12]
References
edit- ^ a b Andy Newman (November 5, 2017). "News Sites With Local Ambitions Hope to Fill Digital Void". The New York Times.
- ^ a b c "Scrappy Brooklyn news site ventures into print". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
- ^ NYTimes gave as an example "Breaking: a 27,000-gallon oil spill toward Gravesend Bay". BKLYNER.
(NYTimes) that the authorities had not made public
- ^ "NYTimes: to introduce a bill requiring agencies to immediately notify local officials of pollution hazards.
- ^ "Brooklyn luxury tower's rooftop pool will be highest in the city". New York Post. February 4, 2018.
- ^ "Brooklyn Councilman Kalman Yeger kicked off immigration committee". New York Daily News. April 1, 2019.
- ^ "Why NYC feels so much less safe, even when major crime is still down". New York Post. December 1, 2019.
- ^ a b founded 2007, sold 2011 to Corner Media: Vivian Yee (July 16, 2014). "Corner Media Expands Its Network of Brooklyn Blogs". The New York Times.
- ^ Ditmas Park Corner was standalone 2012 thru 2017, then "incorporated into" "Ditmas Park Corner Joins BKLYNER - BKLYNER". BKLYNER. December 28, 2016.
- ^ NYT: starting salary $30,000
- ^ Liena Zagare (August 26, 2021). "Bklyner's Last Day: Sept. 10". Bklyner.
- ^ The author is BKLYNER's founder's husband: Ben Smith (March 29, 2020). "Bail Out Journalists. Let Newspaper Chains Die". The New York Times.