Bklyner Explained

Bklyner
Type:News website
Language:English
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Location City:Brooklyn, New York
Location Country:United States
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Editors:-->
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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]

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

The site began in 2017 when several hyper-local sites merged into one. The publication mostly publishes material online, but has also published printed newspapers.

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.[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

Bklyner, 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]

Notes and References

  1. News: . News Sites With Local Ambitions Hope to Fill Digital Void . Andy Newman . November 5, 2017.
  2. Web site: Scrappy Brooklyn news site ventures into print. 2020-07-20. Columbia Journalism Review. en.
  3. NYTimes gave as an example News: BKLYNER. Breaking: a 27,000-gallon oil spill toward Gravesend Bay. (NYTimes) that the authorities had not made public.
  4. "NYTimes: to introduce a bill requiring agencies to immediately notify local officials of pollution hazards.
  5. News: . Brooklyn luxury tower's rooftop pool will be highest in the city . February 4, 2018.
  6. News: New York Daily News. Brooklyn Councilman Kalman Yeger kicked off immigration committee . April 1, 2019.
  7. News: New York Post. Why NYC feels so much less safe, even when major crime is still down. December 1, 2019.
  8. founded 2007, sold 2011 to Corner Media: News: . Corner Media Expands Its Network of Brooklyn Blogs . Vivian Yee . Vivian Yee . July 16, 2014.
  9. Ditmas Park Corner was standalone 2012 thru 2017, then "incorporated into" News: BKLYNER. Ditmas Park Corner Joins BKLYNER - BKLYNER. December 28, 2016.
  10. NYT: starting salary $30,000
  11. News: Bklyner. Bklyner's Last Day: Sept. 10. Liena Zagare. August 26, 2021.
  12. The author is BKLYNER's founder's husband: News: The New York Times. Bail Out Journalists. Let Newspaper Chains Die.. Ben Smith . March 29, 2020.