HelloMetro launches Hyperlocal™ content department putting writers near the news

Local Internet and online Yellow Page company hires 10 journalists to cover local news in 10 cities; 40 more to follow

HelloMetro is creating original Hyperlocal™ news coverage for 10 cities, ranging from Cleveland to Miami and from Philadelphia to Phoenix.

Many websites that bill themselves as “local” simply aggregate previously published stories that are seen on thousands of other sites. HelloMetro is leveraging its 4 million monthly unique visitors, eight years of experience and local content to create online news sections within its popular online city guides.

While newspapers across the country are currently laying off reporters, HelloMetro is hiring professional journalists — many of them former writers from large newspapers — to create its unique local content.

News stories will appear on HelloMetro’s 1,500 online city guides and on local search engine HelloLocal.com.

“We have avoided leaving our local stories to bloggers,” CEO Clark Scott said. “Other websites lean heavily on blogging because the content is free. While blogging is useful, we insist on the traditional standards of reliability and accountability that we could only get with our own staff of professional writers.”

Articles will be tagged with zip code and neighborhood names to create highly customized Hyperlocal™ coverage within each city.

Stories will initially concentrate on news and reviews that spotlight community attractions, restaurants, clubs and events. The initial wave of HelloMetro writers will be located in Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Houston, Louisville, Miami, Nashville, Philadelphia, Phoenix and San Francisco. Plans call for operating up to 50 bureaus by the end of the year.

The 8-year-old online guide continues to offer a comprehensive assortment of Hyperlocal™ services including local yellow pages and white pages, weather, events, restaurant, attractions, local history, live air-traffic reports and more.

HelloMetro operates 1,500 city-specific sites, each accessed by using the formula Hello+City.com., for example, HelloChicago.com, HelloSanFrancisco.com, HelloSeattle.com, HelloDenver.com and HelloLouisville.com.

HelloLocal.com, a new Hyperlocal™ search engine service, users simply enter HelloLocal.com to be automatically routed to their localized search site.

In December, HelloMetro launched HelloFlight.com, a new online tool that accesses live data directly from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to track the real-time location of all commercial and most private aircrafts on the U.S. air-traffic system. With the service, available on HelloMetro sites, visitors can see exactly where an aircraft in flight is located and can determine precisely when it will arrive.

Hyperlocal™ is a registered trademark of HelloMetro Inc.

Journalists may apply for positions by emailing: Bill {at} HelloMetro(.)com

More information about HelloMetro can be found at www.HelloMetro.com or by calling (877) 282-2973.

Contacts

HelloMetro
Clark Scott, 502-387-5524
clark {at} hellometro(.)com