Stealth Hyperlocal News Network Targets Newspaper Monopolies
A stealth project called Pegasus News plans to launch a beta test in Dallas in late 2005 to distribute local news content and advertising via the web, e-newsletters, RSS feeds, a daily print edition, SMS messaging and other mediums, according to an inside source who contacted me. The source currently runs a division of a major media company. Pegasus plans to follow this initial effort with local advertising-supported news sites in 25 major U.S. cities that have a monopoly newspaper.
The company recently launched a blog to diary the evolution of their concepts. On their blog, the company’s anonymous entrepreneurs say their key differentiators are:
- Hyper-local news, with neighborhood coverage producing 10x the local news and information of the incumbent providers.
- Open source journalism: The immediacy of blogging with the spelling, punctuation and fact checking of real journalists.
- Edgy, insightful news with opinion and personality.
- Fully integrated local news model: Website, email, text messaging, print, radio and TV.
- Innovative subscription model: Price based on level of engagement - more active and engaged users pay less (or nothing).
- Innovative advertising model: Pay-for-performance advertising on both digital and analog (print) products. Proprietary processes allow for performance tracking in real-time.
- Lower cost structure than legacy media.
- Experienced team with leadership experience across all media streams.
While not a lot is known about Pegasus right now, they certainly talk big. In particular they seem to be openly targeting Belo’s newspaper group. Still, there are a few blog posts that point to what’s up their sleeves. Start with their core principles, elevator speech and a post entitled Volume I, Number I and subscribe to their RSS feed.
