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]

Bklyner
Type of site
News website
Available inEnglish
Founded2017; 7 years ago (2017)
Dissolved2021; 3 years ago (2021)
Headquarters
Brooklyn, New York
,
United States
URLbklyner.com

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

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The 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

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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]

References

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  1. ^ a b Andy Newman (November 5, 2017). "News Sites With Local Ambitions Hope to Fill Digital Void". The New York Times.
  2. ^ a b c "Scrappy Brooklyn news site ventures into print". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  3. ^ NYTimes gave as an example "Breaking: a 27,000-gallon oil spill toward Gravesend Bay". BKLYNER. (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. ^ "Brooklyn luxury tower's rooftop pool will be highest in the city". New York Post. February 4, 2018.
  6. ^ "Brooklyn Councilman Kalman Yeger kicked off immigration committee". New York Daily News. April 1, 2019.
  7. ^ "Why NYC feels so much less safe, even when major crime is still down". New York Post. December 1, 2019.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ Ditmas Park Corner was standalone 2012 thru 2017, then "incorporated into" "Ditmas Park Corner Joins BKLYNER - BKLYNER". BKLYNER. December 28, 2016.
  10. ^ NYT: starting salary $30,000
  11. ^ Liena Zagare (August 26, 2021). "Bklyner's Last Day: Sept. 10". Bklyner.
  12. ^ The author is BKLYNER's founder's husband: Ben Smith (March 29, 2020). "Bail Out Journalists. Let Newspaper Chains Die". The New York Times.