The embedded journalist is a concept derived from media tactics during the first Gulf War. The euphemism has taken a militaristic meaning, yet to embed is really to deposit or entrench.
At WNCN-TV, in North Carolina, the, euphemistic, embedded journalist has mutated into a hyperlocal participant. These hyperlocal reporters are on the beat in the local community covering the sub-neighbourhood issues.They cover the news, and file to the station’s home page as well as the online channels. They have a dual role, as a TV reporter and, primarily, as an online journalist.
The hyperlocal news provided by the embedded journalist allows the viewers of WNCN to access neighbourhood dispatches that didn’t make the TV bulletin through a series of web channels at myNC.com. These channels cover specific geographical areas, and all the news is collected and distributed by the embedded community journalist.
The potential for revenue is multiplied by this innovative approach to hyperlocal outlets via the Web. The juxtaposed embedded journalist is on the ground filing for the Web, watching the story unfold, updating the online user, while the TV viewer waits for the story to begin.
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