What makes LondonSE1 hyperlocal?

I always think that 'hyperlocal' has two meanings. One is that we cover a tighter geographical area than traditional local papers, and the other is that our coverage is more intense or hyper-active.

Why do you think hyperlocal journalism is relevant?

People care about what happens in their neighbourhood. Local councils, the health service, schools/colleges and the police all make important decisions and spend millions of pounds of public money. It's important to have scrutiny of local public services.

How effective is the LondonSE1 forum? How do your viewers engage with it?

When the forum started, it was in a time before Twitter and Facebook, so they way people use it has changed a bit (and the intensity of activity) but it still plays a useful role.

When people argue with one another on the forum it can be unpleasant but there are plenty of heartwarming moments of neighbourliness and good humour too.

How do you decide which topics and stories to use?

An impossible question. Basically it comes down to experience and local knowledge. You gain an instinct for where to find stories and what our readers will respond to.

How much public input do you have in curating stories and gathering content? Do you use citizen journalists?

Most of our journalism and newsgathering is quite old-fashioned. But sometimes stories will be triggered by things people have posted on the forum, or Twitter/Facebook etc.

We don't really 'do' citizen journalism. It's a pretty meaningless phrase. 

How representative of the community is the publication?

The content we produce is inevitably influenced by my interests and areas of knowledge. We could do better at reporting on minority communities such as the large Latin American population at Elephant & Castle. 

We try to be inclusive, though. 

I am not interested in 'lifestyle' journalism about property and food, which I think can be divisive. 

Do you feel LondonSE1 is connected to a greater movement or a wider collective of hyperlocal journalism? 

Yes, we have good contact with other sites such as ChiswickW4 and Onthewight, as well as Brixton Blog. I also enjoy going to the 'unconferences' organised by Talk About Local.

What are the demographics of your main viewers?

We don't collect demographic information about our users.