The newspaper industry has taken quite a hit in the last few years with many papers, especially smaller ones, folding. This leaves smaller communities and suburbs without their traditional main source of news. NewsWatch TV However, a new trend of local-themed web sites has sprung up to try and fill the void. It is called "hyperlocal" news, with some examples including sites like EveryBlock, Spot.us, Outside.in, Placeblogger and Patch. The goal: provide readers with the kind of information that won't make it into a major metropolitan daily, such as city council meetings, school events, high school sports, crime reports, street repairs and human interest stories. NewsWatch TV Reviews Unlike traditional news media entities, hyperlocal news sites don't rely exclusively on professional journalists. Instead, many of the sites use a mix of freelance and in-house content to fill up the web pages. The belief is that sometimes the best-informed residents of a communit...