LocalNewser standupkid's dispatches from the frontlines of local news

The Future of Local News: Available Today. Watch this Space.

It's so easy in the run-and-gun world of local news to be far withdrawn from the academic and wonky talk of the future.  Especially now that you don't get to tool around in the station car with your photog trying to sneak off to the mall to get a little shopping done while "checking out a tip."  These days, your photog's got his own story to shoot, write and edit.

But trust me.  While the managers in your newsroom may be telling you it's belt-tightening time and that Action News will find a way to survive the bleak times and return to Number One, there's an army of creative media gurus (many with exactly no background in the Way We Do Things) who are redefining what local news may look like for consumers five years from now, ten years from now, or, in some spots, this afternoon.

In my tireless pursuit to keep you ahead of the curve whether you like it or not, I'll be rubbing elbows with these forward-thinkers today in New York, at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, where some of the brightest minds of new news modeling will gather at a forum--okay, a "HyperCamp" as the kids call conferences these days--entitled "New Business Models for (Local) News."

I'll report back to you here on what I discover.  But hey, in a get-your-feet-wet experiment in new news models, why not join me at the HyperCamp right now?  I'll be on Twitter and sending out the best stuff I can shoehorn into 140 characters.  Follow me at @standupkid for live updates through the day.  And I'd love to get your questions as well to direct to some of the smarty pants speakers.  (As soon as I know the hashtag for today's event, I'll tweet that)

I'd love to have some LocalNews readers with me for this.  It's our future that's on the table.  There's no reason not to get excited about it.  And since your news director insisted that you tweet all damn day, why not make it work for you?