EveryBlock has released its computer code for public use this week, which looks set to present exciting opportunities for local news providers. The "geocoding" technology could allow more newsrooms to catalogue online articles by location, developing hyperlocal news services, for which there is an apparent public demand.

The source code, on which the original EveryBlock.com site functions, allows news seekers to find hyperlocal information by entering the relevant zip code, street or neighbourhood address. The software sifts through online information, collating relevant information under "geo-tags" to present an array of locality- specific news ranging from crime stories to restaurant inspections.

EveryBlock.com was launched in January 2008 and now covers fifteen US cities. It was financed by the winnings of the Knight News Grant Challenge, the terms of which stipulated that the code must be made public when the grant expired. Now, any programmers have the right to re-use parts or the entirety of the code, which is of particular interest for news service developers. It has already been translated onto a Google application server by one quick off the mark developer and database programmers from a range of US productions, such as the Los Angeles Times, have expressed their interest in adopting the code. The St. Petersburg Times (Fla.) already has the wiki functioning for eventual use as an internal development tool.

To satisfy the demand for hyperlocal content, publishers have for a while now been mimicking the EveryBlock function, the The Indianapolis Star, being one example. Moreover, from the website's early days, media agencies and publishers, such as the Chicago Tribune and the New York Times have developed their own services through partnerships with EveryBlock.

The release of the code means that EveryBlock-esque hyperlocal sites could proliferate across the globe. It has, moreover, infinite possibilities for developers to take the code and adapt its functions to their own demands. The central concern for the majority is the importance of the locality, but such services could progress from the presentation of relevant local news to the illustration of the ramifications of wider stories on specific environs. Indeed, EveryBlock was not created to compete with traditional media, but rather provide a supplementary service, which is certainly expanding.

Source: Poynter Online