Hyperlocal

[Ben Zimmer]

On Fri, Jul 6, 2012 at 4:22 AM, Garson O'Toole wrote:
>
> Here is a cite in 1989 for "hyperlocal news". There are some
> interesting matches for the hyphenated term "hyper-local", But this
> cite was the earliest for "hyperlocal news" or "hyper-local news" in a
> quick search.
>
> Date: 1989 September 5
> Newspaper: The Washington Post
> Title: Behind the Smoke And Morals
> Author: Charles Trueheart
> Page: c07
> Database: ProQuest
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> "The key to small-market news is understanding the power of kinetic
> energy," the Toledo news director tells Robins. "It's all here-we-go
> rock 'n' roll."
> Not so the so-called "hyperlocal" news that's springing up on cable in
> tiny markets of 50,000 or less. On these broadcasts of community
> spelling bees, high school basketball games and sewer board meetings,
> the production values may be more primitive, but their popularity and
> effectiveness for advertisers are changing the landscape of local
> news.
> [End excerpt]

In his entry for "hyperlocal" on World Wide Words (from Feb. '07),
Michael Quinion noted that the relevant sense has been around since
the late '80s:

http://www.worldwidewords.org/turnsofphrase/tp-hyp3.htm

I suggested it as a WOTY candidate in '09, as it was frequently coming
up then in discussions of the woes of print media.

http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0905A&L=ADS-L&P=R2749

--bgz

--
Ben Zimmer
http://benzimmer.com/

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org