A co-worker sent me this New York Times link saying he thought it was interesting. I consider this not only interesting but also the future of world news vs. local news. For fun, let’s label these macronews (news across the world) and micronews (news down the street).

According to the article, Internet startup Fwix released an iPhone app that lets citizens submit on-the-spot news to Fwix.com, which creates a rolling headline of continuous micronews in different cities. Macronews Web sites have expressed interest in including Fwix micronews.

With everyone getting all the news they want from across the globe in an instant, another layer of interest is being placed on local news. My own local newspaper, the Knoxville News Sentinel, has added numerous blogs over the years to deliver micronews, and a fresh redesign of the newspaper’s Web site has positioned more micronews at the top. Local publications like the News Sentinel will find themselves in the best position to deliver this micronews layer.

OK, so there’s interest in micronews. What’s the best way to deliver it? Why not send it by microdelivery? Mobile delivery of local news reaches people wherever they are on their (micro) mobile device. And since we can send in micronews from the phone, we should receive it there, too. The delivery (micro) matches the content (micro).*

My opinion is that while there will always be a place for macronews, there will be increasing interest in following very personal micronews. And it seems the more “micro” news an organization can provide, the more successful it will be.

* Side note: I think this is one reason text messaging is so huge. It’s a personal message on a personal device. The delivery matches the content.

Image credit: jm3