Blottr
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2018}}
{{Infobox website
| name = Blottr
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| url = {{URL|blottr.com}}
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| launch_date = August 2010
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| current_status = Offline
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Blottr was a citizen journalism news website based in the United Kingdom and started in August 2010 by entrepreneur Adam Baker. Originally featuring hyperlocal news in London, the site grew to cover a total of eight UK cities: Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds, Leicester and Manchester. In October 2011 Blottr expanded outside of the UK to Blottr France and Blottr Germany.{{cite news|author=Marshall, Sarah|title=Citizen Journalism site Blottr expands into France and Germany|url=http://blogs.journalism.co.uk/2011/10/17/citizen-journalism-site-blottr-expands-into-france-and-germany/|accessdate=9 December 2011|newspaper=Guardian UK|date=17 October 2011}} Blottr peaked at more than 5000 contributors and more than 1.4 million unique visitors a month.{{cite news|last=Klaushofer|first=Alex|title=Under the spotlight: Citizen journalism|url=http://newmodeljournalism.com/2011/10/under-the-spotlight-citizen-journalism-site-blottr/|accessdate=9 December 2011|newspaper=New Model Journalism|date=31 October 2011}} Blottr was shut down in April 2014.
Platform
Users who sign up for Blottr could add text, tags, videos and photos to one another's news stories in a wiki-platform. Blottr featured regular columnists whose blog posts were not able to be edited. Blottr circulated news through its website, Twitter, Facebook and a weekly digest email. In order to rate user-generated content, the site used an "authentication algorithm" which rated users based on influence, number of revisions to a story, number of contributors, and more.{{cite news|last=Alex|first=Klaushofer|title=Under the spotlight: Citizen journalism site Blottr|url=http://newmodeljournalism.com/2011/10/under-the-spotlight-citizen-journalism-site-blottr/|accessdate=15 December 2011|newspaper=New Model Journalism|date=31 October 2011}}
In July 2011, Blottr also launched an iPhone app, Papparappzi, which allowed would-be citizen journalists to capture photos and footage of news happening around them and then easily upload it to the Blottr website.{{cite news|title=Apps rush: Star Trek, Paparappzi, Polyphonic Spree and more|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/appsblog/2011/jul/12/apps-rush-star-trek-polyphonic-spree|accessdate=9 December 2011|newspaper=Guardian UK|date=12 July 2011}}
Business model
Blottr monetized by selling licensing to its crowdsourced news platform, called [http://newspoint.biz/ NewsPoint], starting in June 2011.{{cite news|last=Sawers|first=Paul|title=Blottr launches NewsPoint, and opens up crowdsourced reporting to publishers|url=https://thenextweb.com/uk/2011/06/03/blottr-launches-newspoint-and-opens-up-crowdsourced-reporting-to-publishers/|accessdate=15 December 2011|newspaper=The Next Web|date=3 June 2011}} The site secured an angel investment in May 2011 worth up to £1 million to expand its operations. The investor was Mark Pearson, founder of MyVoucherCodes.co.uk.{{cite news|last=O'Hear|first=Steve|title=Citizen Journalism is alive and well in the UK - Blottr scores Angel investment|url=https://techcrunch.com/2011/05/05/citizen-journalism-is-alive-and-well-in-the-uk-blottr-scores-angel-investment/|accessdate=9 December 2011|newspaper=Tech Crunch Europe|date=5 May 2011}}
Contributors participated in a revenue-sharing scheme in which they received £1 for every thousand page views.{{cite news|last=Klaushofer|first=Alex|title=Under the spotlight: Citizen journalism|url=http://newmodeljournalism.com/2011/10/under-the-spotlight-citizen-journalism-site-blottr/|accessdate=9 December 2011|newspaper=New Model Journalism|date=31 October 2011}}
Notable Stories
In May 2011, Blottr beat BBC and SkyNews by three hours in a story about a London bomb threat.{{cite web|last=Harford|first=Tim|title=A citizen journalism model that actually breaks news?|url=http://www.virtualeconomics.co.uk/2011/05/a-citizen-journalism-model-that-really-breaks-news.html|publisher=Virtual Economics|accessdate=14 December 2011}} During the London riots of August 2011, founder Adam Baker said the site broke the news of riots in Ealing and Woolwich before mainstream news outlets.{{cite web|last=Klaushofer|first=Alex|title=Under the Spotlight: Citizen Journalism Cite Blottr|url=http://newmodeljournalism.com/2011/10/under-the-spotlight-citizen-journalism-site-blottr/|publisher=New Model Journalism|accessdate=14 December 2011}}
Awards and recognition
In 2011 startups.co.uk awarded Blottr its "Innovative Business of the Year" and "Most Disruptive Business" awards at the Tech City UK Entrepreneurship festival. Startups.co.uk said in a statement that "Blottr has real potential to become a very strong digital brand name in the next few years, and is a fabulous example of British creativity and digital prowess".{{cite web|url=http://www.startups.co.uk/innovative-business-of-the-year_5.html|title=Innovative Business of the Year, Blottr|date=25 October 2011 |publisher=Startups.co.uk|accessdate=14 December 2011}} The 2011 Europas also gave Blottr highly commended status for media, recruitment and education.{{cite web|last=Bould|first=Sarah|title=Citizen Journalism Website Celebrates Two Awards|url=http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/2011/briefs/hyperlocal-site-celebrates-two-awards/|publisher=Hold the Front Page|accessdate=14 December 2011}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|https://web.archive.org/web/20130916145635/http://www.blottr.com/}} {{small|(archived on 23 September 2013)}}
- {{Official website|https://web.archive.org/web/20140101103327/http://blottr.com/}} {{small|(archived on 1 January 2014)}}
{{Citizen journalism}}