Everyblock.com announced this week that it has been acquired by news organisation MSNBC.com.
Everyblock.com takes data from local government, libraries, police, emergency services and many more sources and ‘arranges it’ geographically so that visitors to the website can get a picture of what’s happening on their street. They can see figures for house listings, crime, new books available at the library, inspection ratings for local restaurants and much more, all on the one website.
Everyblock was established with funding from the Knight Foundation and its grant period ended in June, leaving the development team to decide what to do next. The conditions of its funding required it to release its source code at the end of the grant, which it did. Interestingly, as far as I understand it, future updates to the source code do not have to be published.
After considering a number of options (some wildly different from others), we decided that working with MSNBC.com was the best fit for our site and our team.
What does this mean for EveryBlock users? A couple of things.
First, obviously, it means that we’re going to keep the site going. We’ll continue to run the first and best microlocal news Web site on the planet, with the same six people, with the same logo and design, with the same everyblock.com domain. MSNBC.com has hired our whole team, and they’ve made it clear to us that we’ll be driving the site’s strategy and implementation, and that our site will remain an independent destination as a community service. Plus, while MSNBC.com is based in the Seattle area, our headquarters will continue to be in Chicago.
(Of course, we’re always looking out for more local information. If you’re a government official with local data to share, contact us.)
Second, it means that we’ll have resources to expand EveryBlock profoundly. MSNBC.com is the most-visited news Web site in the U.S. and is in solid financial shape in a time when news organizations around the world are struggling. We’re excited about the possibilities of pointing a massive audience at EveryBlock and having the resources to beef up our technological infrastructure and staff.
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MSNBC acquires everyblock.com
Everyblock.com announced this week that it has been acquired by news organisation MSNBC.com.
Everyblock.com takes data from local government, libraries, police, emergency services and many more sources and ‘arranges it’ geographically so that visitors to the website can get a picture of what’s happening on their street. They can see figures for house listings, crime, new books available at the library, inspection ratings for local restaurants and much more, all on the one website.
Everyblock was established with funding from the Knight Foundation and its grant period ended in June, leaving the development team to decide what to do next. The conditions of its funding required it to release its source code at the end of the grant, which it did. Interestingly, as far as I understand it, future updates to the source code do not have to be published.
This is from the everyblock blog: