TAPinto
<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
| File:TAP Logo 2014.png | |
| Headquarters | New Providence, New Jersey, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Area served | New Jersey, New York |
| Founder(s) | Michael Shapiro |
| Key people | Michael Shapiro, CEO Lauryn Shapiro |
| Industry | Local News |
| Services | Online news and opinion |
| Website | www |
| Type of site | News |
| Launched | October 2008 |
| Current status | Active |
TAPinto, formerly The Alternative Press, is a network of independently owned and operated local news websites based out of New Providence, New Jersey. The network covers more than sixty towns throughout New Jersey and New York.[1]
TAPinto was founded by New Providence residents Michael and Lauryn Shapiro in October 2008 to provide independent local news via the Internet.[1] Each TAPinto site is independently owned and operated by a franchisee, who pays an annual fee and a percentage of advertising revenue. In exchange, the network provides a content management system and helps with both the business and editorial sides of their operation.[2] Some sites are operated by individuals, while others are operated by a group of two to four people who each work on the site part-time.[2] Many of the site owners are journalists, such as magazine journalist Jackie Lieberman, and several are former editors for Patch Media, a now-defunct hyperlocal news network formerly operated by America Online.[3][4]
In 2014, the network was rebranded as "TAPinto" and began using the new web address of TAPinto.net. In 2016, TAPinto was the primary source when it covered how a Yorktown man won a $76,000 jackpot on the TV game show Wheel of Fortune; TAPinto reported that the contestant learned about the show's theme in advance and studied prodigiously, enabling him to solve an entire puzzle while only knowing the first letter.[5] It has sponsored political events such as the annual Meet the Mayors breakfast.[6] TAPinto sponsored summittoday.org, a free community calendar for the city of Summit by providing a digital solution for content creation, as well as hosting the site free of charge.[7]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 TAPinto: About Us
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Michele McLellan, April 6, 2014, Can local news scale? The Alternative Press tests a franchise model in New Jersey, Knight Digital Media Center, Retrieved May 5, 2016]
- ↑ TAPinto.net Announces Launch of Bridgewater-Raritan Site, Franchised by Former Bridgewater Patch Editor and Current Newspaper Owner Audrey Blumberg
- ↑ Former Patch Editors See Bright Future for The Alternative Press Model
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
