Mike is an attorney. He graduated from Rutgers and Stanford Law School. At age 21 he was in the news when he ran for Mayor of New Brunswick, NJ. Born and raised in Livingston, Mike now lives with his family in New Providence.
He and his wife started the news business 20 months ago. Mike had a career in NYC as a full time lawyer. He likes to give back to his community and did pro bono work in NYC. He was not able to spend much time with his family or do the kind of community work he liked to do, so he decided to make a change.
He and his wife came up with the concept of publishing an online local newspaper for our area. They launched it in October 2008 in Summit, New Providence and Berkeley Heights. Today the site is looked at as one of the New Jersey leaders in 24/7 local on-line news. Over 400,000 people visited the website in the past year. Their staff is paid and includes over 200 freelance reporters, over 30 columnists and an 8-member sales team. Over 100 businesses advertise on the site.
He described how traditional printed newspaper businesses are in trouble. Many printed newspapers are going out of business due to lack of readers, growing expenses and competition from the Internet. Others are staying in business by becoming Internet newspapers. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is the largest hyper-local Internet newspaper in the USA.
The Alternative Press is totally free for readers to use. Expenses are covered by local business advertising. The site is launching a new Health and Wellness Section. The site has town news, topical sections, letters to the editor and guest columns. All publications are reviewed by the editor. Press releases are accepted and only checked for basic errors (the submitting organization has the byline). Organizations like Kiwanis can submit press releases which can contain up to 6 photos.
The site publishes a free community calendar. People can post an event themselves. Basic business directory listings are free. The website is search-engine optimized and indexed under Google News. Real estate listings can be posted at a low cost with up to 10 photos. People can also send HD videos to the editor for uploading to the website. At the end of August, TAP is re-launching the site with new state of the art technology. People will be able to do their own uploading. Views will be segmented by town and features can be viewed across all towns. Two more towns will be added n the fall.
If a local news item comes up, we should let Mike know and he can send a reporter. Click here to visit thealternativepress.com.
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