The Herald & Times Group advertises for 'man or woman about town' ahead of Nesta backed hyper local pilot
The Herald & Times Group has begun to advertise for 'a man or woman about town' as it aims to trial a hyper local mobile scheme in Johnstone.
The company has advertised for "a motivated, multi-skilled resident" from Johnstone or Renfrewshire, to help with its local news and commerce scheme - Our Town.
The advertised role is part-time and self employed, with the aim of generating commercial leads and news stories, as well as pictures of the local community, from January.
The advert also stated that the pilot has been undertaken alongside innovation development organisation Nesta.
Tom Thomson, group managing editor of The Herald & Evening Times Group, the Newquest owned, Glasgow based newspaper publisher, explained to The Drum that the aim of the pilot was to stimulate local business within the Renfrewshire area, while bringing the community closer together.
"It will be a combination of very local news, messages from local businesses and some advertising aimed at smartphones and tablets," he added.
Nesta is understood to be providing seed funding for the pilot, which, once completed, will be reviewed by the publisher to decide if it is commercially viable to roll out elsewhere.
Thomson also explained that candidate would be asked with capturing the interest and participation of local businesses, community groups and organisations, with a launch event also planned in Johnstone for early next year.
Meanwhile, The Drum yesterday reported speculation from within the media industry that newly created newspaper publisher Local World maybe eyeing an acquisition of The Evening Times to expand its presence north of the border.