Huffington aims for local news

For a while now, many experts have been urging newspapers to focus on their communities and return to a local-oriented format. Even the Newspaper Association of America tried to promote the idea. But opportunity, as they say, is a matter of timing - and so far most daily newspapers have failed to capitalize on the underserved local news market. The bad news? In the Internet era, fertile markets don't remain untapped for long.

That's right. Online vendors are now viewing that space and making plans. ReadWriteWeb has a report from the folks behind The Huffington Post (a self-described "online newspaper"), who have announced plans to bring their aggregate service to the local news sphere.

We've written about the rise of hyperlocal information on ReadWriteWeb before -- Huffington and company are seeking to take advantage of this trend. They want to turn the Huffington Post into a national, virtual newspaper group -- think Gannett or McClatchy but completely online.