GoLocal Partnership With WJAR

GoLocalProv, the feisty web-based news site, has signed a one-year content-sharing partnership with WJAR-TV.

"We're excited about it, obviously," says Josh Fenton, co-founder of GoLocal. "Channel 10 has been the number one station in the market for 40-plus years."

News consumers got their first look at the partnership last week when WJAR piggybacked on a GoLocal review of Department of Environmental Management fines - what's actually collected by the state, and what's not.

Media partnerships have been a key part of GoLocal's strategy to establish a foothold in the market. One of the site's editorial writers, known as Mindsetters, appears on the public broadcasting news roundtable "A Lively Experiment" every week. And in November, GoGo Cast announced a partnership with GoLocal that puts a GoLocal news feed on 195 screens at gas stations, convenience stores and elsewhere in southeastern New England. Fenton says the GoGo Cast deal runs three years.

An earlier GoLocal partnership, with talk-radio station WPRO, fizzled.

GoLocal plans to announce the launch date for its second web site, GoLocalWorcester in central Massachusetts, in the next couple of weeks. That venture has former Boston newscaster Natalie Jacobson on board as a part-time contributor.

The GoLocal model targets mid-size media markets with fading newspapers. Fenton has declined to release his finances, but says GoLocalProv is profitable.