Is it really all over for Guardian beatbloggers?

The Guardian's decision to wind up its Guardian Local experiment with beatbloggers in Cardiff, Leeds and Edinburgh, may not be the end of the story, according to a post on TheMediaBriefing by regional journalist Ed Oldfield.

The Guardian said that despite attracting strong support for the local websites the project was financially “unsustainable”. One estimate was that the sites brought in only £500 a year in local ads.

But Oldfield writes that in Leeds: "It may just turn out that the Guardian’s failed experiment has acted as a catalyst for a new sustainable site to emerge from its own audience."

He tells how Leeds-based web and mobile product strategist Matt Edgar, a former newspaper journalist, has set up a fundraising appeal for 35 people to match his pledge of £23.32 a month – the cost of a Guardian newspaper subscription – towards running a similar community news site.

Oldfield adds: "By Wednesday, May 4, 10 people had signed up ahead of the May 31 deadline... the pledges would provide annual funding of just over £10,000, and a core group of supporters, with the aim of adding more revenue with a mixture of micro-payments, advertising, sponsorships or other models."

He concludes: "It seems that the Guardian’s experiment, while failing to find a viable commercial model, has whetted the city’s appetite for an alternative to the traditional local media offerings."

• Read Matt Edgar's pledge
  

Could communities save the Guardian local sites?

The Guardian has responded to calls for it to rethink plans to close its local sites in Cardiff, Edinburgh and Leeds by asking if local communities would raise funds to support the blogs.

Meg Pickard, head of digital engagement at the Guardian, has posted on the Inside Guardian.co.uk blog: "Thanks for all the replies. We are reading them and clearly hear how much the Guardian local sites were valued in the communities they covered.

"On that note, in conversation with editors here earlier, an interesting idea was mooted: would any of the local communities or individuals affected be interested in carrying on the Cardiff/Leeds/Edinburgh blogs? Or fundraising a sum to enable us to continue? If We could find an alternative - community-supported? - funding model, that could extend the local project....

"Worth pondering? Any thoughts?!"

Postings on the Inside Guardian.co.uk blog have praised the work of the beatbloggers - John Baron (Leeds), Hannah Waldram (Cardiff), and Michael MacLeod (Edinburgh) - on the Guardian local sites and called for them to be saved.

On Twitter a campaign to save the Cardiff blog #savegdncardiff is gaining momentum. Campaigns have been launched to save all three communities and in Leeds supporters are donating cash.

Guardian to 'wind down' local beatblogger project

The Guardian announced today that it is "winding down" its local project of beatbloggers based in Cardiff, Edinburgh and Leeds, claiming they are no longer sustainable in their present form.

The Guardian launched the project in February last year, recruiting John Baron (Leeds), Hannah Waldram (Cardiff), and Michael MacLeod (Edinburgh) in the role of beatbloggers, defined by the Guardian as people who would cover a city with particular attention to council activities and citizenship. Regional blogs and network expert Sarah Hartley was launch editor.

A posting on the Inside Guardian.co.uk blog says: "The Local project has always been experimental in both concept and implementation. We've learned a lot from the beatbloggers, under the expert guidance of Sarah Hartley. We have also learned from the local communities who got involved with telling their stories. And using this we have continually refined our approach over the past year.

"As an experiment in covering local communities in a new way, it has been successful and enlightening. Unfortunately, while the blogs have found engaged local readerships and had good editorial impact, the project is not sustainable in its present form.

"So over the next month or so, we're going to be winding down the Cardiff, Leeds and Edinburgh blogs and retiring the local project. Don't worry – nothing's going to vanish or stop suddenly, and we're going to integrate communities and topics into our wider site coverage wherever possible."

• Fantastic support for the work of the beatbloggers and their sites in comments on Guardian announcement.