But for freelancers, there’s a huge debate happening over the merits of writing for a content aggregator to advance your career, a debate that last week spilled onto the pages of this blog. First long-time freelancer Tim Beyers examined the reasons why a writer shouldn’t bother with content aggregators. Then Helium’s new writer outreach manager Barbara Whitlock countered with her own detailed explanation of  why freelancers would want to write for a content aggregator, Helium in particular.

I say if you’re a writer looking for experience, there’s a better way.

Instead of writing for an aggregator, find out what hyperlocal news sites have popped up in your area, introduce yourself and ask if there’s anything you can do to help.

In case you’re not familiar with them, hyperlocal news sites are blogs that focus on what’s happening in a specific area, be it a neighborhood, town or city. You might also know them as community news blogs or citizen journalist sites. Some examples: NewzJunky in Watertown, New York; Hop Town in Hopkinsville, Massachusetts, and NeighborsGo.com in Dallas.

If you work for a hyperlocal news organization you’ll probably start out making about as much as you would at a content aggregator – which is to say not much. But if you really are just starting out, you could use the opportunity to go out and do some man-on-the-street reporting,  and pick up other valuable experience.

If you don’t think there are hyperlocal or citizen journalists operating in your city you’re wrong, you just haven’t looked hard enough. Here in Portland, there are at least four, including Neighborhood Notes and OurPDX, more if you count sites that focus on niches like tech, books or cycling.

If there really aren’t hyperlocal sites where you live, start one. By teaching yourself everything you need to know to run a hyperlocal or community news site, you’re teaching yourself everything you need to know in 2009 and going into the future to get hired as a staff writer or make it as a freelancer, things like using a content management system (a fancy term for blogging or blog-like software), HTML, linking, how to write for a blog, how to write straight news, how to take pictures, video and audio, etc.

When it comes down to it, as long as you’re going to the time and trouble of learning the craft, why give the fruits of your labors to another business when you could maximize the benefit and profit for the enterprise that matters most – you.

As print advertising continues to plummet and online ads have yet to pick up the slack, papers are cutting frequency, shrinking geographic distribution, laying off workers – really doing anything and everything they can to cut costs – and anticipating more of the same next year. If some of them don’t fold first, which is a distinct possibility.

One bright spot in an otherwise bleak business is what’s happening at the community level, where news blogs or aggregators are popping up all over the country. Whatever you call them – online newspapers, community microblogs or something else – many are run by former staff reporters or editors, and in some cases long-time freelancers who see a gap in local news left by newspapers’ shrinking coverage.

I recently talked to Gillin, a long-time tech writer & editor turned blogger, author and social media pundit, about the news business and the role one- and two-person operations are playing in the industry. Here are some highlights of our conversation, edited for length and clarity.

We hear a lot about the plight of the country’s major dailies, but what’s happening with smaller community newspapers?

It’s very tough for them right now, as publishers like Gannett are closing them outright in an effort to save money. The weeklies just aren’t seen as being worth the attention of these big companies. They’re trying to save the big titles that are seen as more profitable. It’s kind of a split personality because there are small newspapers starting up successfully with a low budget and bootstrapping and serving very specific geographic areas or demographics.

Where does online community news fit in?

You’re finding a lot of individuals who are becoming community publishers. They may not have a print edition but it’s not a stretch to see them going in that direction, as the major dailies provide less valuable content.

A lot of these are mini versions of Drudge Report, lots of linking to other stuff. There’s an opportunity for someone who can aggregate around their area and consolidate it in one source. If I’m a local high school theater group I probably have a website, and if someone can put that together with other local information they add some value.

What are some of these online community news sites?

Neighborsgo.com out of Dallas is a really interesting experiment in community journalism, with 18 local editions generated by readers. Newzjunky is a one-man publisher in Watertown, New York, who is driving the local community paper nuts. There’s a guy I’ve written about my own hometown, Hopkinton, Massachusetts, started a Website called Hop News. He’s one guy. He’s a photographer, he goes around the town and documents what’s happening. He’s been at it five years now being a one man band. Is he making a living? He complements it with his photography business, but it’s a profitable business.

There’s a lot of talk of news organizations trying new revenue models to supplement advertising and subscriptions. Are online community news sites doing that?

A lot of ideas are being tried at the local level that can’t be tried at the big papers because they’re not nimble enough to accomplish it. Small publications are able to innovate more. Their overhead is so low, they don’t need a lot to survive.

Here’s a couple other places to read up on what’s happening in the industry:

Reflections of a Newsosaur

TheMediaIsDying