Jacobson, 68, has long been one of the most recognizable faces on Boston television. She became the city’s first female evening news TV anchor in 1976 and spent 35 years at Channel 5 before retiring in 2007. Since then, she has dabbled in her own Internet venture, a website focused on baby boomer issues, she said. That site never got off the ground.
“I’m just going through a period in my life in which I’m trying to reinvent myself,’’ Jacobson said, adding that the position with GoLocal offered a chance to work online. “The mediums are changing, but I think the need for honest, relevant information is still timely.’’
GoLocal24 is among a growing number of start-ups trying to capitalize on the growth of the Internet as a source of information.
A number of local news sites have emerged nationwide in recent years, including AOL’s Patch, EveryBlock, and Outside.in. The Boston Globe and Boston.com operate a network of 50 local news sites under the name Your Town.
The challenge for such start-ups, said Peter Krasilovsky, an analyst who follows online media for BIA/Kelsey in Virginia, is to become a destination not only for local news, but for anyone who goes online to search for a plumber or a pizza parlor. In short, he said, they have to be able to compete with the likes of search and Internet advertising giant Google.
“There are a bunch of these out there,’’ he said. “Is it a sound model? I think it is. There are still some bumps in the road that need to be worked out.’’
GoLocal24 in Providence was founded by Josh Fenton, a former advertising executive who grew up in Providence. His cofounder was Paul Krasinski, a Newton native and executive with Arbitron Inc., and brother of actor John Krasinski of the TV sitcom “The Office.’’ The website employs 10 reporters and a group of freelance contributors.
