TAPinto

rdf:langString TAPinto

rdf:langString TAPinto.net

rdf:langString (formerly The Alternative Press)

rdf:langString

rdf:langString TAPinto.net

rdf:langString News

rdf:langString Active

rdf:langString Michael Shapiro

rdf:langString Local News

rdf:langString Michael Shapiro, CEO

rdf:langString October 2008

rdf:langString U.S.

rdf:langString TAP Logo 2014.png

rdf:langString Online news and opinion

rdf:langString TAPinto is a network of more than 80 independently owned and operated local news websites in New Jersey, New York, and Florida. Based in New Providence, New Jersey, TAPinto.net is one of the largest online local news gathering operations in New Jersey. It was founded by New Providence residents Michael and Lauryn Shapiro in October 2008 to provide independent local news. In the past two decades there has been a seismic decline in local journalism, with many publications going bankrupt; in the coverage vacuum, hyperlocal online media such as TAPinto are often the only local news coverage that many communities get. TAPinto operates on a franchise model. Each TAPinto site is independently owned and operated by a franchisee, who pays an annual fee and a percentage of advertising revenue to the owners. In exchange, the network provides a content management system and helps with both the business and editorial sides of their operation. Some sites are operated by individuals, while others are operated by a group of two to four people who each work on the site part-time. Many of the site owners are business-oriented people, nonprofits, and one is managed by a university. Other site owners include political consultants and aides, such as Steve Lenox, who owns the Bayonne, Paterson, Hamilton/Robbinsville, Hoboken, and Jersey City sites; journalists, such as magazine journalist Jackie Lieberman and former Star-Ledger reporter Fred J. Aun, who operates TAPinto Roxbury. Several are former editors for Patch Media, a hyperlocal news network formerly operated by America Online. In 2014, the network's name was changed from The Alternative Press to TAPinto and it began using the new web address of TAPinto.net. In 2018, TAPinto's franchise model for local news was featured in Street Fight magazine. In 2017, CEO Michael Shapiro appeared on One on One with Steve Adubato discussing the state of news media and the TAPinto model.