Microlocal News Web Site EveryBlock Releases Source Code
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The programming team behind EveryBlock, a location-specific news aggregator, has released the software's source code under the GPLv3 license. This could signal a way for the journalism industry to keep its foot in the door of local news reporting that's increasingly falling into the laps of "citizen journalists."
Since the code is fairly complex, programmers will likely start out using snippets of it to create smaller projects. Though releasing the code makes it technically possible to design all sorts of geolocation apps, St. Pete Times news technologist Matt Waite says, "If you think you just turn it on and put some ads on it and it will make money for you, you're high."
The EveryBlock project was funded by a grant from the Knight News Foundation and led by Adrian Holovaty, creator of Django. Now that the funding has come to an end, the source code is being released as part of the grant's original requirements. The site will continue to operate as a private company
Everything you've ever wanted to know about EveryBlock's code can be found on the new section of the project's Web site, including its publishing system, internal tools, and mapping utilities. O'Reilly Radar's Brady Forrest notes, "the trademark EveryBlock is not available. However, the Everyblock team would not mind being acknowledged if you use their code.
