The summary isn't terribly pretty: The business model depends on grants, the most sustainable models are extensions of someone's personal commitment, and training the public to be citizen contributors is a high-churn, low-return concept.
But within its findings is a big revelation: Rather than replace conventional outlets, the hyperlocal sites are adding to the public sphere's information.
"They’ve done a bunch of other things as well: They triggered other news stories, helped solve community problems, imparted a lot of political knowledge that empowered voters, and engendered a new level of accountability for municipal leaders," a summary of the report says.