TAPinto

TAPinto is a network of more than 95 independently owned and operated local news and digital marketing platforms in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Florida.[1][2][3][4] Based in New Providence, New Jersey,[1][2] 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.[3] In the past two decades many local hardcopy newspapers have been acquired by national conglomerates that have slashed the newsroom. Other hardcopy newspapers have gone out of business leaving news deserts in their wake. In the coverage vacuum, hyperlocal online media such as TAPinto are often the only local news coverage that many communities get.[5][6]

This article is about the hyperlocal news site. For other uses, see Alternative press.
TAPinto.net
(formerly The Alternative Press)
Type of site
News, digital advertising
Founded2008
Headquarters
New Providence, New Jersey
,
U.S.
No. of locations95
Area servedNew Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Florida
Founder(s)Michael Shapiro
Key peopleMichael Shapiro, CEO
IndustryLocal News
ServicesLocal news and digital marketing
URLwww.tapinto.net
LaunchedOctober 2008
Current statusActive
TAPinto has coverage in the densely populated areas of northern New Jersey as well as coverage in the New York State counties of Westchester and Putnam, and plans to expand throughout the tri-state area.

TAPinto operates on a franchise model. Each TAPinto site is independently owned and operated by a franchisee, who pays a small upfront fee, a monthly fee, and a nominal percentage of advertising revenue.[2] In exchange, the network provides thorough training, a content management system, tech development and support, graphic design, billing and credit card processing, contract software, a CRM, ongoing continuing education programs, full-time customer service support, and helps with both the business and editorial sides of their operation.[7] 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.[7] Many of the site owners are business-oriented people or 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.[8][9] One is owned by a university. Other site owners include public relations professionals such as Steve Lenox, who owns the Bayonne, Paterson, Hamilton/Robbinsville, Hoboken, and Jersey City sites.

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.[10] In 2017, CEO Michael Shapiro appeared on One on One with Steve Adubato discussing the state of news media and the TAPinto model.[11]

Notable coverage

TAPinto journalists consistently are the first to break major stories in their communities.

In 2023, TAPinto Newark’s reporting caused the State of New Jersey to issue a stop work order on construction of a high school in Newark, New Jersey. Complaints filed by workers and union officials claimed the school was being built by non-union laborers.

Also in 2023, a city official in Plainfield, New Jersey, was removed from a city planning board and a nonprofit's board after TAPinto Plainfield reported on racist comments she made at a community fair.

Almost 250,000 people read TAPinto Stafford/LBI’s story of Taylor Swift being spotted with Channing Tatum and Zoë Kravitz ahead of a wedding in Beach Haven, New Jersey.

Through Open Public Records Act (OPRA) requests, TAPinto journalists have been able to hold the powerful accountable. In 2023, TAPinto Newark filed an OPRA request to find out how much the Newark Public School District paid for a dilapidated building. TAPinto eventually sued the district for withholding information from the public.

TAPinto Sparta reported on a controversial warehouse development beginning in 2022, using OPRA requests to gain valuable information for the public to see.

Partnerships

TAPinto is a member of the Local Media Association, the Local Media Consortium, the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, Downtown New Jersey, the New Jersey Society of Professional Journalists and the Center for Cooperative Media.  Many TAPinto owner/publishers are members of their local chamber of commerce as well as civic and community organizations.

Many TAPinto sites have a partnership with high school newspapers in their communities, including TAPinto Berkeley Heights and Governor Livingston High School’s newspaper, The Highlander.

Honors and Awards

TAPinto’s local news and marketing platforms have received various awards and recognition over the years when it comes to original journalism that impact their communities.

In 2023, the New Jersey Society of Professional Journalists honored TAPinto with three Excellence in Journalism Awards. In 2022, the New Jersey Society of Professional Journalists honored TAPinto with eight Excellence in Journalism Awards. Also in 2022, TAPinto journalists were honored with three Excellence in Local News Awards, from the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University.

In 2023, Franchise Business Review named TAPinto as a Top Franchise, Most Innovative Franchise, Top Low-Cost Franchise and Top Franchise for Women.

References
  1. Street Fight Magazine, Tom Grubisich, October 9, 2014, Mike Shapiro’s TAP Gets New Branding and a Network Strategy, Retrieved May 16, 2018, "...The six-year-old Alternative Press (TAP) network of community news sites in suburban New Jersey and Pennsylvania has a new name — TAPinto.net — and a new ... strategy aimed at leveraging content and audience reach across TAPinto’s sites, 32 of which are franchisees and a few wholly owned ... A former litigation attorney, Shapiro ..."
  2. Columbia Journalism Review, Susie Xie, March 25, 2016, https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/new_jersey_sites_tap_into_local_news.php, Retrieved May 16, 2018, "...Within the past seven years, TAPinto has expanded to 51 sites ... Shapiro says the sites have received a combined 4.2 million unique visitors over the last year ... readership consisting mainly of local residents... About 500 businesses advertise with TAPinto, ..."
  3. TAPinto: About Us
  4. "With 66 Franchises, TAPinto Is Ready to Expand Up and Down Coast | Street Fight". streetfightmag.com. Retrieved 2018-05-29.
  5. Media Shift, Stephanie Murray, December 18, 2017, Top 6 Journalism Collaborations of 2017, Retrieved May 16, 2018, "...the ranks of local journalists have been decimated in the United States over the last decade..."
  6. David W. Chen, The New York Times, January 3, 2017, In New Jersey, Only a Few Media Watchdogs Are Left, Retrieved May 16, 2018, "...Michael M. Shapiro is the chief executive and publisher of TapInto.Net, which started in 2008 and has expanded to 60 towns with a franchise model....."
  7. Michele McLellan, April 6, 2014, Can local news scale? The Alternative Press tests a franchise model in New Jersey, Knight Digital Media Center, Retrieved May 5, 2016]
  8. TAPinto.net Announces Launch of Bridgewater-Raritan Site, Franchised by Former Bridgewater Patch Editor and Current Newspaper Owner Audrey Blumberg
  9. Former Patch Editors See Bright Future for The Alternative Press Model
  10. "With 66 Franchises, TAPinto Is Ready to Expand Up and Down Coast | Street Fight". streetfightmag.com. Retrieved 2018-06-04.
  11. Steve Adubato (2017-03-17), TAPinto.net Providing Hyperlocal News to NJ Communities, retrieved 2018-06-04
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