George Blake, chief news officer of hyper-local news service OurTown, says editors of the sites can earn up to $60,000 (£30,306).

Content on the network of 70,000 websites is provided by the local editors and through content deals.

As such revenue from local advertising on a site is shared with its editor.

“We will continue to sell the national ads, which we will split with the local editor, but the local editor retains all revenue generated by local ads after paying a monthly fee to the company for ad serving,” Blake explains.

But will this model be enough to lure and retain local editors and help OurTown emulate the success of competitors like Topix?

Local editors, who oversee the content of their sites, keep almost all of their local ad revenue and a good local editor can make between $45,000 and $60,000 each year once they have built up a regular clientele in their area.