MEDILL NEWS SERVICE

Community news just got more accessible for residents of Chicago’s Southwest and Western suburbs.

Triblocal, a “hyper-local” community publishing service introduced by The Tribune Co., will be expanding its Web site this week to cover news from 13 more suburbs, bringing the total number of suburbs covered to 21.

Triblocal.com, which debuted last April, hosts several thousand stories, events and photos posted mostly by residents.

The 13 new suburbs are Palos Heights, Palos Park, Palos Hills, Lemont, Frankfort, Mokena, New Lenox, Manhattan, Glen Ellyn, Warrenville, Wheaton, Winfield and West Chicago.

“In expanding Triblocal, we look to add suburbs based on affinity between communities derived from schools, shopping and other resources,” said Kyle Leonard, Triblocal editor.

The expanded coverage is expected to add an unspecified number of new jobs at Triblocal as well, said Jane Jansen, Triblocal’s general manager.

The user-generated online content and articles written by staff reporters will be collated in a weekly newspaper that will be published by the Chicagoland Publishing Company later this year. Triblocal has already successfully implemented this reverse publication strategy in some suburbs in Chicago.

According to Tribune Co., the number of registered contributors to the Web site has grown by 75 percent and online traffic in page views has risen by almost 60 percent since the initial print launch last August.

Christine Wong, media spokeswoman for Tribune Co., said the purpose of Triblocal was to get people actively involved in their own communities. “The best way to do that is through a Web site that everyone can access, and then feature that Web content in a print edition for everyone to read,” she said.

By the end of this year, Triblocal is expected to have eight newspapers with a total circulation of 120,000, covering news from at least 35 suburbs around Chicago through its Web site.

Jansen said in an interview that the recent change in ownership of the Tribune Co. has not affected the day-to-day functioning of Triblocal.

Real estate tycoon Sam Zell completed an $8.2 billion buyout of Tribune Co. in late December that took the company private. Zell, who is Tribune’s chairman and CEO, has yet to announce detailed plans to improve the company’s performance.

“We may do things differently since the change in ownership...we will do things more quickly (or be more entrepreneurial) in order to take advantage of new opportunities,” Jansen said.

Edward J. Atorino, equity analyst at The Benchmark Company LLC, said it will take more than Triblocal’s Web site expansion to boost the company’s overall performance.

“Although it is a nice strategic move on the part of the Tribune Co., it will not have a major impact on the company’s performance, since it accounts for only 5 percent to 6 percent of the total revenue,” Atorino said.

Residents, on the other hand, are excited about the Web site expansion.

“I go the regularly go to Triblocal for information on the community. I find it effective,” said Peg Coker, a literary event organizer in Batavia.

Another resident, Barbara Millard, said she liked posting events on the site because it is easily accessible and free of charge.

Triblocal is also planning to introduce more interactive components on the Web site in the near future. “We will be adding video and multimedia content on the Web site to engage more users,” Jansen said.