Local newspapers v local blogs

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

A couple of threads overnight started me thinking about this.

Larry Kart posted a bit from the Chicago Tribune here

http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php...st&p=733062

And Jim Sangrey followed it up with a new thread here

http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php...c=38415&hl=

There's a huge difference in what "local" means between these papers, of course, but they're still geographically focused.

So, yes, there's a good deal of unintentional humour in this kind of journalism. And, as Jim pointed out, a lot of love, too. What strikes me most about this kind of journalism is that it's very focused on the real concerns that people have - more than the national papers do, these connect very intimately with people's quality of life. I got a good illustration of that when we moved here a couple of years ago. The local paper (can't recall the name, it's free and I read it when I go to the cafe) was campaigning about the fact that the county council had demolished the public toilets (which were admitted to have been in a bad state) several months before , but hadn't replaced them. A few months later, the council put up new toilets in a different location (and so could have put the new ones in before demolishing the old ones). Victory!

Not a big issue? No. But it's people's quality of life that is enhanced so it's important.

And I wondered whether a locally based blog could have the same impact. There isn't a local blog for Tonyrefail, though there is a forum - here's a recent thread about the local shops' Christmas decorations (about the only thing of interest lately) http://www.tonyrefail.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=927 - But I guess there are a few around.

What is your experience of the effectiveness of local papers v blogs?

MG

[JSngry]

I read an article in WIRED not too long ago stating that one of the survival strategies (and one that's showing signs of being successfuk) of local newspaers is to create a synergy between the print paper & community blogs. In a big city, that means that the paper serves the entire city, and the blogs carry over into the targeted neighborhoods. Encouraging reader involvement in creating/providing content is the key, and it seems to be paying off.