It’s been a week full of must-reads… Russell Beattie uses the occasion of Newsvine’s launch to articulate what is at the heart of the difference between our vision and many of the other hyperlocals:
I don’t know what they’re doing exactly, but the “community news
source” is a proven business model and an uptapped need in the current
web. There’s lots and lots of towns, neighborhoods and cities out there
that have a need for someone to keep track of the local school boards,
and high-school sports scores and all that stuff, and write up daily
reports. Forget all this “social news” crap where lazy people read a
bunch of news sources, add a bit of uninteresting, usually uniformed
opinion or analysis and throw it out there as a story. There’s a real
need for professional journalism, but published with a blog-like
versatility, accessibility and accountability. We don’t need more
columnists – we need more journalists, willilng to get their hands
dirty, keep their opinions to themselves as best as possible and help
inform the rest of us of what’s going on in the places we live.
Amen, brother. Well, except for the lack of opinion. We think there’s room for both. It’s like the Michael Keaton line in The Paper:
You’re not a columnist– You’re a reporter who writes long.
Via Staci Kramer.
