Monday, August 31, 2009

4 papers piloting neighborhood news initiative

The Seattle Times, the Miami Herald, the Charlotte (N.C.) Observer and the Ashville (N.C.) Citizen-Times are among five news organizations participating in a project to determine how papers can more effectively work with grassroots journalism programs.
The one-year initiative is orchestrated by American University’s interactive journalism institute and funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
The dailies, along with online news site TucsonCitizen.com, have agreed to work with at least five hyperlocal news sites or producers in their communities to lay out a foundation supporting local news coverage and distribution.
The newspapers and local news sites will also examine ways to attract advertising support.
“In these days where anyone can publish local information, we hope that a guided partnership between local newspapers and local bloggers or citizen journalists can increase the amount of local information available in a community and raise its quality. We see this as a win/win for the community,“ said Gary Kebbel, Knight’s journalism program director.

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