[Air-l] Fw: E-Media Tidbits - Need Local Blogs? Check Out Placeblogger

[Hugemusic]

For Pamela and the others interested in location-specific blogs, 
Placeblogger (as mentioned by Daisy) has launched.

Cheers and best wishes for the New Year.
Hughie

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Poynter Institute" <newsletters at poynter.org>
To: <hmusic at ozemail.com.au>
Sent: Tuesday, January 02, 2007 8:08 AM
Subject: E-Media Tidbits - Need Local Blogs? Check Out Placeblogger




Poynteronline

E-Media Tidbits

Monday, January 1, 2007

Posted by Amy Gahran 4:33:23 PM
Need Local Blogs? Check Out Placeblogger

What's happening in Pearlington, Miss. or Bozenman, Mont.? Sure, you could 
check local news outlets -- but to get a deeper slice of life you might 
peruse nearby placeblogs.

Finding placeblogs just got a whole lot easier. Today, Lisa Williams debuted 
Placeblogger (http://placeblogger.com/) , an online resource that lists and 
showcases placeblogs -- so far 713 from around the U.S., with a few 
scattered elsewhere around the globe.

What's a placeblog? Williams defines (http://placeblogger.com/faq)  it as 
"an act of sustained attention to a particular place over time. It can be 
done by one person, a defined group of people, or in a way that's open to 
community contribution. It's not a newspaper, though it may contain random 
acts of journalism. It's about the lived experience of a place." Her own 
community site for Watertown, Mass, H20town (http://www.h2otown.info/) , is 
an example of a placeblog.

While many placeblogs focus on hyperlocal news and citizen journalism, 
others are more personal views about life in that town or region.

Placeblogger allows you to find and list placeblogs. Each placeblog listing 
includes a map, link, and other information. I know Lisa is a major fan of 
OPML (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OPML) , so expect some sophisticated feed 
options later from Placeblogger. Apparently, wikis will be part of the mix. 
And there's already a discussion forum for placebloggers.

Many news organizations already offer lists of local blogs or even 
syndicated content from them. Also, more and more news organizations are 
blogging about local issues. Why not add these blogs to Placeblogger, if 
they're not already listed? And if you're covering unfamiliar locations, why 
not check for nearby placeblogs to add color and context?

See Jay Rosen's Pressthink 
(http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2007/01/01/placeblogger_com.html) 
today for more about Placeblogger.