The Laurel talked recently with humorist/radio guy/taught-a-course-on-blogs-at-Trinity-College Colin McEnroe about the new media ventures that are springing up around us: the online Connecticut News Project, Inc. that’s coming this fall, localonlinenews.tv, patch.com which is making inroads in Connecticut, etc. Some thoughts from Colin:
It strikes me that there is now a kind of gathering storm, and it looks a little bit like the last boomlet, roughly 2005-2006 when the CT local blog scene really took root.
The difference is that this new wave is full of journalism pros. One of the problems with downsizing is that it’s a little bit like Paul Bremer’s disbanding the Iraqi Army. You’ve got a lot of highly skilled, fully trained people with time on their hands. That’s why every cut should be looked at two ways. Can you afford to give up this person? And can you afford to have this person competing against you?
The story of the Old Media in 2009 seems like it’s being written by Edward Gibbon. The Visigoths are at the gates of Rome. The old institutions have been weakened, first by complacency, then by sudden developments. Anybody got a plan?
[…] Colin McEnroe has a few thoughts about the recent ”boomlet” of area and local news sites springing up all over the place. Here ’s the Laurel’s report. […]
The Plan:
Big Boob Fridays!