The Anytown Guardian
October 13, 2009
When they’re not busy provoking evil corporations into making fools of themselves the good people at The Guardian come up with some interesting ideas for their sprawling website. Such as today’s announcement that they’re planning a local news project which involves hiring bloggers in various provincial cities.
Local newspapers have generally been counted amongst the victims of the digital revolution, as their vital small-ad revenue bleeds away to the likes of google, ebay and gumtree. I suppose some professional journalists may see the nationals hiring bloggers as another nail in their downsized and outsourced coffin, but I think allowing local writers to utilise the techology and reach of a national newspaper platform is an exciting idea. To my mind if local papers are to survive they need to up their online game, improve their clumsily designed websites and embrace the interesting opportunities offered by contextual ads, social networking and ultra-local internet TV. A bit of creative competition can’t hurt.
