Started: April 2009

Focus: News and information for the Galion area: “connecting Galion and Galionites with their world.” Integration with social media and networking; launching citizen media component in January 2010; user-generated content; information categories include “News & Views”, “Life in Galion”, “Education & Health”, and “Sports”; some links to content by area media

Staff: Founder/editor Thomas Palmer; 2 regular contributors

Funding: Advertising model launching 2010

Site: galionlive.com

From About:

The goal of GalionLive! is to bring the community together by facilitating the open exchange of news, information and ideas. It is based squarely on the idea of interactivity, in that the entire community, as well as friends of Galion from around the country and the world, are invited to become a part by posting news items, opinions or events — and by sharing photos, videos or audio.

As this site launches, it does so with an iron-clad promise, and that is a commitment to promote communication and conversation that is not dependent on commercial support. This site will feature its own stories and views, each aimed at revealing some aspect of community life. GalionLive! also embraces the concept of “citizen journalism,” in that it also allows registered users to publish any material that meets the following criteria:

Mr. Palmer: GalionLive includes a social networking site at: community.galionlive.com with some 364 registered users; a WordPress site at: www.galionlive.com with regular commentary from readers; a Facebook site at: www.facebook.com/galionlive w ith 599 “fans”; and a Twitter site at: www.twitter.com/galionlive. These sites are integrated to the greatest extent possible to create a single product

Sample stories: “Galion Christmas Eve services” a roundup of church service times; “The Old World comes to Galion”; “Utility rate increases enacted by council”; “It happened in Galion…” a decade retrospective of local events from 2000-2009

Focus: revitalization and lifestyle stories from the U.S. rust belt region — metro areas around Great Lakes including Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Youngstown, Cincinnati, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Buffalo; categories include “economic development”, “good ideas”, “editorial”, and “real estate”; also running the Big Urban Photography Project

Started: February 2009

Staff: editors are Angie Schmitt (in Cleveland) and Kate Giammarise (in Pittsburgh), who used to be reporters at the Toledo Blade. Ms. Schmitt is a graduate student in Urban Studies/Public Policy at Cleveland State University, according to the site. Ms. Giammarise is Pittsburgh-based journalist who covers the steel industry; there are eight contributors from around and outside region

Funding: self-funded to start; considering grants

Site: rustwire.com

From About:

This site is intended to consolidate thoughtful, constructive stories about post-industrial cities across the Rust Belt. It was developed by two former newspaper reporters with ties to five Rust Belt cities, and it is maintained with help from half a dozen others from across the region.

Our aim present a balanced, realistic view of our cities, the challenges they face and the assets they maintain.

Sample stories: “A summer of Rust Belt road trips…”; “Pittsburgh: The Paris of Appalachia” Q&A with “Paris of Appalachia” book author; “[Braddock Mayor] Fetterman named to Atlantic’s ‘Brave Thinkers’ list; “Why Detroit will survive”; “What Las Vegas can learn from the Rust Belt”