Focus: “Covering Louisville neighborhoods”; blog started as an observation on downtown development, has grown to cover community news in several city neighborhoods. Original, contributed and curated content shape editorial. Site features: See.Click.Fix and map of blog posts by neighborhood

Started: 2006

Staff:  edited by Brendan Klayko

Business: advertisement funding

Site: brokensidewalk.com

From Home page:

Here, we report on and discuss neighborhood news in Louisville, Kentucky. Any given day, we might be talking about real estate development, transportation, architecture, urbanism, or the nitty gritty of urban life. Please join in the conversation, or learn more about Broken Sidewalk and the stories we cover here. If you like what you see, consider subscribing to our RSS Feed (it’s easy). Thanks for stopping by.

From About:

Broken Sidewalk (BS) is dedicated to the urban realm of the River City, from its neighborhoods to its transportation trends, from real estate happenings to the latest political struggle.  The blog was founded in 2006 as a small site documenting the development of downtown Louisville.  Since then, brokensidewalk.com has grown to cover the goings on of the greater metropolitan region.  We are dedicated to reporting the latest real-estate deal, the most up-to-date project announcements, transportation trends, and all the neighborhood news related to living in our fine city.  We follow the ongoing construction progress of exciting development projects and slip in a little of the latest rumor about the future of the city.

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BS is more than a news source; its a dialogue.  What makes brokensidewalk.com work is the input from our community of users.  This site has been designed to encourage as much interaction as possible.  Each post carries your comments and opinion polls track the pulse of the latest hot topics.  Our community also helps run the site.

Sample posts: “Livable Louisville Forum Set for March 30″; “Demo Watch: Spalding Gym Half Way Gone”; “Wednesday News Roundup” (a collection of links to city news from other news outlets); “Creation Gardens Moving Forward on East Market Street”

Focus: municipal, neighbhorhood news in West Seattle neighborhoods, including accidents, crime, local information; links to West Seattle bloggers; calendar listings; traffic cams; public forums; collaborates with Seattle Times on community coverage

Started: 2005 as casual community observation blog; 2007, news concentration, began accepting advertising

Staff: 2-person startup - co-publishers Tracy Record, editor, and Patrick Sand, business development director (“the sales guy”); 6 contributing reporters

Funding: advertising

Site: westseattleblog.com

From About

We started this in late 2005 with the intention of it just being a little place where we could spout our observations about what’s happening in our rapidly changing community. In the early months, it was a lot more personal, written first person, with a lot more opinion. Then something unexpected started to happen — we began to hear from West Seattle residents looking for information they couldn’t find anywhere else, particularly during the December 2006 windstorm and ensuing days of powerlessness, when thousands of us were sitting in cold dark homes without any official information on when our electricity would be restored. That was a turning point for us, toward a focus more on community news and information, updated frequently, and throughout 2007, and now on into 2008, that focus intensifies day by day.

Sample stories: “Update: Car hits pole, SW Barton closed west of Westwood Village”; ”Video: Human, canine volunteers finish up new Westcrest feature”; “Next chance to help library supporters fight more budget cuts”

Focus: community news blog serving San Antonio; current events, arts, food, sports, pop culture coverage and discussion. Some Spanish-language content

Started: May 2009

Employees/Writers: founded by Patricio Espinoza, who is also managing editor; family, friends help run the site; most content is openly submitted by area organizations or individuals; solicitations for citizen and professional journalism projects. Multi-media components. Mr. Espinoza created SA4Mayor.com, which covered the 2009 mayoral race. His personal blog, espiBlog.org, won an Emmy this year. Mr. Espinoza has a background in broadcasting

Funding: advertising, but content funding is limited; for now, the site links to contributor sites; revenue sharing planned in future as site grows

Site: alamocitytimes.com

From About Us page

And so… lets get back to you, Alamo City… this is your blog, and here’s what I propose: You have a story to tell? An event to share? An issue of concern? Drop me a note, I will look into it… or better yet… dig up the story yourself, sign-up, send it in, and I will post it here. You can also upload photos and videos.

…my goal is to complement what traditional media has to offer.  They got the picture, so why not us add the other small pieces of the puzzle.  How many times have you whispered… Why doesn’t anyone cover or do that story? So here is your chance San Antonio, to put your money… or in this case your story where your mouth is.

Sample posts: ”UTSA to hold free astronomy event on Friday, September 18″ and “UTSA wins $5 million in stimulus funds for new computing center (University of Texas at San Antonio press releases); ”Roland’s Cucumber Salad” a public access video submission by a contributor

Focus: community news blog; town meetings, school boards, some sports

Started: June 2006

Employees/Writers: Founded by Bill Bostic, the site’s main contributor. He is a former stringer for the Harrisburg Patriot-Ledger daily newspaper; some posts bylined by others

Funding: Site chosen to receive $25,000 grant over two years from J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism; some local small business sponsors

Site: linglestownpa.blogspot.com

From bio page: Bill Bostic, Linglestown Gazette’s publisher and editor, grew up in Dillsburg, Pa., and got his start in journalism as a teenager reporting on Little League baseball for the town’s weekly newspaper.

During the 1990s, Bostic worked as a stringer for The Patriot-News (Harrisburg, Pa.), covering a local government beat in four Dauphin County communities, Hummelstown and East, South and West Hanover townships.

Bostic caught the bug for blogging following the pay-raise scandal that rocked Pennsylvania politics in 2005, and published a blog called One-Man Think Tank that garnered considerable attention.

Sample posts: “Reporter’s notebook: CD School Board”; “Linglestown Future Stars headed to semifinal game”; “CD board hires new district head”

Focus: community news, announcements; Baristakids’ page, in association with MontclairKids site (info for moms); food/restaurant reviews; some aggregated stories collected from other sites that discuss coverage area

Employees/Writers: Founded, co-owned by Debbie Galant and Liz George.  The run the site with assistance from one daily editor; 11 contributors; Kristen Kemp runs MontclairKids on BaristaKids page

Launched: May 2004

Funding: advertising — commercial and classified

Site: baristanet.com

The biggest contributors to the site are our readers — their active participation has turned Baristanet into a true online community and the destination for breaking local news, airing opinionated views, and yes, poking fun at suburbia whenever possible.
Much like a favorite coffee shop, where the baristas remember your drink order, Baristanet’s “baristas” give its readers exactly what they’ve come to love — a mix of original reporting, as well as aggregrated news, all with Baristanet’s unique voice and perspective. Baristanet readers provide another layer of content and opinion by actively commenting on each story as well as providing tips, photos, suggestions, as well as (ouch!) criticisms, making the site their own.

Sample posts: “Fried to fight for weekend trains”; “Washington Street Elementary School will be green”; “Murder in Caldwell”

Focus: Local news and issues blog covering 8 towns in Northeastern Connecticut  — “We’re as close as your mouse”; popular topics include school boards and local elections; heavy comment traffic on floating topics

Launched: October 2005

Employees/Writers: Reader comment driven – many regular, anonymous posters, some bylined submissions; anonymous/unnamed administrators post submissions; site includes a philosophy statement and posting guidelines

Funding: limited advertising

Site: woodstockctcafe.com

From WoodstockCT Cafe Philosophy 101 page:

[Commenter] John said at the Cafe in January 2007 ‘There are many who have contributed to the Cafe to share information with the rest of us, and to enlighten us. The collective intelligence of all of us is well documented in the archives, warts and all. I can say for myself that, as a contributor of some of the articles at the Cafe, I have learned a lot about the Town and how it operates. The ability to speak freely in this forum has liberated us from the political darkness of Woodstock. Our learning about the goings on in Woodstock has come from writing the articles, reading the articles of others, and reading the commentary of other contributors. Many times I have been dutifully corrected and I have always appreciated knowing when I have misstated the facts. This awakening would not have been possible without anonymity. This is because it is the argument stated explicitly in words, not the credibility of the author, that is being debated.’

Sample posts: “Vote ‘No’ at the June 9 referendum”; “We know where the DTC stands, does the RTC have the political courage to weigh in?”; “From the outside looking in on the ninth grade proposal”; “On the Woodstock Academy contract”

Focus: blog covering “political news, analysis, commentary, cheap shots, gossip and more about California and beyond”

Launched: January 2009

Employees/Writers: founded by Bay Area newspaper veterans Jerry Roberts (in Santa Barbara) and Phil Trounstine (in Santa Cruz).  Mr. Roberts is a former political editor, editorial page editor and managing editor of the San Francisco Chronicle. Mr. Trounstine the former political editor of the San Jose Mercury News. Bios are on blog home page. Active contributor content.

Funding: Limited advertising

Site: calbuzz.com

 Got buzz? Become a Calbuzzer: send us your photos and videos of statewide California candidates and pols when they campaign in your community; full credit guaranteed.

We also want your dish, scoops, tips and other inside and behind-the-scenes poop about California campaigns and candidates; full discretion guaranteed.

Sample blog posts, from Top Calbuzz stories: “Why Diane Feinstein won’t run for governor”; “Republicans urged bankruptcy for California”; “Why state budget cuts always screw poor people”

Thank you to Ghost Word’s March 2009 blog post , “Former reporters now give away their expertise for free,” for the roundup of new efforts by former San Francisco newspaper reporters.