Posted by jessdrkn on November 19, 2009
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan 
Focus: “It’s like being there”; local and neighborhood news coverage
Started: September 2008
Staff: launched by publisher Mary Morgan and editor Dave Askins (wife and husband team). Ms. Morgan is a former reporter with the Ann Arbor News, which went from print to mostly online-only model.
Site: annarborchronicle.com
From About
We launched The Ann Arbor Chronicle to fill a void – to create a daily news site that reflects and embraces the energy, oddities, and character of our community. Every day we encounter eccentric, enterprising, or regular people doing the remarkable or even the routine. Ultra-local events within easy arm’s reach – whether it’s a pickup softball game, a client meeting in a coffee shop, a spontaneous political caucus, a school play – that’s the lens through which The Chronicle sees topics like entertainment, economic development, government, education. …
The word of the year for 2007 was locavore, someone who eats food grown in their region, probably by people who live somewhere close by. We’d like to extend this notion to someone who craves news and information grown locally in some sort of metaphorical compost of community interaction. We want these locavores to crave The Chronicle.
Stories: “Library nears deal on newspaper archives”; “More candidates vie for state house, senate”; “Downtown planning process forges ahead”; “Sheriff suggests ways to add deputies in Scio”
Media Mentions: Poynter Q&A with publisher Mary Morgan; “WordPress, Twitter, the Elks Club: 10 new routines at a news start-up” article from Nieman Journalism Lab
Posted in Michigan | Tagged: Ann Arbor, local advertising, local news, Michigan | 2 Comments »
Posted by jessdrkn on September 23, 2009
Location: Grand Rapids, Mich. 
Focus: hyperlocal, citizen-journalism news site for Grand Rapids; open-sourced; coverage categories include news, politics, communinty life, sports, opinion
Started: Sept. 15, 2009
Staff: 4: Publisher Laurie Cirivello, Citizen Journalism Coordinator Denise Cheng, Content Facilitator Drew Storey, New Media Planner George Wietor; online solicitation to be a citizen reporter for the site; Project of the Grand Rapids Community Media Center, which runs non-profit WYCE-FM (88.1), the Wealthy Theatre, GRTV and Livewire cable access television, according to Grand Rapids Press report
Funding: non-profit: grants and support from the Grand Rapids Community Foundation, Knight Foundation, Slemons Foundation
Site: therapidian.org
From About page
The Rapidian is a citizen journalism project intended to increase the flow of local news and information in the Grand Rapids community and its neighborhoods.
By providing tools, training, platforms and support, we hope to empower neighborhood residents to report the news from the inside out. We are an outlet for Grand Rapidians to become more than just content consumers but also providers by becoming citizen journalists.
We are currently in our beta phase and appreciate any feedback from our participants to make the most user friendly site possible.
Sample stories: “Social networking on the rise”; “Park(ing) Day 2009: A photo essay”; “Community rowing program unites different schools into a crew”; “ArtPrize piece catches fire in Cathedral Square”; “Health care demonstration”
Media mentions: Grand Rapids Press online article 9/15/09: “Grand Rapids citizen journalism site The Rapidian launches”
Posted in Michigan | Tagged: citizen journalism, Grand Rapids, hyperlocal, Michigan, non-profit | Leave a Comment »
Posted by jessdrkn on July 15, 2009
Location: Grosse Pointe, Mich. (covering the five Grosse Pointe neighborhoods in suburban Detroit) 
Focus: Community “News,” “People,” “Schools” pages; some crime blotter information; births, deaths, awards, etc. announcements are user-generated, free
Started:
Writers/Employees: Edited by Ben Burnes, Sheila Young Tomkowiak and Nancy Dell Derringer. Site includes staff photographer, Web programmer and copy editor; 9 reporter/contributors; 4 interns; 2 volunteers. Area politicians contribute columns
Funding: non-profit; advertising
Site: http://grossepointetoday.com/
GrossePointeToday.com is a non-profit community website for news and information about the Grosse Pointes and its residents. The site is still under development so please bear with us as we work out the technical difficulties. Meanwhile, take a look around and see what we have going so far. Let us know what you think we should include.
Sample posts: “Column: Woods recall campaign ignites a battle of the tweets”; “Cadieux parking gets ‘positive traction’”; “A fine July 4 in Moscow (Vermont)”; “Detroit dive team takes the plunge to clean a sunken car graveyard”; Local schools coverage: ”ULS athletes pick up year-end honors”
Other: Site selected in 2009 to receive $25,000 grant over two years from J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism. Announcement here.
Posted in Michigan | Tagged: Grosse Pointe, hyperlocal, Michigan, non-profit, suburban | Leave a Comment »
