A friend works for a site called Patch. Aol started it… it’s hyper-local news, which may be boring to some people, but intensely relevant and meaningful to others. That’s the point… it’s quite focused on micro-communities and periurban areas throughout the country. There’s more to come, as well. As a journalist brought up in a dynamic, in synch world of reporting and news, I imagine it is difficult to see the last 10 years turn into a parody of NETWORK, BROADCAST NEWS, and another couple rings of Dante’s Inferno. So I ramble… because i see this Patch thing as something that can clean the chalkboard; wipe off the improper formulas and theorems of how news works – wash it all away and start over…. getting back to simple, meaningful, communal news.
So I drool words…..
http://millvalley.patch.com/articles/fourth-graders-give-miller-ave-a-makeover?ncid=M254
You know… I can’t help but think there are some journalists who would be disturbed at having to report this. The whole Murrow Cronkite spectre looms, and if you aren’t, in this day and age, morally vital, or embedded like some cable correspondent, it’s not “news”. But then, with what you are doing…. I dunno. I really think this is the start of something *VERY* big in how small or communal all this will become. This stuff is SOOO relevant to people within a community, and even then, it will draw attention away from all that bullshit “real” on the go news that isn’t about reporting or journalism, but is a lot like the Wire’s portrayal of an industry corrupted by a subterfuge of competition in speed, ratings, readers. I imagine this news you do could be powerful enough to start wiping away the sheen from the bullshit news… at least draw attention back onto things as simple as community relevance and, albeit boring, statutes and zonings and meetings that actually apply to the reader, rather than arbitrary nonsense that does nothing more than make people fearful or panicked.
I mean, how many mornings can we wake up to a perfect and peaceful community only to hear of beheadings in a place we never have been and never will go, or corruption and murder in a backwards town in Florida, etc. I dunno… as a journalist who has done a lot, I am sure there are moments you grumble, or whatever. Maybe you are just about living life and getting paid…. and don’t think about it. You seem balanced, yes I think this is where you are at. But as for noble journalism, it’s sort of like you are a high class editor crossed with a real beat reporter that talks about stuff that might not change France or Bhutan or other hemispheres… but you do this stuff that is so much more important than any news that has been out there for some time.
I only took the moment to ramble this because I had a vision last night where geolocation will become more important, in the future… and people will grow up as mico-celebrities in their community because, *simply* they have lived there for their entire lives, grew up wanting to be a reporter, and finally got the chance after interning, working their way up, etc. I dunno…. I see what you are doing at Patch as part of a future that goes back to simpler concepts of community and relevance. It’s almost like you guys will wrap around these small city states that trade with one another, and report on their health, etc. It just feels like the start of community again… like not forced, in any way. But just people settling down, coming back to earth, becoming more grounded, seeing through a lot of endless big scale bullshit, and realizing the stuff that is truly relevant is that the 4th graders helped beautify the community, or whether an office is properly zoned for a specific area. It’s just seems old timey… but more mature, thoughtful, and responsible. Â That kid won’t look up to Glen Beck or Olbermann. Â He will look up to the beat reporter that has kept his community glued together and informed for his whole existence. Â Maybe?
I had some coffee… i could go on. What did i say to you that one time? “Thanks for your awareness”. Anyhoo… are you or any of the other patch people thinking like this, or is it more “our industry is nuts here’s a job”??