Saul Qersdyn's new venture, compiling all Union County blogs on one site, quickly turned up the fact that Plainfield alone has 21 blogs. Qersdyn was suitably impressed and made a separate link to Queen City bloggers. Click here to see it.
Not all of the 21 municipalities have listings right now. Qersdyn is inviting would-be bloggers to learn more about "citizen journalism" by taking The Citizens' Campaign's 25-minute course on the subject. Successfully completing the course can lead to "certification" as a citizen journalist.
Some Plainfielders may remember The Citizens' Campaign as the force behind passage of the Civic Responsibility Act of 2005. Click here to read Plaintalker's post from Aug. 20, 2005. The list of opportunities to serve on boards and commissions is still not available from City Hall. In fact, many of the rosters have become garbled over the intervening years and need to be straightened out. But that is another story.
Regarding Plainfield blogs, some are single-topic efforts such as Dr. Gregory Palermo's posts on Plainfield trees, while others are round-ups of information and opinions. Two are anonymous takes on the school district. Several are published by legislators. Qersdyn's format lays them out in alphabetical order, without additional comment.
Blogger Dan Damon is also an aggregator of online local news and blogs. He posts on Plainfield Today and aggregates on CLIPS. Jackie Schnoop's blog is mostly about television, with weekly summaries and photos on life in Plainfield. Maria's Blog includes masses of information on the workings (or not-workings) of the school district, along with more slices of life in the Queen City.
It is worth a new look at all of the blogs on Qersdyn's Plainfield link. Readers will see differences such as frequency of posting and proportion of news content. Quersdyn states his goal this way: "The purpose of this information warehouse is to have a centralized starting point where people can look for various issues and information to all the towns in Union County. It also allows for a network of numerous bloggers and citizen reporters to support and assist each other in their pursuits."
When Qersdyn first contacted me by e-mail about his intentions, I replied, "Personally, I think the idea of hyperlocal blogs is diluted by aggregating them on a county-wide basis. I think most readers just want to know about their own communities and can't really relate to issues in other municipalities. Just my opinion."
Very provincial of me, no doubt. Qersdyn, as stated above, sees a value in knowing how other towns address common issues. I still think readers have their hands full just digesting what their own elected and appointed officials are up to.
Qersdyn's format is still being worked out. For example, there are several local "Patch" sites that are in fact a "platform" of online media, with advertising and professional editors. Click here to see the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Patch. These sites are quite different from the solo blogs and while they share the hyperlocal function, they are not aggregated on Qersdyn's countywide "information warehouse."
The question of how "local" news must be to interest readers is one that caused a radical change in the front-page format of some daily newspapers, who now relegate world news to a one-page summary at the rear of the first section. Local stories about adopting lab beagles or the latest bank robbery now merit the A-1, above-the-fold spot. This has come about because by the time a daily newspaper hits the porch, everyone has already heard or seen the world news on other media. Still, both the Patch and hyperlocal blog format give the reader just the hometown news, not what happened in the next municipality or county, a possible advantage over a daily that attempts to give local news from dozens of towns.
As a reader, what captures your interest among all these possibilities? Do you spin through many sources on your Blackberry or is reading the paper with your morning coffee a must? Do you like to see Plainfield in contrast to 20 other Union County towns or do you want to zoom in on City Hall and the school board?
Would you want to be a citizen journalist or just a consumer of well-reported local news? There are so many choices today. What are yours?
--Bernice
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I'm thankful for Mark Spivey and, as of late, more coverage of Plainfield in the local newspaper than in past years. That said, I read most of the local private citizen bloggers daily -- folks like you, Dan Damon, Old Doc ... to get my hyperlocal fix.
ReplyDeleteAs a paid freelancer for AOL Television, I feel obligated to note that all of the Patch sites are owned and operated by AOL. They're always looking for new towns. If someone had a decent writing background or ability as well as contacts in the town, one could get started for Plainfield. It would be quite the endeavor to undergo, but the pay is decent. I read the Westfield and Scotch Plains/Fanwood Patches. They're like the old time real local newspapers.
If Mark Spivey actually started to do some honest unbiased reporting, it would be great. He owes too much to the powers that be to do that!
ReplyDeleteTo Anonymous at 11:35 p.m.: I am holding your comment for the time being. If you want to submit it with your name, I will post it as is.
ReplyDeleteThe issue you raise is complicated and was recently a topic on "On the Media."
Bernice, I've seen it happen up close.
ReplyDelete