News-Record.com Pursuing Innovative Virtual Town Square Idea

Posted on February 15, 2005

The News-Record.com, a newspaper covering Greensboro, North Carolina and the Piedmont Triad region, already has several different blogs and wants to do more with blogging to get the community involved. John Robinson, the newspaper's editor who runs The Editor's Log, blogged that, "Editors here want the newspaper and its Web site to become a virtual town square, a trusted place where people can read and write the news, share information, talk to each other and engage in community building."

The newspaper appears ready to embrace novel concepts like blogging, online discussion and citizen journalism. A large volume of incoming citizen blogs and stories could increase the need for editors at the paper, but it should also give the online edition of the newspaper a solid traffic boost as well. On the News-Record's The Lex Files blog, Lex Alexander writes:

"Everyone can be a reporter, and we want your stories. Know about some news? Write it as a story and e-mail it to us. Know an interesting person or place? We'll publish a story about it online. Disagree with how we've presented a news event ... you attended or participated in? Rewrite our story the way you think it should read. E-mail all such submissions to Lex. ... They will be lightly edited for libel, veracity and grammar."

Jay Rosen, a professor at New York University and author of the PressThink blog, was fond of the concept. Rosen said, "I've been waiting for this. So have many others: The organization willing to be a little radical. Maybe you can't change the newspaper and its ideas overnight, but you can change the Web site and its underlying ideas overnight."