"A lot of my focus has been to help the company as we have evolved from what was once a magazine [Good with a complementary Web site and some media events to a more diversified media company, to go from start-up to scale-up," he said. In the coming months, Good Worldwide will drastically "scale up" various branches of the media company."

It's my town!!! Very interesting to watch how this works and if it will fill in a gap. Personally, I follow local news through Chicagoist and Beachwood Reporter--who act as both aggregators, cultural afficianados (much more in tune w/my tastes than the tribune) and commentators on news provided by the MSM here including the Chicago Tribune, Sun-Times, local television, etc...
I also wonder how this builds out on the biz side, if it's going to increase advertising.
One last note--as much as I appreciate what HuffPo is trying to do--unpaid writers/reporters is not a sustainable model for the individuals that contribute. You're going to either have a set of opinions/reporting from individuals who can afford to give their time/resources for free which will only give a certain range of perspectives and people spending time reporting/opining for free because it's an important way to build their career, but not their pocketbooks.

Archive: For Book re: Jena 6. Howard Witt of The Chicago Tribune discusses role and growth of black blogosphere.

"But what I find in the black blogosphere you have people who don't profess to be political professionals. They're just ordinary folks coming from a range of interests and professions but they have these very thoughtful takes on the civil rights issues of the day. They bring to bear their own experience and they give voice to a lot of stuff that just doesn't get aired either in the mainstream media or in the kind of liberal blogs. Plus the black blogosphere is not distinguished by a particular political orthodoxy.....

Interestingly, what the black blogs proved [with Jena] is they don't need for the "white blogs" to pay attention to them for these to become big national stories, to get their story out. They get a lot of attention. They get a lot of results. "

Interesting summary of research that shows how bloggers begin to pick up journalistic routines and concerns as their audience grows

"Building on the idea of product differentiation, I want to underscore a second critical factor—how people use media. A lot of news organizations are still thinking about content and presentation in terms of medium and technology (or worse, in terms of tradition and comfort level) when they should be thinking about content and presentation in terms of audiences—in which I include people who read of print newspapers and people who read their news online or go there for more interactive experiences.

For an example of this, look no farther than your spiffy new iPhone and then check out what content your organization is providing to users there or on other mobile devices. The news industry’s capacity to deliver news, information and interactivity to mobile seriously lags audience adoption and use."

How much more powerful is that networked intelligence than a reporter with a phone, a Rolodex and the space between his or her ears? As the former newspaperman and Web evangelist Jeff Jarvis (who has also consulted for The New York Times) has been saying since before broadband, the Web is not just a way to shout, it is a way to listen, one that can lead to deeper, more effective journalism. (His response to the Philly injunction against early Web publishing was predictably measured and careful: “It is suicide. It is murder. You should be ashamed of yourselves.”)

For the last few years, the locus of control has been shifting and consumers not only expect to customize their media experience, they demand it as a condition of engagement. The horizon line for when a newspaper on the street is serving as a kind of brochure of a rich online product does not seem far off.

As befitting a conference focused on the state of media, the conference had reported on itself in at least a three ways before lunch: GroundReport streamed video for the Aspen Institute, the Knight Commission blogged the event, and Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist, blogged a series of short videos he had made.

Oooohhh, I like! We've been talking about "gamechangers" for months at The Media Consortium… Any ideas for nominations?

"The We Media Awards recognize Game Changers: people, projects, ideas and organizations leading change and inspiring a better world through media.
Game Changers lead society to knowledge. They inspire involvement and action through media, and we’ll celebrate their achievement at We Media Miami, where their stories become the content of the conference. They provide example, insight and inspiration for participants from all fields by demonstrating how to navigate and lead the connected society."

The Politico has benefited from profound changes in the way people get news, according to Jim VandeHei, the executive editor and co-founder. People look for news far more often during the day, they are far more likely to seek multiple sources as well as favorite bloggers and writers, and they are far more interested in watching video online.
“The difference between ’04 and ’08 is like walking into a different century,” he said. “Virtually everybody who comes to us also goes to The Post or The Times or Drudge or Yahoo or Google. Having a sole source of news — those days are over.”

tipjoy launched earlier this year with the hopes of creating a better tipping community, and subsequently a better online marketplace for earning money and expressing your support of a particular site you like (somewhat similar to TipIt). While sites have been accepting donations for some time now, and this process has been simplified with payment gateways like PayPal, tipjoy has sought to simplify the process even further by offering things like a bookmarklet that allows you to tip sites as you surf the Web.

tipjoy launched earlier this year with the hopes of creating a better tipping community, and subsequently a better online marketplace for earning money and expressing your support of a particular site you like (somewhat similar to TipIt). While sites have been accepting donations for some time now, and this process has been simplified with payment gateways like PayPal, tipjoy has sought to simplify the process even further by offering things like a bookmarklet that allows you to tip sites as you surf the Web.

While the right wing blogosphere opines, progressives mix in some facts with their analyses

All the news that’s fit to share? How APIs are revolutionizing news syndication.

(PDF) Despite making strides in diversifying ideology, MSNBC is still leading the dude pack, while FOX is the whitest network with nearly 90 percent honky commentators. Get with the times, cable news!

(PDF:http://mediamatters.org/static/pdf/diversity_report.pdf) Despite making strides in diversifying ideology, MSNBC is still leading the dude pack, while FOX is the whitest network with nearly 90 percent honky commentators. Get with the times, cable news

“What started as a simple one-sentence petition hastily posted to the web has evolved into the most readily identifiable group in the vanguard of a revived progressivism”