The reads more like an opinion column more than a news article, with few in-article links. It does have sidebars of links to past blogs. News sources are generally not cited.
One thing that I didn't really like about this particular blog was that it was easy to mistake advertising for content. There is a sidebar of "Quicklinks," that one would expect to be to other articles but actually link to paid advertisers. The links to other news sources and community resources is much farther down the page, after a number of ads and an extensive list of other local blogs.
As a whole, though, this blog is an interesting example of how citizens experience their community in the 21st century. The town square used to be the place to go to meet fellow community members, hear about upcoming events or how past events turned out. This mode changed after our society moved it's home base to the suburbs. Now individual neighborhoods may have their own forums of interaction, but the larger community generally doesn't have anything resembling a town square or city center. This, I think, is the modern replacement.
Good post, but I think you needed more specificity. Why is THIS blog a good example of 21st century community? What audience does this blog serve and how is it different than the Herald? How do these differences play out in coverage?
ReplyDeleteOnce again, more identity would help your cause.
Watch the grammar (it's, its).