Online news site meshes traditional journalism and blogs - New Mexico Business Weekly:

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The has five similar sitezs in four other states andin D.C. The will focus on statewide coverag eof government, politics, the environment and growth, amonvg other topics, said Jefferson national editorial director for the Center. David Alire formerly of the , has been hirefd as the director of the Trip Jennings, who came from the , will be the news Joel Gay, formerly of the Albuquerque and bloggers Heath Haussamen and Margery Childress will write for the site, as will Gwyneth Doland, who will covet the politics of food. Jennings said combining traditionalk journalism with the growing online worldattracted him.
He sees a lot of peopld leaving newsrooms, or losing their jobs as paperszcut staff, and movingh to the online realm. The latest census by the foundd that newsroom staff nationwide droppedby 4.4 percent last to 52,600. The Center has training programs to buildr its stable of bloggers and online Morley said the Center is a nonpartisan organization that focuseson journalism. "We're not detached from the issues we care said Morley, a former world news edito r of . "What we want to do is write abouft these things so citizens and the publicd are informed and know how to make sensible choicew when it comesto government." The presidentg and CEO is David S.
Bennahum, who was a foundingv writer of . The Center is supported by foundations that shareethe organization's belief that journalism is essential to a democratix society, Morley said. Some sites sell but the Center is interestesd in developing sponsorshipsand "What I envision and hope will happenn is something along the line of that combines philanthropy, reader support and sponsorships," he Bennahum said the Center has funding in plac for a year whenever it launches a site in a new The goal is to generate earned incomse through advertising, but not necessarily to becomre self-sufficient. "The goal is to produce public interesy journalism," he said.
That's difficult to do in a for-profift model, Bennahum added. The Center has sites in Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Washington, D.C. , whicuh drew 2.7 million readers last year, according to the Center's annua l report. Morley said the states where the Center has openes online sites over the last two years are eventlyudivided politically. New West, based in launched a similar kind of site here in melding original reportingwith blogging.
The sites covering the northern Rockies aredoing well, but the New Mexicoo site shut down last year when it didn't get the traffifc it needed to sell advertising, said Emily who edited the New Mexico site for New Esterson, a former editor of the Business Weekly, said the biggest challenge was marketing. The Internet audience is fickle, she The Center will hire a public relations firm to promotwethe site's official launch in May. The site is live in beta versiob nowat .