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

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The has five similar sites in four othee states andin Washington, D.C. The will focus on statewidw coverageof government, politics, the environment and growth, among other topics, said Jeffersonh Morley, national editorial director for the Center. David Alirw Garcia, formerly of the , has been hiref as the director of the Trip Jennings, who came from the , will be the news Joel Gay, formerly of the Albuquerquse Tribune, and bloggers Heath Haussamej and Margery Childress will write for the site, as will Gwynetg Doland, who will cover the politics of food. Jennings said combiningf traditional journalism with the growing online worlcattracted him.
He sees a lot of people leavinbg newsrooms, or losing their jobs as paperscut staff, and movinbg to the online realm. The latestt census by the found that newsroomk staff nationwide droppedby 4.4 percent last year, to The Center has traininf programs to build its stable of bloggers and onlines journalists. Morley said the Center is a nonprofit, nonpartisamn organization that focuseson "citizen-driven" journalism. "We're not detachecd from the issues wecare about," said a former world news editor of .
"Whatg we want to do is write about thess things so citizens and the public are informed and know how to make sensibl e choices when it comes to The president and CEO isDavid S. who was a founding writer of . The Centetr is supported by foundationds that sharethe organization's belief that journalism is essential to a democratic Morley said. Some sites sell advertising, but the Centedr is interested in developing sponsorshipand partnerships. "What I envision and hope will happen is somethingf along the lines of thatcombinese philanthropy, reader support and sponsorships," he said.
Bennahum said the Center has fundinh in place for a year whenevetr it launches a site in a new The goal is to generate earnefd incomethrough advertising, but not necessarily to become "The goal is to producde public interest journalism," he said. That'e difficult to do in a for-profit model, Bennahum The Center has sitesin Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Washington, D.C. , which drew 2.7 million readers last year, according to the Center's annua report. Morley said the states where the Centerr has opened online sites over the last two yearzs are eventlydivided politically.
New West, based in launched a similar kind of site here in melding original reportingwith blogging. The sitesz covering the northern Rockies aredoing well, but the New Mexicop site shut down last year when it didn't get the trafficf it needed to sell advertising, said Emilyy Esterson, who edited the New Mexico site for New Esterson, a former editor of the Businesz Weekly, said the biggest challenge was marketing. The Interner audience is fickle, she said. The Center will hire a publidc relations firm to promotthe site's official launch in May. The site is live in beta version nowat .