From the pages of Photography is Not a Crime:

“In what should send a frightening chill down the spine of every blogger, writer, journalist and First Amendment advocate in the United States, Phoenix police raided the home of a blogger who has been highly critical of the department.

Jeff Pataky, who runs Bad Phoenix Cops, said the officers confiscated three computers, routers, modems, hard drives, memory cards and everything necessary to continue blogging.

The 41-year-old software engineer said they also confiscated numerous personal files and documents relating to a pending lawsuit he has against the department alleging harassment – which he says makes it obvious the raid was an act of retaliation.”

You can read more from the local paper here. All I have to say is that at least they don’t kill bloggers here, like they do in Russia.

Continuing on my previous post about anonymity and blogging, I came across some related news this morning in catching up on my RSS feeds after a brief vacation. The MudFlats is a political blog in Alaska written by a local person who cares about the issues concerning her city, state and nation. A patriot who decided, for her own reasons, to share her opinions anonymously. At least until she happened to piss off a local politician. Alaska State Rep. Mike Doogan made it his mission to out the MudFlats blogger and has apparently succeeded in doing so. I’m not sure even he knows what he has accomplished, other than to apparently piss off his political base and endanger his career, but he did it anyway. Despicable indeed. Well, the blogger has responded with a very well written post on how she feels, some of the history behind it and this very good segment I’d like to share:

“If he were around, we could ask the “anonymous blogger” of his day, Benjamin Franklin what he thought about this.  Using the “screen name” Mrs. Silence Dogood, Franklin was able to put out thoughts and ideas that were weighted on their own merits, not attached to a particular person.  Sometimes it’s easier, if you don’t want to think, to attack the person, rather than the idea.  I think Franklin would heartily approve of anonymous bloggers.

So, it seemed odd to me that Mr. Doogan was seemingly more focused on the messenger, than on defending his position, or even better, apologizing to people whom he had insulted.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

This last week has been filled with more discussion about the future of newspapers than I’ve seen in about four years. Although strangely, it appears the urgency of the situation is finally hitting the docks of newspapers around the country with everyone talking about how to change and none of them actually doing anything about it. While managing editors around the country are trying to figure out how to better monetize the web for their purposes, the blogs keep popping up and doing the work for them.

Taking just one example, of many, let’s look at the city of Concord, California. There are now at least six blogs covering local news (OK, there are a bunch more, but I’m tired of linking to all of them) in this suburb of San Francisco with a population of about 120,000. Granted many times they are simply repeating what the mainstream TV, other bloggers and newspaper reporters have reported, but they are training themselves to replace these traditional outlets, particularly the newspapers in time. One particular blogger, who started writing about city and county issues only about six months ago, has already gained enough attention to be interviewed by the local newspaper. He has, with only his time, created a space where local citizens can visit in order to discover what is happening in their town, often outside the scope of the local paper. Ad revenue, although minimal at this point, helps to support this model, but ultimately it is an opportunity for one concerned citizen to inform other less informed citizens and to create discussion and greater awareness of the issues that affect their community.

One of the key areas to explore with the web and community-run blogs is the idea of how information is transmitted. Critical to that is the discussion that takes place. No longer is it a one-way model for information delivery, but a shared discussion and interest in each particular idea. One of the primary reasons the Internet is so popular is due to the collaboration in encourages. People want to do more than read a static page of information (what most newspapers provide as online content), but they want to share, dissect and discuss this information, constantly adding to it and diving in deeper than most reporters venture these days.

The idea of online, local, community-based journalism is certainly still in its infancy and admittedly does not always have the great investigative skills newspaper reporters have been known for, but the possibility to grow and become the reckoning voice of reason in the local community is approaching. More importantly, people are doing something. It may not be the newspapers (although they are happy to report on it), but I’m getting the feeling the newspaper industry doesn’t really want to be saved. If a business model has outgrown its consumer base, it will either adapt or die. Although I would love to see the milkman zigzagging through the streets every morning, it just doesn’t make sense anymore…

Tom Ashbrook, host of NPR’s On Point, conducted a discussion to these points yesterday. Guests included NYU Journalism Professor and blogger Jay Rosen, NPR Media Reporter David Folkenflik and the Co-Executive Editor of the non-profie online investigative journalism service, Voice of San Diego, Andrew Donohue. The broadcast of the program can be listened to on the link below. Some of the more interesting points were brought up by Donohue and Rosen, the two “non-traditional” members of the discussion. Instead of just discussing the downfall (i.e. reasons for failure) and what will happen next (like Ashbrook did and Folkenflik to a lesser extent), these two are actually picking up the slack where newspapers have fallen off. Although it is taking decades, the newspaper insiders are slowly coming around to the idea that they can’t be milkmen their whole lives. Their business model must change and it must change now, because six months from now is too long, as the blogs are showing.

On Point – The Future of News

On January 22nd of this year, I wrote about the growing interest and business of local news. I discussed The Printed Blog and the growing circulation (both online and off) of hyper-local blogs. This trend continues to grow, as MediaShift reported Friday. Simon Owens profiled four independent (or semi-independent), local bloggers who cover Virginia politics in Richmond, the Boston cycling scene and the “sex, drugs and rock and roll” of LA, as Tony Pierce put it. The profiles are entertaining and give the reader an idea of where these bloggers come from, as well as an idea of the demand for more local coverage.

The general discussion (in both the article and the comments section) also brings up the issue of newspapers falling by the wayside in covering the news important to local communities. While I agree with newsapapers’ general argument that reduced resources lead to fewer reporters on the beat, I disagree with the grim outlook they often portray as it relates to local reporting. The opportunity for local, ad-driven revenue is huge, often untapped and certainly there for the taking given the right approach. And given that more and more local bloggers are connecting with their local newspapers, I see a new industry emerging; one that could prove to be quite profitable AND useful. To take things a step further, former local LA blogger Tony Pierce has now moved into the mainstream media, now heading up blogs at the LA Times.

There are many concerns I have surrounding the rumor and speculation bloggers often depend on to fuel their page rank, but the combination of these two worlds is inevitable. As I stated on MediaShift’s website, “Just as Obama has done with politics, whether you agree with him or not, at least people are paying attention. The same can be said for bloggers concentrating on local content and filling the void left by the old-school media failing to adapt.”

The Printed Blog is making a go at the physical, and not just virtual, form of news by printing blogs in a newspaper-like format. As featured today in the New York Times, The Printed Blog is scheduled to start on Tuesday in Chicago and San Francisco, with plans to expand to other large cities in the near future. An interesting idea, especially considering the huge void that exists in local news coverage around the world, but I have my reservations. The editorial process will have to be very stringent in order to weed out the nonsensical and sometimes just plain awful writing some bloggers get away with, but I would love to see some of the newer, hyper-local blogs begin to flourish from a more traditional news point of view. There are countless opportunities for great news stories within every community and we know from experience the demand exists.

Sites like the Mayor of Concord, in Concord, California could potentially serve an even greater role in community building and reaching out to a larger audience than just the tech-savvy. I have a feeling the “Mayor” will continue to grow in this fashion and, given his increased networking with the local newspapers, the print medium might not be far off. Hopefully the coaching and flow of information will work both ways. Bloggers have a lot to offer traditional reporters from a technological and relational standpoint (i.e. they receive constant and immediate feedback, unlike most newspapers), but many bloggers don’t have the formal education or training that comes with reporting the news in a balanced and (more importantly) thorough manner. More to come, for sure…