Jun 27, 2009 08:34 pm
by Scott Schrantz
The Seattle P-I is looking to boost their online offerings by starting up several neighborhood blogs, run by the P-I but written by residents of the neighborhoods in question. The thing is, Seattle already has many excellent neighborhood blogs, independently owned and run. So while in other cities this kind of thing would look like a no-brainer for the town newspaper to start up, in Seattle it seems like the P-I is wanting to go head-to-head with these established brands rather than working with them.
I’m glad to see the P-I being agressive in the online space like this, and they’re showing signs of keeping their momentum up even now, months after the newspaper stopped printing. But if the blogging community starts to feel like the P-I is elbowing into their space, there could be a backlash brewing. I definitely want to watch how this plays out.
Thanks for the link. It does seem like it’d make more sense for them to find ways to work with the existing blogs. The paid (or not) syndication idea is a good one. Few people are in this for the money, but if there is money to be made, I think people would rather get it themselves, rather than hand it over to Hearst. Not to be too harsh — I am glad the P-I is surviving in some form — but I wonder how necessary it is, and how committed the new bloggers will be without any financial or ownership incentive.
Think syndication, P-I. It’d be great for both of you if you ran, say, stories from Vintage Seattle, on your front page. (http://www.vintageseattle.org)
I do wish the new bloggers luck, though.
[...] P-I said last month that it was going to start launching neighborhood blogs as part of its online offerings, in essence [...]