All We Are Saying, Is Give Blogs A Chance

TD Editor Sundra Hominik hits the Sunday commentary section with a pitch for the TD's online community presence -- the 11 online community sites at inRich.com. While it would be easy (and completely appropriate) to wonder where the pitch was six months ago when the sites were launched, or lament their relatively dismal performance-to-date, my inner optimist hopes that the TD's community pages find their footing.

I wasn't so generous back in February when the sites launched, and I haven't see much to applaud since.

Pondering the Richmond Times-Dispatch's new community weblogs this morning, I realized what I hate the most about the TD's website -- especially when I contrast it against the Washington Post and NYTimes sites. I hate the lack of heft in the layout of the pages, and I hate the overzealous use of red and blue.

It is, in fact, one of the things I have hated about the print version of the TD -- it always feels marginally less serious, less solid, less substantial than its big city cousins.

As for the paper's new community weblogs, I fall back to my go-to move -- with a few exceptions, there is no voice there. A bunch of regurgitated press releases does not a weblog make.

This morning, Hominik issues a call for the TD's print readers to get engaged, to submit their own local news to the site. It's long overdue request, and one that I hope generates a huge response from residents of the region.

The idea is to allow you to post information about you and your community. Then your friends and neighbors can read all about it online. They can see the pictures that you took at your daughter's last soccer game. Then they can share some of their own photos from their son's big basketball tournament.

Your next-door neighbor can spread the news about the huge neighborhood yard sale or other events. The church around the corner can tell members and others about its home repair mission in New Orleans, complete with photos from the scene.

Or if you attended a supervisors' board meeting and want to ask neighbors their thoughts about actions taken on a planned development, go to the community Web site and start a conversation. Your neighbors can add their comments. Think of it as an online public square.

These are your community pages. We want to help you to share the news of whatever is going on in your community.

Methinks the editor doth overestimate the functionality of her site. Still, I did commit to being more positive.

If the TD's community weblogs find their voice, discover their legs, I think the community will be better for it. Combined with the 200+ local voices featured at RVABlogs, they'll help deepen the conversations the Richmond region has about issues large and small. That can't be a bad thing, can it?

Comments

[Kory]

This sure seems like the T-D is really reaching to "compete" with the community blogs by trying to be the "be all, end all" source for media related to community information. I don't think the T-D will ever be able to get as granular with its information for the specific neighborhoods the "true" (IMHO) community blogs can, especially not without the "corporate feel" the T-D seems to forever express. To me, as a publisher of one of the community blogs, their article this morning is actually flattering and almost pathetic on their behalf. I think the T-D joined the party just a bit too late. Guess who has the upper hand now? John M. and his fellow community bloggers. :)

[john m]

The danger here, I think, is that because of the reach of the RTD that these subpar "neighborhood blogs" could drain attention away from the organic and live sites that are actually rooted in the community. The RTD Richmond Community blog has no posts since August 23rd. The stale posts that are there do not allow comments. They’ve thrown at least 8 months and probably a decent budget at the idea, and this is what the Times-Dispatch can do? I've put up a little more at [ http://www.lestercat.net/blog/2007/09/16/richmonds-real-community-blogs/ ].