Posted by kpaul on December 31, 2010 at 7:12am
Decided earlier this month to head to Cleveland, Ohio to start up Cleveland Free Press ... Nothing too special - yet - but it shows how easy Drupal is to get what one user has called "an official looking" site.
Comments/criticism welcome. Still a lot to do - still in the "soft launch" stage.
Thanks - and Happy New Year.
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Comments
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Just decided to start up a community newspaper site? LOL! Hope you know what you're in for... :)
Looking pretty good so far. I would recommend styling the forum to match the site, though. The blue looks a little odd in all the brown.
Michelle
thanks.
There is a "back story" of sorts...
http://newassignment.net/blog/k_paul_mallasch/dec2010/28/aol_patch_in_cle
So I didn't just throw it up earlier this month without thinking about it. ;)
And yeah, the blue forums are kinda odd. People are already signing up, though, which is good.
Thanks for all the work you did with Advanced Forums, btw.
http://www.andersonfreepress.net
That's my main site - the people love it there. Hundreds of posts per day...
Happy New Year
K. Paul Mallasch - Publisher
http://www.kpaulmedia.com
Interesting...
AFP is actually one of the sites I have bookmarked as a successful community site. :) I'm not good with names... Didn't realize that was yours.
Very good article. I've been eying AOL Patch warily. They aren't in my area of Wisconsin, yet, but I imagine it's just a matter of time. Plus, the local news station will be rolling out their hyper local sites at some point. And the newspaper has a community site that so far is pretty dead but all it would take is them giving it some proper attention. Scary time to be an independent community site. With my 20/20 hindsight, I see myself not waiting 10 years after having this idea to really start working on it. Sigh.
I'm in the process of changing Coulee Region Online over to more of a journalistic type site. Not totally a newspaper... But stories will be a big part of it. I'm not a journalist but I do enjoy photography and writing. Will that be enough? Hard to say. I could use some real journalists with interviewing skills to join me. My writing tends to be more of a record of things that I've seen than really digging in news stories. I have a few other people interested in writing as well but none of them are journalists, either. Time will tell how this works out.
I'll be keeping an eye on your new venture. Best of luck to both of us in our attempts to survive in competition with deep pockets.
Michelle
heh
Nice. Thanks, Michelle. I think we may have talked once or twice before.
Patch is nothing to worry about, I don't think. I mean, they are, but I'm not frightened. I should know more in about 6 to 12 months after seeing how Cleveland Free Press does.
Think "news community" not "newspaper"... My first publisher always told me that I worked for an information company, not a newspaper. That's stuck with me over the years.
Check out http://spot.us if you're looking for journalists. They may be able to help. Tell em 'kpaul' sent ya. ;)
We should talk sometime about what you're doing in Coulee - I may be able to offer some suggestions or help in some way.
Cheers - and happy new year Newspapers on Drupal!
-kpaul
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I call mine a community site. It is... or will be when it's done... a hybrid of information and community. I don't expect to ever compete with newspapers but stuff like Patch worries me. They already have so much of what I'm trying to do and are much better funded.
As for looking for journalists, they generally like to get paid so that's just wishful thinking. :) I've got some people who are interested in writing either to help out or to practice or to promote their businesses. Not quite the same level as professional writers would be but it's what I can do without a budget.
Help and suggestions are always welcome. :) I'm an introverted web geek building a massive community portal site by myself... It's been a bit nuts. Or is it me that's nuts? :)
Michelle