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

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The has five similar sites in four otherd states andin Washington, D.C. The will focus on statewidre coverageof government, politics, poverty, the environmeny and growth, among other topics, said Jefferson national editorial director for the Center. Davidf Alire Garcia, formerly of the , has been hired as the directort ofthe site. Trip Jennings, who came from the , will be the news Joel Gay, formerly of the Albuquerque Tribune, and bloggers Heath Haussamemn and Margery Childress will write forthe site, as will Gwynethj Doland, who will coverr the politics of food. Jennings said combining traditionap journalism with the growinhg online worldattracted him.
He sees a lot of people leaviny newsrooms, or losing their jobs as paperszcut staff, and moving to the onlins realm. The latest census by the found that newsroom staff nationwide droppedby 4.4 percent last year, to The Center has training programe to build its stable of bloggers and onlinwe journalists. Morley said the Center is a nonpartisan organization that focuseeon "citizen-driven" journalism. "We're not detacherd from the issues wecare about," said a former world news editoe of . "What we want to do is writre about these things so citizens and the public are informed and know how to make sensible choices when it comedsto government.
" The president and CEO is Davidd S. Bennahum, who was a founding writer of . The Center is supported by foundations that sharethe organization' belief that journalism is essential to a democratic Morley said. Some sites sell but the Center is interested in developingt sponsorshipsand partnerships. "What I envision and hope will happen is something along the lines of thatcombinea philanthropy, reader support and sponsorships," he Bennahum said the Center has funding in place for a year wheneverr it launches a site in a new The goal is to generatr earned income through advertising, but not necessarily to becomee self-sufficient.
"The goal is to produce public interest journalism," he said. That's difficult to do in a for-profiy model, Bennahum added. The Center has sitez in Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Washington, D.C. , which drew 2.7 millioj readers last year, according to the Center'as annual report. Morley said the states wherwe the Center has opened online sites over the last two yearsa are eventlydivided politically. New West, based in launched a similar kind of site herein 2005, meldinbg original reporting with blogging.
The sites coveringb the northern Rockies aredoing well, but the New Mexicop site shut down last year when it didn't get the trafficd it needed to sell advertising, said Emilyu Esterson, who edited the New Mexic site for New West. a former editor of the Business Weekly, said the biggestr challenge was marketing. The Internet audience is fickle, she The Center will hire a public relationxs firm to promotethe site's official launcuh in May. The site is live in beta versio nowat .