I'm back in Cambridge this morning after a great couple of days at the ONA conference in Toronto.
The highlight of my trip was time spent with Courtney Lowery and Matt Frank of NewWest.net.
I look up to those guys. Unlike most ONA types, they're balancing great local journalism with the urgency of an independent business.
Every news site and their corporate parent is trying new approaches to local news. But the New West folks are hungrier and humbler than anybody I know. They loose their jobs if the site doesn't work, so they think differently.
Listen to Rob Curley talk about the Louden Country Extra, and you're awed by the depth and quality of the site. It's like the Ritz serving up Sunday brunch. Endless richness.
Talk to Courtney and Matt, and you hear similar instances of excellent journalism. But you also hear stories of conferences, community meetings and reporters who can sell advertising space over urinals. This isn't the Ritz. It's a parent doing what it takes to put dinner on the table.
That kind of thinking excites me. There are no hangups about what should be done and what has been done. Just deep value for information, community and story-telling -- and a youthful willingness to try anything that might advance those values.
9Neighbors is a very different approach to local news in a very different community. Nevertheless, we emulate New West's bold, unfettered style.
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