Here is the list I was talking about on the phone yesterday, of local community news and comment publications that got grants from J-Lab: they are mostly online publications, some with paper editions. LIke BushwickBK. Is there a place for these publications in the Project PM blogger/journalist network? Obviously we have no interest in "Hundreds Attend Mulkeytown Gooseberry Festival," but what if, say, Jeremy Sapienza had a PPM widget to use on those rare occasions when one of his writers creates content which is of interest beyond his community, and he would like to push it up the network?
For example, Chicago recently sold the right to street parking revenues for the next 75 years for a big upfront cash payment to a private company, who in turn sold it to a big east coast bank, I believe. As a result, the cost of metered parking is way up and enforcement has increased. And the meters are gone, replaced by machines that take credit cards. Cities and states selling off infrastructure is a national trend, so thoughtful reporting and analysis of the local effects of this might be of national interest. (In Chicago, lots of writing about parking.) Or maybe a better example would be the community news organization in Miami that busted the Rekers guy.
