from the MediaGiraffe_website

The words: So this is a "place blog" and some might consider it a hyper-local blog.  I'm not so sure about that one because we don't cover the "man bites dog on Main Street" stories, but we do have mostly local interest as a start.  We can end up in State issues like controlling CAFOs and the future of coal for energy, or petroleum for getting around, but mostly this is a website locals would be most interested in reading.

I also learned that there are other places with place blogs that do things a bit differently, some with a lot of participation from the community.  From these folks I learned more about the potential of this technology when used to its fullest.  I also had the opportunity to join in a conversation with a dozen other bloggers that was recorded in the Minnesota Public Radio studio and is available online.  To listen to the hour we spent discussing our work click_this_link.

I hope it provides some insight into the motivations for place blogging, and the potential realized when a community cooperates and rejects those silos of power that create limits, not empowerment.

After the Place Blogging conference I attended the National Conference for Media Reform, and I have posted several stories last week, but the main message everyone seemed to return to was Unity. We are a group that has thrived on open-source, an open mode of communication and we need to stick together. Here is Reverend Romal J. Tune who addressed the National Conference for Media Reform in Minneapolis, June 7, 2008, presented by Free Press. He of all the speakers punched the point home.