San Diego News Network

I’m an optimist; I love new, bold, and exciting ventures. The new SDNN, San Diego News Network is one of those models. Will it be the wave of the future for local news? There are a lot of questions. First off, the web site has not yet launched. The true test will come by the end of the month when SDNN starts delivering content. The Voice of San Diego started asking a few early questions, and began exploring the issue with an article on the new web site. (Article is available on the NMR blog home page) It’s a good preview article about SDNN. I will be monitoring the site to see the real deal on line, and here’s what. I will be looking for. First is content; how much of the news on the site is original reporting. Will that content be relevant to people in San Diego, and will it give us the insights, and investigations that will create a buzz, and more importantly inform local citizens. Second is logistics: the site partners with other local media. This seems like a logical cost saving step however, a lot of questions remain, and the logistics on this operation are very sketchy. In other words the organization seems to depend too much on favors, and feeds, and freebies from partners, and volunteers. I’m wondering if it could lead to strained relationships between SDNN, and Sources like Radio, and TV news staffs within the partnership. Third is Money: Will the operation make money? An advertising system will enable Editors to get paid on the popularity of their sections, like politics, medicine, and entertainment reports for example. On the surface it seems it will be a system that holds journalists accountable to readership, but as City beat pointed out, “will reporters aim for stories that are popular, rather than important.” I hope SDNN succeeds, and perhaps this is one of a few bold models that will pave the way to our mission at NewMediaRights.org. SDNN is part of the answer, and is pointed in the right direction, but is it cutting edge, or will it just be a re-hashed version of content you get elsewhere? If so citizens are still greatly ignored. Content is the key, and people will judge whether news on the site addresses their needs. Which brings us to the mission of this web site, and blog. We are exploring ways to create the content for the future. Plus, we will talk about ways to deliver that content via TV, Internet, Phones, Pod-casts. You be the judge, we’d like to hear from you.