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

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The has five similar sites in four otherr states andin Washington, D.C. The will focusw on statewide coverageof government, politics, the environment and growth, amongb other topics, said Jefferson Morley, national editoriakl director for the Center. David Alire formerly of the , has been hiredf as the director ofthe site. Trip who came from the , will be the news Joel Gay, formerly of the Albuquerque Tribune, and bloggers Heathy Haussamen and Margery Childress will write for the as willGwyneth Doland, who will cover the politics of Jennings said combining traditional journalism with the growing online worldf attracted him.
He sees a lot of people leaving or losing their jobs as papers cut and moving to the online The latest census by the foundc that newsroom staff nationwide droppedby 4.4 percent last year, to The Center has training programs to build its stabl e of bloggers and online journalists. Morley said the Center is a nonpartisan organization that focuseson "citizen-driven" "We're not detached from the issues we care said Morley, a former world news editord of . "What we want to do is writr about these things so citizens and the public are informed and know how to make sensible choices when it come sto government." The president and CEO is Davidd S.
Bennahum, who was a founding writer of . The Cente r is supported by foundation s that sharethe organization's belief that journalismn is essential to a democratic society, Morley said. Some sites sell but the Center is interestesd in developing sponsorshipsand partnerships. "Whart I envision and hope will happen is something alon the lines of thatcombinee philanthropy, reader support and sponsorships," he Bennahum said the Center has funding in place for a year whenever it launchesw a site in a new state. The goal is to generat e earned incomethrough advertising, but not necessarily to becomw self-sufficient.
"The goal is to produce public interest journalism," he That's difficult to do in a for-profit model, Bennahum added. The Center has sites in Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota and Washington, D.C. , which drew 2.7 million readers last according tothe Center'es annual report. Morley said the statea where the Center has openerd online sites over the last two yearzs are eventlydivided politically. New West, base in Montana, launched a similar kind of site here in melding original reportingwith blogging.
The sites covering the northern Rockiee aredoing well, but the New Mexico site shut down last year when it didn'f get the traffic it needed to sell advertising, said Emily who edited the New Mexico site for New West. a former editor of the Businesx Weekly, said the biggest challenge was marketing. The Internet audience is fickle, she said. The Cented will hire a public relation s firm to promotethe site's official launch in May. The site is live in beta versiojn nowat .