Frank Barnako: Backfence to triple "citizens media" sites

Second to last paragraph gives a glimpse at the Backfence strategy as it approaches launching more of its flavor of hyperlocal sites. I think targeting 10 groups -- or whatever number makes the most sense for your resources -- is a pretty good starting point for the conversation surrounding the creation and production of either hyperlocal or topic-specific landing pages.

Remember that the success of these pages hinges on more than just creating a place to collect archived content. You need data, and community involvement, for the pages to have a lasting impact on your success with your current and potential audience.

RELATED: The aforementioned June 2006 issue of Presstime, which I finally had the chance to read during a good number of plane rides last week, was filled with new media nuggets. Among them, some hyperlocal efforts:

• http://www.coastsider.com/ (Half Moon Bay and San Mateo County, CA)
• http://www.madisoncommons.org/ (Madison, WI)
• http://www.forumhome.org/ (Deerfield, NH)
• http://www.douglasga.com/ (Douglas, GA)
• http://www.reflector.com/family/content/gofamily/index.html (Greenville, NC)

Here's some bookmarks I've collected along those same lines:

• http://www.baristanetnj.com (Montclair, NJ)
• http://www.blufftontoday.com/ (Bluffton, SC)
• http://h2otown.info/ (Watertown, MA)
• http://www.northwestvoice.com/home/ and http://www.swvoice.com/home/ (Bakersfield, CA)
• http://www.westportnow.com/ (Westport, CT)
• http://www.olyblog.net/ (Olympia, WA)
• http://www.phillyfuture.org/ (Philadelphia)
• http://www.benicianews.com/ (Benicia, CA)
• http://www.ibrattleboro.com/ (Brattleboro, VT)
• http://tcdailyplanet.com/ (Minneapolis and St. Paul)
• http://www.backfence.com/ (McLean, Reston and Arlington, VA; Bethesda, MD; Palo Alto and San Mateo, CA)
• http://yourhub.com/ (in use by Scripps and MediaNews newspapers around the country)
• http://www.mymissourian.com/ (Columbia, MO)
• http://www.gothamgazette.com/ (NYC)
• http://pocono.commuterclub.org/ (Poconos, PA)
• http://www.highway278.com/ (Dallas, GA)
• http://www.buffalorising.com (Buffalo, NY)
  

Got others -- either online-only or Web-to-print, hyperlocal and/or citizen journalism efforts -- in your bookmarks that I can add to the collection?