Just catching up with John Burke’s profile of the New Haven Independent, a lively new hyperlocal online news org.
Although he is an old media reporter, Bass finds that journalism on the Web is “definitely” more efficient than print journalism. For starters, the Independent doesn’t have an office. “Our reporters are out reporting all the time instead of talking in the newsroom,” explained Bass. If he meets with his staff to discuss stories, they do so in a local coffee shop. Secondly, Bass doesn’t have to wait until stories go to press; as soon as an article is ready, it is posted on the Independent’s site.
In what is perhaps the most efficient characteristic of Internet reporting, Bass and his staff have their stories proofread and fact-checked by readers. The Independent has even started a contest through which the reader who catches the most typos wins Independent paraphernalia.
