Steve Yelvington says they are town crier, town square and town expert: “Journalists tend to gravitate to only one of these roles: the town crier, the quaint colonial-era village character who walks around ringing a bell telling you what’s happening.”
It comes naturally. This is why 24×7 coverage teams and the “continuous news desk” concept take root so quickly when newsrooms suddenly awaken to the urgency of taking the Internet seriously.
But the other roles aren’t secondary. They’re coequal, and they’re grossly neglected by most local news websites.
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