Community News Matters: SallyDuros.com a top news hub connecting Chicago micro-news sites

I haven’t been doing much work lately with Chicago’s online indy news community but it’s good to see my work and my writings made a difference back in 2009 and beyond. Would that I could afford to do it, I would still be writing about our online news world as it evolves, but I am quite happy to be writing the social media blog for the Chicago Tribune’s 435Digital. And being a part of that evolving world.

As to Chicago’s indy news stream, I wrote then and still believe, there is an enormous need for news providers to come together and figure out a way to make a living. But since I am not officially called a “news” site, I have not recently been involved in any of those efforts. I hope they are going well and look forward to learning more as national efforts like the RJI’s Block by Block evolves.

Thanks for the nod, Chicago Community Trust.

Dear Friends of Community News Matters,

Given your interest in the health of Chicago’s online news ecosystem, I know you’ll want to read a just-released Community News Matters report on the results of groundbreaking research into the links among and between Chicago’s many online news sites.

View the press release at www.cct.org.

The report finds a surprisingly high percentage of the area’s news and information websites are isolated from each other and are not taking advantage of the many ways they can expand their audiences, their influence and their service to the area.

It identifies more than 400 websites providing news and information relevant to Chicagoland residents, from sites of mainstream media to new news sites to sites of government agencies, universities, cultural institutions, foundations and nonprofits.

Using sophisticated network analysis, it identifies which of those sites are playing one or more of five important roles in the local news ecosystem — as “authorities,” “hubs,” “switchboards,” “referrers” and “resources.” Included among the top four sites on one or more of these lists are these 23 sites:

• austintalks.org
• badatsports.com
• blogs.southtownstar.com
• chicago.metblogs.com
• chicagocarless.com
• chicagostorytelling.com
• chicagotribune.com
• communitymediaworkshop.org
• ctatattler.com
• gapersblock.com
• hydeparkprogress.blogspot.com
• macfound.org
• mcachicago.org
• nytimes.com
• outsidetheloopradio.com
• saic.edu
• sallyduros.com
• sbnation.com
• suntimes.com
• thegallerycrawlandsomuchmore.blogspot.com
• transitchicago.com
• uchicago.edu
• windycitizen.com

Hope you find the report interesting and useful!

Vivian Vahlberg
Project Director, Community News Matters
The Chicago Community Trust

I’d like to get to know you

http://youtu.be/YUi-2QC3c2Q

Hi future of news friends and others who follow me. Today I wrote my first blog post for the Chicago Tribune’s 435Digital consulting group. I hope you’ll stop by, say hello, keep in touch and keep me up to date! It feels great to take on the Social Media Beat for 435Digital and be part of the wave of innovation that seeks to reconnect newsrooms with its readers and other customers. So I’d like to get to know you, over at @435Digital as well as here.

p.s. I’m a freelancer so I am still available for other assignments.