AOL Looks to Reinvent Itself

On my way to class this morning, I was listening to Morning Edition on NPR. They ran a story about a new wave in journalism. This morning, AOL launched its 100th local news site.

Patch goes into a community with a population of 15,000 to 75,000 people, mostly upper-middle class. Then it hires one local editor, like Evans. The editor does most of the day-to-day reporting and writing, but also purchases stories from freelancers. It's sort of the online equivalent of the free community paper that in a lot of towns doesn't exist anymore.

These reporters cover stories from local city council, town hall, and school board meetings. It seems like a good idea to get people excited and involved in local politics. All we have to do now is wait and see how it all works out!