Honoring an original citizen media watchdog with a new community-information resource for small towns

Bill Densmore, 2008-2009 Fellow

Around the United States, entrepreneurs are testing methods for delivering news that matters to small communities -- without the legacy costs of newsprint, presses and delivery. In the small New England college town of Williamstown (pop. 7,500) a non-profit organization begun in the 1980s has revived and turned to testing the waters for a new approach. RJI consulting fellow Bill Densmore is among those helping.

In Williamstown, Mass., where we live, we've started an initiative to create a community information resource that performs functions the local town weekly used to do. WilliamstownBeat.org serves as a virtual bulletin board for news and announcements. It's owned by a non profit. It's built on Drupal. We're soft launching it to see whether it has the potential to be replicated in small communities around the nation. This piece honors the man who inspired the idea. READ MORE.

    

REMEMBERING FRANK PATTERSON: An original citizen journalist and watchdog | Williamstown Beat

www.williamstownbeat.org

The mission of Citizen/Media Inc. – helping citizens use the media to foster participatory democracy and community – seems remarkably current given the rise of the Internet and the business challenges of mainstream media.