Latest Blog Posts

Listening in on Local

Lisa — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 11:06:45 -0500

Dan Kennedy and Adam Gaffin are two of the smartest people on the topic of local online. Haven't heard 'em? Then ya don't know local. And if you haven't, good news: they're doing an hour of radio at 1 EST today, and you can listen live or download a podcast at Radio Boston. I'll be in the backchannel at radioboston.org and, Murphy willing, tweeting it live on Twitter, where I'm @lisawilliams.

Following the Fargo Floods

Tish — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:26:43 -0500

Here's some important links to current information on the floods in Fargo, North Dakota and the surrounding areas:

Forum Flood Watch Blog is carrying regular updates on the flood situation.

NorthDecoder.com is aggregating posts from other blogs, news sites, and websites
covering the flooding and related events

American Red Cross' Disaster Online Newsroom has information on shelters, trailers, kitchens, emergency response vehicles and more pertaining to the flooding in Fargo and the surrounding region.

Is "local" sustainable?

Lisa — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 13:08:31 -0500

Coming to you live this morning from Los Angeles, where the Kelsey Group's Drilling Down on Local/Marketplaces conference is happening.

As far as I can tell, these are all the folks who don't show up at journalism focused gatherings like ONA or Poynter events.

The "how do we make money on local" question that is generally the conversation ender at journalism confabs is the conversation beginner at this gathering, where the first panels are stocked with venture investors talking about what they will -- and will not fund, and what they expect to get back, and why.

Quote of the panel comes from Kara Nortman, VP of M&A at IAC: "There's going to be a lot of consolidation that will take a lot of confusion out of the market. One or two clear winners will emerge...[but looking at what we have now], it's Craigslist and the mapping companies."

I'll be blogging and tweeting throughout the day and will likely post a longer roundup essay at IdeaLab. If you want to follow the conference as it moves, try following me on Twitter, where I'm @lisawilliams.

Overhearing the Planet: Placeblogger at TimesOPEN

Lisa — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 11:12:36 -0600

Every morning I get up and load the main feed at Placeblogger.com, and every day it looks more and more to me like a realtime wire service with a sense of humor and cat pictures.

Have I mentioned I love the cat pictures?

But today I'm at the world's great temple of Real JournalismTM. Yes! The New York Times! That's because today is the day that the Times is holding TimesOPEN, its first conference aimed at software developers.

I've seen a lot of things that make me think, but the one thing that really caught my attention was a review of the Times Newswire API. This much anticipated API "is something many people think we must already have -- but don't yet," said a speaker who had his badge turned the wrong way (Sigh.). That is: it's a news API.

The Newswire API will be a stream of consciousness for all content across New York Times.com.

I have a hard time putting it into words, but there's something sublime about seeing entries from placeblogs across the globe; it's like overhearing the planet.

And now, with the Newswire API, we'll be able to "overhear" the Times in a way that neither the front page nor the site's published RSS feeds allows.

But what if the Times started making their APIs -- currently read-only -- into read/write APIs?

What if you could get a combined feed of the Times, other newspapers, blogs?

Now that -- that would be pretty cool.

About a Meal: Placeblogging about Food

Tish — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 09:21:38 -0600

Among the roach coaches and coffee cafes across Manhattan, the burger joints and French-style bistros in the heart of midwestern suburbs, the food of a place--its restaurants and its recipes--can tell you the most wonderful stories about life lived there. Here's a list of fabulous foodie placeblogs for you to enjoy...

Buffalo Chow Jeremy Horowitz reviews everything from fine wine to cheese steaks. The best food in Buffalo and Western New York.

Portland Hamburgers blog. Chock full of burgery goodness! A group blog guide guide to the best (and worst) of everything burger (cheese, veggie, turkey, etc.) in Portland, Oregon and beyond.

wine me, dine me (in cincinnati) Julie Niesen's wonderful array of restaurant reviews and recipes from the banks of the Ohio river.

Midtown Lunch is your guide to the best of lunch from ritzy to roach coach in Manhattan.

Eating L.A. Pat Saperstein shares the joys of eclectic eating in the City of Angles.

Chow Down Atlanta From mom-and-pops to Michelin-rated restaurants, Chloe Morris reviews everything edible about Atlanta.

Pegasus News Dining page Stuck in Dallas and don't know where to go? The Pegasus News Dining page lists wine tastings, top restaurants and a Search box. Unique Search criteria include categories such as "cigar-friendly" and "has Silver Strike bowling."

Baristanet's Food section Debbie Galant, Liz George and the rest of the Baristanet team
check out the food scene in across Montclair,NJ and the surrounding suburbs of Northern NJ. There's more than just Italian around town ;-)

Clinton Hill Foodie Love of food leads to beautiful pics and restaurant reviews from all around the Clinton Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn.

D.C. Foodies The politics of in food (and drink) in the District of Columbia. Reviews, recipes, and weekly round-ups of posts from other D.C.area food blogs.

Note: this post was inspired by an a.m. tweet from NPR's @totn that linked to a post form the Times (U.K.) Online about the 50 best food blogs in the world. I figured it would be great to contribute a short list of great food blogs in the U.S. that most people probably don't know about. Hope you've enjoyed...