First, my hat's off to you sir for working at a small-town community paper, they are indeed a useful resource, and I've never advocated them going away. Instead, I'm acknowledging that we are in the midst of a technological, fiscal, and sociological shift that we have little control over. The best we can do is roll with the punches, and try to understand things as they emerge. However, I'm sure you'll also admit that for every small paper that does the dirty work of attending insufferable town-halls and budget meetings, there are many more that don't even bother. In many of those cases new-media "hyperlocal" journalists have indeed started stepping in to fill that gap.

http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2007/12/your-guide-…

So there are sites doing this info-trawling, and more appearing all the time. Some of them are even getting paid! Indeed, as we speak, several different funding models are being explored for the new journalism (here are some of them: http://newsinnovation.com/), though it will take some lean years as this difficult transition continues to destroy jobs and traditional media outlets. I wish it were not so, I don't want anyone to lose their job, and I sincerely hope that those who do lose their jobs find new work as journalism restructures.

Finally, what will I do as religion reporters and other traditional journalists fade away? Well, first, they are already fading away, I've been adjusting to that fact for the last couple years. I've seen a disturbing trend in the shrinking of news about our communities, and that's why I'm trying very hard to build a grass-roots solution to this problem. I don't expect great things from the Pagan Newswire Collective this year, or even next year, but I do hope that over time to help build a news-gathering infrastructure that will bridge the gap as "old media" continues to shed "niche" and "special interest" reporting. I've also been running experiments, like the upcoming "Pagans at the Parliament" project, that will provide primary-source material for Pagan writers and journalists. There will be more of that, and I hope that "mainstream" journalism finds a way to change and grow, but even if things fall apart completely for awhile (which I don't think will happen), I will find a way to write about Pagan news.

Frankly, not many people have the time or inclination to sit through town council meetings, or harangue public officials about why a project isn't done or over budget, etc. Democracy works from the ground up, and citizens need to know what's going on at their school board, zoning board, etc.

While I find blogs interesting, many of them compile and comment upon articles published elsewhere, rather than, say, pop into the school board meeting and write firsthand about budget negotiations.