Jeff Jarvis writes about how newspapers are laying off excellent reporters as they stop coverage of national topics to focus on local news. He offers an excellent alternative which preserves the great work the reporters are creating.
Within the post he links to an earlier post which really struck a chord with me. Jeff asserts that a key principle of blogging is to "Cover what you do best, and link to the rest."
I really like that. It ties in well with the "hyper-local" reporting idea I was kicking around last year -- forget talking about what's happening in Regina and focus in on my neighbourhood, or my street, or my front yard. I set up a first prototype on Wordpress but it's a little stagnant right now.
I can apply Jeff's ideas in 2008 blogging two ways:
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linking to other blogs a lot more
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figuring out what I'm "best at" and covering that
So what am I best at? I've got a few ideas, all involving what's going on in my local community.
What are you best at? Please share!