Hyperlocal Lincoln Park journalism comes true!

Prompt a veteran reporter with the question, "are bloggers journalists?", and they'll likely make some statement that is quickly becoming a media maxim, "blog, blog, blog!"

Since the first day I faced down that question almost a year ago, the transplantation of print-reporters to web-reporters has been something of a newspaper mass exodus. This doesn't mean
that the news industry has become as barren as some skeptics argue; it just means that the delivery of crucial information has changed mechanics.

Though blogs-o-plenty of little utility clog the web, there are several newspaper-like platforms on the web called hyperlocal blogs that aim to deliver information of public interest.

Lincoln Park Now is the first to sprout in the ChicagoNow network, and I am polishing up my act as one of its two maiden co-authors with my DePaul journalim buddy, @Jenn Kloc.

Since launching three weeks ago, Lincoln Park Now has literally yanked some of the yesteryear's most vocal community members out of submission and connected us to those holding the cards today. And that's everybody. Promising a hyperlocal forum dedicated to both responsible truth and personal voice has been welcomed with open arms to ChicagoNow, and by anyone who asks, so, what is Lincoln Park Now?

Today Jenn and I had the chance to respond over the airwaves at WGN AM Radio 720 as guests on the fourth episode of ChicagoNow Radio, a weekly sample of ChicagoNow bloggers' own voices on posts of particular intrigue to Chicago radio listeners on Saturdays between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Host Bill Leff began by asking us about the genesis of Lincoln Park Now, to which we could only refer to plugging holes in mainstream journalism in a really vital but energizing way. By serving as an online platform to foster community engagement, we give ourselves carte blanche to both present a bundle of interesting online mentions of Lincoln Park - whether it be a heads up on what coming events might interest you, and to tie into bigger issues, like our talking points on the radio:

• Lincoln Park possibly taking Fenger High School transfers,
• good samaritan opportunities in 60614,
• and a swirling controvery over a boutique puppy store now suing protestors for defamation over persisting puppy mill patronage accusations.

But Lincoln Park Now is growing to be bigger than even this, we say! Jenn and I bring to the table our more than Darwinian best in journalism; by respecting the audience's transition with the media to the limitless space for growth in a ferociously evolving media, we are fertilizing our digital strategy by being mindful of what matters and what has always mattered in community reporting.

Since graduation in June from DePaul, I have been devouring job postings in Chicago for a spot to show my skills, and though no 9 - 5 has yet to match my motives, joining ChicagoNow means amplifying my talent as it propels in a very public forum. Excellent, right?

Projects like these come up in all kinds of conversations in retaliation to skeptics about "what has happened to journalism." Many people expect hyperlocal coverage to appear in their traditional newsstand publications and favorite newscasts to prove that journalism "has been saved." What they will find is that this has been a year of bated breath... and soon the hiccups will dissipate. We've made it. Welcome to the flexi-media, where you, too, shape the stories of our lives.

Finally!

So I must confess, I love my new gig, and am readied to hammer away, illuminate cracks in the foundation, and post critical images on our page.

Did I also mention that besides striving for the meaningful, we also anticipate bringing new eyes to the civic scene and veteran perspectives on the issues, while continuing to ensure that if another Cookie Bar-type establishment announces an opening, we're all over that, too, with the kind of humor everyone needs to digest some of the more influencial happenings around the community.

So, Lincoln Park, it's on. Now.

Say what you mean, and mean what you say to us on:

LincolnParkNow@gmail.com, @LPNow on Twitter, and of course, the community itself.