Free-newspaper volunteer wonders if anyone collects data or does research on free papers

I received the following message from someone who has helped publish a free community newspaper for several years and wonders is anyone has collected information about free papers or conducted any research on them. As she mentions, such publications get little notice, perhaps because they aren't included in state press-association directories and have few organizations of their own. Here is her message and contact information:

Over the years I've been involved in a free community monthly newspaper here in New Marlborough, a rural area in far western Massachusetts. New Marlborough is a town, large in area, which consists of about 1,100 people spread between five villages. Our newspaper, The New Marlborough Five Village News, is about 10 years old and during that time it's become very important to most people who live here for getting meaningful local information of the sort not found in the large commercial papers in the larger nearby towns.

Surrounding towns have similar free newspapers. They're often overseen and directed by people who've had significant careers in journalism, who manage to tolerate, support, and sometimes educate people like me who have no background in writing at all. We have Jon Swan who's written all his life, most recently an article for Smithsonian about Iceland. Next door in Sandisfield, their paper's somewhat directed by Setsuko Sato, an NPR producer, and her husband Simon Winchester, author of recent bestsellers including The Professor and the Madman, and in Norfolk, Conn., there are writers galore including Lloyd Garrison.

Anyway, the point is that I think these papers are wonderful, fulfill a big democratic mission -- occasionally even some muckraking -- and operate almost entirely beneath the radar. I'm wondering if anyone has studied them, if there are any repositories of information or statistics about them. I thought you might know.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope to hear from you.
With best wishes,
Ann Getsinger
P.O. Box 307
Mill River, MA 01244
413-229-2119
http://www.anngetsinger.com/

Call for Papers: April 1 fast approaching

Just a reminder of the call for papers for AEJMC (we also still need a few reviewers)

http://www.aejmcstlouis.org/home/archives/771

The Community Journalism Interest Group (COMJIG) is interested in research focused on any and all aspects of community journalism. We emphasize that community need not just be defined as within traditional geographical or social boundaries, but that given technological advances it may also be applied to journalism and its relationship to communities of interest online.

Our goal is to identify and present original, meaningful research that advances the understanding of the role of journalists and news organizations as members of communities, geographic or digital. We have particular interest in issues unique to those situations where as a function of geography or technology the community and news organization tend to be or have the potential to become highly engaged. Quantitative and qualitative methods are equally welcomed, as are attempts at mixed methodology. Theoretical groundings are appreciated. Only serious and complete research-based studies will be considered. Do not submit opinion essays, incomplete pilot studies, literature reviews, or other incomplete or unscholarly works.

Papers should be a maximum of 7,500 words long (about 25-pages, double-spaced) and adhere to APA or Chicago citation style. Please provide a running title on each page and include an abstract of no more than 75 words.

In evaluating papers for research presentations, COMJIG makes no distinction between faculty and graduate student work.

COMJIG encourages graduate student submissions in its Top Student Paper competition. To be considered for the competition, papers must be wholly the work of students. The author(s) of the top student paper will receive a $100 award and a certificate.

Likewise, COMJIG encourages faculty submissions in its Top Faculty Paper competition. To be considered for the competition, papers must be wholly the work of faculty. The author(s) of the top faculty paper also receives a $100 award and a certificate.

For more information, contact COMJIG Research Chair John Hatcher by e-mail (jhatcher@d.umn.edu) or telephone (218-726-7325).

Patch's business model

Patch.com may not have come to your community yet, but it has become quite active in the suburbs around Minneapolis and St. Paul, even reaching into western Wisconsin.

From conversations with Patch editors, we have learned the company's efforts at developing hyperlocal online news sites seem quite deliberate. Not every community is bound to be Patched. Besides obvious elements such as population and potential for advertising revenue, Patch also considers the degree of community engagement before deciding to open a site.

Nicholas Carlson of Business Insider is skeptical about the company's chances.

"The only way Patch wins," he writes, "is if it can prove that local, geographically-pinpointed traffic is more valuable than national, broad-based traffic – by several multiples."

Has Patch set up shop in your community? If so, how is it doing?