Blogs Get Fit to Go to Print
BostonNOW Editor in Chief John Wilpers displays a mock-up of the new paper, which will feature blogs. Steve Garfield hide caption
The blogosphere is coming to a newspaper near you.
Beginning this month with Boston as the pilot market, Icelandic publishing company Dagsbrun plans to launch free dailies in 10 U.S. cities. The papers will run blogs alongside the usual newspaper fare.
The flagship paper, BostonNOW, hits the streets today. Editor in Chief John Wilpers says bloggers will not only get an outlet for their musings, they'll also break news.
Wilpers says he'll help bloggers tailor their postings for a general audience. At first, he expects only about 10 percent of the newspaper's content to come from Web contributors. But eventually, half the paper could be filled by all the Boston blogs fit to print, he says.
Dagsbrun plans to start nine more newspapers over the next three years.
Curt Nickisch reports for member station WBUR in Boston.