Community Websites: East Harlemites Combat Perceived MSM Bias and Neglect

by Tara Kyle
Community websites give residents a way to tell the story of their neighborhoods. From personality profiles to information about upcoming events, social issues and elected officials, readers of these websites can find out a lot about their community's past, present and future. Two East Harlem websites, East-Harlem.com and EastHarlemPreservation.org, give East Harlem residents more localized coverage of news events that affect the community. As Tara Kyle shows, place blogs fill the gap left by the mainstream media’s perceived bias and neglect of East Harlem. But without the support of staff or income, their reach also has limits.
-Interested in Tara Kyle's article? Contact her at tdk2107@columbia.edu

Blogs: Getting The Scoop

by Stephanie Merry
Are blogs increasingly beating mainstream media to the punch? With cases such as Comedy Central's scoop on Donald Rumsfield's resignation or even the falsified military documents that led to Dan Rather’s resignation, it seems so. Or, are these cases mere anomalies? Whether bloggers see themselves as journalists or not, they certainly serve as influential catalysts, complicating the role of mainstream media. Stephanie Merry explores the how of it all in this article, "Blogs: Getting the Scoop."
-Interested in Stephanie Merry's article? Contact her at sam2178@columbia.edu