Shawn Smith, senior news producer of Mlive.com, the online division of Booth Newspapers in Michigan and a branch of Advance Internet, believes general-interest newspapers should go niche, continuing an ongoing discussion in the media industry. He believes that newspapers are in an outdated form in which readers can learn about general ideas, but not about particular topics. Topic specific publications and blogs are thriving because they constantly attract people with those particular interests. He concedes that newspaper websites are niche, but only to the extent that they contain local news. But Smith feels that local news isn't even covered adequately.

Smith questions if readers turn to the local papers or a niche website when they want to learn about particular news with some analysis. "Most likely," he writes, "you'll turn to the source that is dedicated to producing breaking and interesting content."

Smith proposes:

1. Breaking newspapers into related sections with a strictly local front section.
2. Printing multiple niche publications for different sections, which can cover the news in a more detailed and interesting way.
3. Making sections on newspaper websites into communities .
4. Giving reporters their own blogs, which will allow more dynamic and comprehensive reporting. Readers may also become great sources and contributors. (For instance, Beatblogging.org, an experimental website comprised of 13 news organizations from around the world, is currently building social networks around their beat reporting to see if this type of reporting will work. Professionals from outside newsrooms add their commentary to the public discussion forums.)

Smith may believe that niche trumps general-interest papers. But what about the serendipity of newspapers, finding information you never thought you would discover?

Source: New Media Bytes through IFRA