I woke yesterday morning to learn that two major fires struck my town on Christmas Eve. I read about it on WestportNow.com, my hometown blog, which is also widely regarded as one of the best case studies in successful localized blogging. I was always sort of aware of that but never sure why, until today.

WestportNow had 10 professional-quality photos and story updates posted to the blog between 4 am and 10 am on Christmas morning. On Christmas morning!! Good god, do these guys ever sleep? Look out Westport News and Westport Minuteman because I'm not sure why anyone would want to read your once-a-week rag to get old news. If I open the Westport News on Wednesday to read about the Friday fire, what new information will I get that WestportNow didn't already provide? Why do I want to read about the same fire twice? (I just looked and as of now, neither of the two traditional papers' sites contain mentions of the Longshore fire.)

So, kudos to WestportNow. I had you in my mind all day. Because you made me realize that newspapers really are going extinct. The WestportNow founder, Gordon Joseleff, must have realized this too when he turned his back on more than two decades of highly-respected reporting with the UPI and CBS News to help start the citizen journalist revolution.

Next time you have to defend blogging in a conversation with that important guy or gall who thnks that "blogging is just this mindless blather...", direct them to the quality local reporting at WestportNow for a glimpse of how blogs are changing society—don't send 'em to that personal blog of yours which really is just a lot of hot air and personal ranting.

Cross-posted (mostly) from the Blogatron 2000—which does not make a good defense for blogging.