It's A Whole New (Yet Familiar) World
By Jim and Laura Bellis
When we worked as community newspaper reporters more than a few years ago, we were excited by the opportunities the print medium provided for anchoring a community and for giving readers "news they can use."
As the Reston Web debuts, we're no less enthusiastic. This new medium combines the potential for the best of traditional community reporting with the flexibility and global reach of the World Wide Web.
We hope the Reston Web flourishes because of the tremendous possibilities it presents for enhancing life in Reston and for telling the story of our community to the world at large.
The Reston Web can do everything a newspaper does, plus enhancements such as:
- Virtually limitless capacity. Unconstrained by the high cost of paper and printing, extensive reports can be provided on the community news people want most, especially youth and adult sports, school events, the arts, leisure, and charitable activities. In community news, the key is to name names -- the more, the better. The Web is ideal for meeting this demand.
- Ready access to anyone, anywhere. Grandparents can keep up with their grandchildren's activities easily, quickly, and inexpensively from New York, New Delhi, or New South Wales.
- Serving as a repository for documents and reports, from Reston Association regulations, to zoning matters, to position papers by political candidates.
- Continuing news updates on a daily, or when warranted, on an hourly basis.
These attributes also offer substantial benefits to businesses and advertisers. Here are just a few:
- Realtors, accountants, lawyers, medical professionals, retailers, and virtually any other business will have an unprecedented opportunity to build a clientele among those relocating to Reston, long before they actually move here.
- Businesses planning to move here can acquaint employees with our community well in advance of the actual relocation. This can be done with less expense and in far greater depth than was conceivable in the past.
- Targeted, local classified ads of every category can be posted, with the added advantage of daily updating.
These are only a few examples. The benefits to the community and to the local economy that the Reston Web can deliver are limited only by the imagination, and by the challenge of producing compelling content.
For in the online world, perhaps the most frequently heard buzz phrase is, "Content is King."
The Reston Web should strive to provide top-quality content, information and "news you can use," within the context of community journalism. And quality means that Joseph Pulitzer's three rules of journalism, "Accuracy, accuracy, and accuracy," must be religiously observed.
Added to these should be, "Editing, editing, and editing." Just because the hotlinks and hypertext of the World Wide Web offer virtually limitless capacity for detail, or for reports on previously unexplored topics, doesn't mean that everything anyone can think of should be published.
With these few caveats, welcome to the Reston Web. Think of it as an interactive community resource-in-progress. Contribute ideas and copy. Be an "early adopter." Your creativity now can help define this brand new medium for years to come.
Jim and Laura Bellis met while working as community news reporters for the Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss. Both hold degrees in Journalism, Jim from George Washington University and Laura from the University of Mississippi. Since then, they have worked in government relations, marketing, public relations, and as writers and editors. Residents of Reston since 1983, their two daughters keep them involved in many community activities.
For comments send e-mail to: Jim and Laura Bellis
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