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I Spy

When I talked about finding local news through Twitter searches this week, reader Harry Schwarz suggested I take a look at The Chestertown Spy. I did. You should, too. The Spy is an e-newspaper published Monday through Thursday in Chestertown to serve the six towns of Betterton, Church Hill, Chestertown, Galena, Millington, Rock Hall and the Chester River community on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

I found this paragraph a wonderful description of the need for news in smaller communities today:

It must be said that we collectively mourn the possible loss of the traditional physical newspaper, but there is a real need for new alternatives to supplement or even replace its role in community life. While Internet "blogs" have shown some promise in filling this need, they remain all too often the voice of one person rather than the product of journalism. In addition, these community sites rarely take advantage of the full power of the Internet (streaming video, graphics and hyperlinks), which would allow unparalleled access to valuable information.

I would be thrilled if Howard County/Columbia had something like this. Just a cursory glance shows it to be far superior to anything we have right now. Of course, you'd really have to read it day in and day out to see how it holds up overall. But at the moment I am experiencing local news envy in a big way.

In an era where community newspapers are nothing but small fish to be eaten by bigger fish, The Chestertown Spy is a breath of fresh air.

 

 

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