When neighbors start heating up over a topic through Front Porch Forum, our local traditional media often picks up on it and writes a story. Some issues are of larger public concern, e.g., violence, multi-million-dollar development projects, etc., while others are more modest. Take today’s story by Suzanne Podhaizer in Seven Days: Right to Bite: New pizzeria offends some sensitive South Enders. I can attest… it’s been a firey back and forth.
And on the subject of media coverage of FPF, I just looked back at Mike Ives’ well-written 7D piece about neighbors using FPF to combat vandalism in Burlington. Here’s the traffic rank on the Seven Days website for the past week…
- Police Caution Front Porch Forum Crime Fighters (1005)
- All Original (662)
- Taste Test: Claire’s Restaurant and Bar (501)
- Communications Shakedown (497)
- EPA to Investigate Contamination at Milton Scrap Yard (491)
- UVM Students Put Pressure on City’s Rental Market (490)
- Free Will Astrology (442)
- Burlington Progressive Plans “Fusion” Campaign for State Senate (392)
Makes sense… same thing happened with the last FPF story on that site. Topics that organically sprout up from the grassroots on Front Porch Forum are likely to appeal to a broad audience when developed into a full story by traditional media.