Personally, I like to know about the important things going on in my town. I like the information to be reliable. And I REALLY like thoughtful analysis of the local news.

On the other hand – I DON’T need to know anything about 95% of what goes on in my town (West Hartford, in this case). Generally, there just isn’t that much of interest to justify super-heavy coverage. A couple of stories every few days. The rest (in any news format)tends to be events and fluff and filler. Don’t want it in print. Don’t need it online.

Frankly, I REALLY value quality over quantity. I can, say, pick up a three-day-old New York Times and read a wonderfully-written story about corruption in a small town in upstate NY and be fascinated, drawn in. AND I learn things about how town governments can operate that I would never learn from daily, blah reports about West Hartford school board meetings – or from three DIFFERENT blah accounts of the SAME board meeting.

Local news that is less “blah” would mean things like asking uncomfortable questions of local elected officials. Getting opinions from the people who are working too hard to be able to attend the meetings. A little investigative journalism thrown in.

There’s definitely a place for local-heavy news. But it’s just a start.