You could apply a similar logic by moving top-down. You could filter a broad stream of news to extract only that which is relevant to specific local markets. This could complement the bottom-up approach that is used to describe “Representative Journalism.”

But while you’re at it, why not focus on a more generalized niche-oriented approach (as opposed to seeking to target a mass market)? Why not focus on specific topic areas (in additional to specific locales)? You might have a reporter that is familiar with a topic or so, and that could be augmented by citizen journalists recruited from those who are passionate about some particular topic.

I like to use the word “tribe” instead of community. Communities imply location as a primary characteristic. Tribe includes location but also captures movement, allegiance, temporary alliances and networks of power.

An under appreciated property of print is that it often function as a token for a tribe. A tribal token is one operational definition of a “brand.”

In New York City, there is a tribe of “people like us” who buy the NY Times because that’s “what people like us do.” Carrying the TImes on the subway was a signal of tribal membership. Just as having an iPod was what “people like us, do.”

When the mass market newspaper first emerged, the most vibrant newspapers were either organs of a political tribe or of various immigrant tribes. At the time, each tribe spoke their own language. As industrialization advanced, the language of the tribes at the top of the publishing pyramid prevailed. When steam driven printing came on the scene, the mass market newspaper arrived.

It is plausible to believe that with the new print technologies that are now coming on line, print newspapers will regain their place. Once it is practical to do versioned newspapers for each of the communities/tribes you describe, new revenue streams are made available.

I believe that once all the pieces you describe are put in place and streams of revenue start flowing, Representative Journalism will scale. Local ads for local organizations/business can be a pretty easy sell.

But only if they can see their ads in printed newspaper that is present in their local environment and is seen as the token of “people like us” . “People like us, shop in stores like this.” The web ad is the “nice to have” for a local business. The print ad is the “must have” to make the sale easy.

I look forward to a good discussion.