The Tampa Bay area is the place that I’ve called home for nine months out of the year for the past four years. Florida is home to some of the more strange stories that one may see on the news. It is community journalism that allows for stories, from the weird to the wonderful, to be known.
Newspapers in the area
Do a quick Google search of newspapers in the area as I just did, and 12 will turn up. All appear, at a glance, to be reputable, solid newspapers. Even though I have not heard of a few of them, I believe that they’re all at least somewhat good and have some community journalism stories in there.
Do another search, and this time look for independent newspapers. I’m sure there’s a better search query, but there are some promising hits on the first page.
Creative Loafing
One such hit is Creative Loafing, with a local office in Ybor. From their own website, they say that they’re the third largest newspaper in the Tampa Bay area and that they offer a valuable alternative to the other two mainstream publications.
They have different categories, such as news, music, art and entertainment and even blogs. Except for a ‘national’ category under News, this news outlet seems to be all about the community. What’s locally happening.
This is something I can get behind, because they’re writing for their local audience, about local things.
Tampa Bay Informer
Perhaps a little more community focused, and a little less known is an online newspaper called the Tampa Bay Informer. I have been in this area for a few years now, and I can honestly say I have never heard of this online news outlet.
The most promising part about this small news outlet is that they have an entire section dedicated to the community. It may look a little rough, but they truly delve into the community, into the’ overlooked by mainstream newspapers’ stories.
However, there is a glaring downside to this online publication and this section. It appears to not be frequently updated. A quick look through the community section will show that the most recent story comes from 2012. And taking a look into other sections, 2010 seems to be the year most stories were written.
And of course, there’s the most well-known newspaper in the area.
The Tampa Bay Times
This publication is probably the best in the area, and that’s not just my opinion. People really like this publication for the level of writing and the types of stories in it.
Looking at their website, there really is a lot to look at and find. There’s international, national, state, and even news by the county.
They’re definitely not overlooking what’s happening in the immediate community, because that’s an important area to cover in any newspaper. And like any good publication, it’s constantly being updated.
Conclusion
With these three publications, from the small to the alternative to the very mainstream, they all offer different ways of showing what’s happening in the community. Depending on the person, they may favor one over the other. Out of those three, I personally think that Creative Loafing is doing it right. Not only for my demographic, but for the overall content. Not to say the other two are bad, but it all comes down to each person. I hope that more local newspapers develop and showcase what the area has to be proud of.