Hey, I've got an idea

I went to martial arts (bujinkan budo taijutsu, for those of you who are curious) practice tonight, got punched out and tossed around a little, dished out some of the same (My training buddy, Pete, is an incredibly forgiving and patient guy, seeing as how I always unintentionally whack him in the face at least once a class. Then there are the times I mean to hit him...), and later on, as I was stretching out, I had an idea. Now, those of you who know me will realize that's really just not that rare of an occurance. But I started to think about this one, and the more I think, the more it seems like something that could work. I was thinking about journalism, and specifically the news coverage of the area I live in. Now, granted, there's not a whole lot going on up here, but the immediate area around the Chequamegon Bay (a warmish extension of Lake Superior) has somewhere in the neighborhood of 15,000 people. And there's always a little something interesting going on. Heck, just on the waterfront alone this summer, there's been a drowning, a couple of boat rescues, a visit from a three-masted schooner, another visit from laker bringing coal to the local power plant, a smallish regatta, and a really big walleye caught. And that's just in the past couple months, focused on one part of the community. I think maybe there's a niche for a local news source that's a little different than the mainstream stuff you find in any smallish town. For starters, let's put the thing online. Only. At least for now. After all, there are already two papers, The Daily Press and the Lake Superior Sounder that give people plenty of opportunity to get soy ink all over their fingers. Not having a print schedule means that I (the web site) can go to press any time I have something ready to roll. I don't have to wait for the printers to come in, and I sure as heck don't have to pay them. Next, maybe there ought to be a way for all sorts of people to weigh in on current issues and share their opinions with the rest of the community. Oh sure, the other papers already have letters to the editor, but isn't it way easier to get really pissed off about something, log in, and just let 'er rip? No hassel with e-mail, or, for heaven's sake, postage. Just rant and click. And for people who don't want to sign their names to their posts, we could even have a "Coward's Corner" where people can vent anonymously. Pansys. Finally, I could do this for not a whole lot of money. I'd need a digital camera, of course, but since I'd only be posting stuff to the Web, I could start with one of those fabulous two-megapixel specials for a hundred bucks. I'd need a cell phone. Another hundred bucks, give or take, plus service. I'd need e-mail, but that's free. I'd need a computer. Oh, wait... And I'd need a place to put all my content. Again, I say to you, "Oh, wait..." That's right. I'm thinking of using a bloggish sort of setup to do this. I'd need to check the rules and regs about commercial use, but I'm sure I could swing something. And then I can go to local merchants and sell them adds on the site. I could let people sponsor a day for $250. I could let them sponsor a story for $75 or so. And boom: I've got an income stream, and I'm helping local folk keep abreast of their community. Especially young people, and computer literate people. The great thing about this gig is that I could launch without too much financial stress or time committment. I could try writing one opinion pience and maybe one news thing a week to start with and see how it goes. See what traffic is like, that sort of thing. Hmmm... I've got another idea...