portlandville.com

More catching up: Media guy Keith Kelly of the New York Post recently covered a merger in the regional luxury magazine field. (See earlier post, below.) Expect a version of this soon in Portland, then expect that to be bought out by someone like these guys, then, well, we’re finally there. Just like everybody else.

So …  local news journalists will soon (if they have not already) find more readership through aggregators and search than they do through their own sites, papers and stations. [See related earlier posts.] Change is good, and as always, change requires new business models.  As the transformation of media accelerates, interesting issues arise, some of which are we’ve seen before, related to music distribution on the internet. Chris Anderson, the author of The Long Tail, is writing his next book on “free” business models.  The conversation is crucial to the future of … more than just media. If you haven’t seen the discussion on Anderson’s blog, check it out. Here’s a recent post with lots of interesting comments. Here’s another.

Whoa, wait a minute: I’m not sure the same results will show now, but when I sampled a few news sites at 5PM on Thursday the 7th, I found these top stories:

Google (new local news feature): Embattled Sheriff Giusto says he will retire at the end of this year (link from KATU)

KGW: Embattled Mult. Co. Sheriff to retire

LocalNewsDaily: Giusto announces retirement

And then…OregonLive:   Portland man admits to drunken brawl in Tualatin

If this is any indication, the O has plenty of catch-up to do with or without Google in the game.

Feed aggregators like Netvibes make it easy for anyone to build and use a customized online news service, tailored to your own interests. Now Google is fine tuning a local news search tool. According to the Google News Blog:

While we’re not the first news site to aggregate local news, we’re doing it a bit differently — we’re able to create a local section for any city, state or country in the world and include thousands of sources. We’re not simply looking at the byline or the source, but instead we analyze every word in every story to understand what location the news is about and where the source is located.

Here’s a sample search result for Portland

Compare that to local news sites OregonLive, LocalNewsDaily and KGW

What do you think? Is there added value to the search of “thousands of sources”? How will local media be affected?

Portland may soon have its own edition of the Northern California magazine LUXLIFE, according to recent intelligence reports.

What is the value proposition for a new magazine aimed at Portland’s elite? Well for one thing, according to a recent recruitment ad, it is produced in “stunning keepsake editions.” Promotional copy on the site tells us more:

LUXLIFE, as its name implies, is a publication designed to enhance the target reader’s lifestyle. It is as rich in beauty as it is in solid, high-end consumer information. Delivering fresh and intelligent content as unique and diversified as the discerning persons who read it, LUXLIFE is a mirror image of the growing sophistication of design in the region. LUXLIFE magazine is published as a service for residents … who have high discretionary income and want to spend it. Content is a potpourri of local finds, international haunts, wellness, the arts and consumer tips…With a steady and cohesive minimal full-time staff, LUXLIFE has established an army of experts in a variety of endeavors that provide information to professional freelance writers.. They then tell a story that is concise, a pleasure to read, and always informative…In a world of fragmented consumer resources, LUXLIFE is a publication where the affluent can gather with the high-quality resources they are seeking.

Who is behind this concept? According to the site:

It takes a visionary to perceive an opportunity that no one else can. In the case of LuxLife Media, Founder/CEO Anthony Glover is that visionary…

Welcome, monsieur. We’ve been saving your table. Right over there, next to Ultimate Northwest.

While I was away from the desk, Portland Spaces hit the stands.

I don’t have much to add to the conversation (supportive and otherwise) already underway
on various blogs, but here are a few late observations:

• It’s a very nice magazine, interesting to read, well written, well designed and thoughtfully organized.
• OK, Jack Bogdanski (link on otherwise, above) deems the magazine pretentious. And I’ve heard more than one reader use the word academic in describing the overall feel of the content. But Spaces isn’t a  formulaic regional home and garden magazine. It breaks the mold by including a unique mix of content. That makes it interesting, and possibly ground breaking, as a regional magazine prototype. Anyone know of similar titles in other metro markets?
• Down the road some point/counterpoint arguments on public spaces issues might mitigate any  creeping editorial conceit. Give Bogdanski a column. Just kidding. Well, maybe not just kidding.
•  It’s not hard for me to visualize Spaces’ audience. Educated curious upscale urban metro area adults who are interested in architecture city planning gardening and decorating. That includes me, I think. But are there tens of thousands of us in Portland? Or at least, will advertisers believe that? And  will the advertising ROI bear out the belief? We’ll see.

I enjoyed the magazine. I subscribed. I look forward to the next issue.

January was a long month this year in my neck of the woods. In other years, snow sports made January a high point, but for a variety of reasons, the snowboard stayed in its bag.  The closest I got to the mountain was this:

Then, on another trip to the same vantage point (home of some entrepreneur friends) I managed to let the old Volvo slide into a ditch, something I never did in years of New England winters.

The nice guys at the Jim Fischer Volvo parts counter quoted me $212 for the part. I went for the tape-over patch kit at Schucks Auto Parts, until I can figure out why a blinker lense is worth that.

By the end of the month I was ready for something basic, warm and good. How about a nice braised chicken with aromatic vegetables? Inspired by the slow cooking chapter in Alice Waters’ recent cookbook, The Art of Simple Food, the one-pot-wonder hit the spot on a cold, rainy night at month’s end. And the bulbs are already starting to come up.