On Tuesday, a new Tampa Bay online magazine was unveiled on the Internet: 83 Degrees. The paper is being published by the Detroit based Issue Media and is being locally published and edited by Diane Egner, formerly with WUSF 89.7 and the Tampa Tribune.
Among the paid staff include former Trib reporter and editor Dave Szymanski and WMNF 88.5 FM reporter/anchor (and my former colleague) Kate Bradshaw.
In a phone conversation, Egner told CL that her publication will be writing about "the new economy, innovations, investments, the environment," and other events that make a difference in the local economy.
What's somewhat unique and curious is who's funding the site: Many local governments, universities and corporations. Among those that are helping fund the site include the University of Tampa, the Pinellas County Economic Development organization, the city of Tampa's Economic Development organization, and the cities of Largo and Clearwater.
When asked if readers should be wary of direct government funding of a media site, Egner said no, and compared the funding structure to that of public broadcasting. "If you're watching PBS, you know there are certain underwriters for certain programs. Each of our partners is underwriting specific issues that we cover."
Could it be construed as propaganda? "No, I don't think so," she said, saying no more than if readers of CL should be concerned about ads in our publication. "Editorial content is controlled by me and my freelance team. We're not doing PR work, they're not paying us for stories, they're underwriting us."
Egner says 83 Degrees will publish a new online edition of their publication every Tuesday, 48 weeks a year.
The publication is already creating a buzz in some quarters. In fact, a parody website has gone up this week, 83 Degrees Tampa Bay.
It's created by Tampa networking dude Eric Sturm
This article appears in Nov 18-24, 2009.