Cory Heidelberger, speaking at the Journalism That Matters conference in 2008"
Location: Madison, SD, 57042
Website: http://madvilletimes.blogspot.com/
In 2005, Cory Heidelberger realized that he wanted to write a letter to the editor at least once a week. Rather than do that, he started a blog, hoping it would satisfy the same urge. That blog, Madville Times, grew from an "occasional spouting off," as he calls it, to an established blog that he updates daily.
The blog made him a member of a community of South Dakota bloggers. This community formed over time, he says, by reading each other''s blogs, commenting on them, and sending emails. It''s an inter-blog process he likens to cross pollination.
He sees the potential for this to be something of an alternative press for (and he puts them in order): Madison, then Lake County, then South Dakota. For now, he considers himself a booster for his community, making it attractive to out-of-towners, making it seem a "vibrant, real, authentic community." He says that he and his wife "do want to change the world," adding that the world, for them, is local.