We cover Whatcom, Skagit, San Juans and beyond! Composed of local and regional community-centered media, the group has been formed to aggregate local stories across all media platforms: television, radio, print and web. Alliance partners are committed to the creation and sharing of stories designed to educate, inform, and entertain local and regional audiences. "We think this kind of partnership m
akes sense. We're all creating media in the public interest but we're not competing against each other--we have very different audiences," said Riley Sweeney, well-known for his blog, The Political Ju**ie. The North Sound Media Alliance is currently made up of traditional print publications Cascadia Weekly, Whatcom Watch, television/video production organization Center for New Media, low-power radio stations KMRE, KAVZ, and online blog sites NWCitizen, Latte Republic, The Political Ju**ie and Twilight Zoning. Additional, locally-centered media groups continue to join. "Local media is vital to maintain a thriving community; this group came together in order to share resources and provide more comprehensive coverage of our area while maintaining the things that are unique and special about each of our organizations," said Suzanne Blais, Executive Director of Center for New Media. The Alliance plans to start sharing immediately. "Center for New Media has covered the Democratic endorsement meeting, the Republican Candidate Meet and Greet, the Bill Mize Forum and Summerfest Candidate Interviews.” Although many of the events shared right now are political forums, that won’t be the primary focus. “The point is that all Alliance members are sharing content with each other, so people throughout Whatcom County can benefit from the news and information we’re all dedicated to providing." Blais hopes that this will mark a new beginning in the world of local media. "This is not business as usual– it's rare to find organizations sharing across two platforms, but we're talking about all four. We're excited to be part of this new organization, one of the first of its kind in the nation."
