Sponsoring news organization: Bluffton Today
Founded: April 2005
Location: Bluffton, SC
Owned by: Morris Publishing Group
Community engagement initiative launched: April of 2005
Publisher, Bluffton Today: Tim Anderson
Executive Editor, Bluffton Today: Kyle Poplin
Software used: Custom-developed Web platform created by Morris Digital Works, the software arm of Morris Communications. Parts of the Morris Digital suite, such as the mdSpotted photo sharing application, have been licensed for use at other news organizations.

Of the organizations we've profiled, Bluffton Today is the one that has the highest degree of integration between citizen-submitted content and staff-created content. Maybe that's because Bluffton Today had the luxury of starting from scratch. Bluffton Today wasn't grafted on to an existing news organization; it created a new one instead. The site, which is notable for its busy, forum-like feel, predates the launch of the free daily paper of the same name that's delivered to residences in Bluffton, SC.

Bluffton Today is what we might call a "Web first" publication. Unlike the average newspaper Website, where material is posted to the site only after the paper copy hits the street, Bluffton Today operates in reverse: the paper is a selection of items that generally appear on the site first. Both the site and the newspaper contain a mix of staff content and content created by local residents; the newspaper contains a higher proportion of staff content to citizen content than the site does.

Further Reading:

• A message from the Bluffton Today editor posted on Cyberjournalist.net, under the heading "Grassroots Media Efforts"
• Another article on Cyberjournalist.net -- this one describing Bluffton Today and its connection with Morris Digital Works
• The Wikipedia entry on Bluffton Today
• Two USC Annenberg Online Journlism Review articles

Headlines from Bluffton Today's blogs: