Some users reported trouble this morning reading the full text of stories. We’ve diagnosed the problem and it should be fixed. It appears to have affected hundreds of sites across the net in the past few days that use WordPress, our publishing system. May have been a hacker or hackers. Thanks for your patience … David Boraks, Editor.

Cristina Shaul

This week DavidsonNews.net marks a bit of a milestone by welcoming a new staff member, Cristina Shaul. She began work Tuesday, Sept. 1, as our first publisher, taking over responsibility for the business side of your favorite community news web site.

I’ve been wearing both hats since founding the site in 2006. But as our business begins to take shape and becomes more complex, it makes sense to draw a sharper line between the business and news sides. And to be honest, I’m a journalist at heart, and I’d like to concentrate on what I do best.

Also below, news about DavidsonNews.net in the news this summer, in Charlotte Magazine, on WFAE, and as a honorable mention in the nationwide 2009 Knight-Batten Awards.
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As we’ve noted before, DavidsonNews.net is drawing a bit of attention beyond Davidson for its efforts to create a sustainable business model to support local newsgathering. Today, with apologies, we’d like to point you to a couple of links about ourselves: The first, a profile on public radio station WFAE-FM in Charlotte, and the second, a Q&A on a website of the “New Business Models for News” project at City University of New York, where researchers are studying what’s working and what’s not. Read the full story

This summer could be a trying one for leaders of many area non-profit organizations  as they struggle to deal with funding cuts, revenue shortfalls, and shrinking budgets.  Just how big is the problem and what can we do to help? This week, DavidsonNews.net joins a consortium of Charlotte-area media outlets in an unusual joint reporting project that addresses those questions, called Charlotte Mission Possible. Read the full story

You may not realize it, but as a reader of DavidsonNews.net, you’re a guinea pig in a 2½-year experiment in local journalism and community building that may have nationwide importance.

With print newspapers in the midst of decline, many are wondering if the Web might be the future of local news. Here in Davidson, it’s not the future; it’s the present.

Also below, results from our Spring 2009 reader survey

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Curry announced his decision Thursday. (Tim Cowie photo)

So we’re losing Steph.

You have to feel for anyone facing a decision as difficult as the one Stephen Curry made this week: Whether to leave one great thing behind to reach for another.

Even as he was about to answer The Question, the Davidson College basketball guard still seemed uneasy. He took a deep breath as he sat down next to Coach Bob McKillop at the microphone Thursday morning.

He looked at his coach. Coach McKillop just looked back, biting his lip. Read the full story

DavidsonNews.net thanks all who have taken our  online survey so far, to help us with business planning and to get feedback on the site. If you haven’t already done so, please help by taking a few minutes to answer our questions. All responses are private and anonymous. We’re grateful for the help! We’ll close the survey at midnight Saturday.

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