Laura Packard's blog

State and local blogs are the way of the future. They provide local political news and analysis not available anywhere else, especially as media consolidation means fewer and fewer experienced political reporters and good stories. And they also help bring together activist communities, which can change the shape of an entire race. (See Lieberman, CT, or Allen, VA for examples).

Blogpac wants to support that work. As previously diaried, we are offering a series of grants to community blogs to help cover hosting fees (one year of hosting, ie. $180, will be the standard amount). Blogpac is pleased to announce our second round of blog grants.

As previously announced, BlogPac is working on a project to bring community blogging to every state. Community blogs (and the communities they create) will make the difference in '08. But they can also make a difference now, influencing policy on a state and local level.

One of the things we've heard is that money is a problem. Sites on blogspot are free, but growing into your own domain name and software like Soapblox or Scoop takes money. Soapblox sites, for example, start at $15/month. Which sounds affordable to some, but is a big stumbling block to others. Without a popular site going already, you can't get the ad revenue to pay those fees. It's a chicken and egg problem.

We're trying to help.