How a small newspaper goes above and beyond with biz coverage

A few weeks back, Talking Biz News posted an item about the Frederick News-Post newspaper in Maryland creating a business blog — a unique proposition for such a small paper.

Business editor Cliff Cumber provides an update on the blog, and some other interesting ways that the paper is trying to cultivate its business readers.

In an e-mail, Cumber wrote, “This is out first proper foray into blogging, so business is kind of a coal-mine canary for other sections and beats.

“So far it’s been going pretty well. In the first week, we drew nearly 1,000 hits to our site with no advertising other than an obscure link off the front page. Myself and reporter Joseph de Leon file the bulk of the posts (out of a team of five).”

You can find the blog here.

Added Cumber: “Apart from blogging, Joseph is writing a new occasional consumer-interest column for the paper called Scam Alert. It has a catchy graphic and I’ve encourage Joseph to use a punchy, first person prose. The column identifies scams, provides clues to tip readers off about them, and gives them information on what to do to file a complaint.”

You can see an example here. Perhaps the best thing about the column, other than its consumer value, is that the graphic elements and style work cross over well from online to print.

Cumber also notes that every Wednesday de Leon hosts Biz Beat, a 30-second look at the week’s best business story on the paper’s daily webcast.

Said Cumber: “If you haven’t seen it, I’d urge you to take a look: http://fnp3.newspost.com/. It’s not business related, but it’s pretty cool, and I’m not just saying that because I host Monday’s show. (Assistant Business Editor Ed Waters Jr. is becoming something of a Letterman-esque star with his weekly Ed-Cetera spots.)”