Like a lot of other refugees from print journalism, Dennis Robaugh and Bob Bong have taken their act to the Internet. What’s different is the way they talk about what they’re doing. Jim O’Shea struck a note of high moment last October when he announced the founding of the Chicago News Cooperative; CNC was “”designed to provide high quality, professionally edited news and commentary to the Chicago region on the Web, in print and over the airwaves,” said O’Shea, former managing editor of the Tribune and editor of the Los Angeles Times, who already had MacArthur Foundation money and a relationship with the New York Times to back him up. When Lorraine Swanson, last editor of the weekly News-Star, launched lakeeffectnews.com ten months ago, she promised “uberlocal” content written to the highest professional standards and she said, “We can handle the competition. We’ll get the Tribune and we’ll get the Sun-Times — they’re ten miles back trying to catch up.”
“We’re trying to have a little fun,” says Dennis Robaugh.