Dan Gillmor: "Newspapers: Open Your Archives"

One of these days, a newspaper currently charging a premium for access to its article archives will do something bold: It will open the archives to the public -- free of charge but with keyword-based advertising at the margins.

I predict that the result will pleasantly surprise the bean-counters. There'll be a huge increase in traffic at first, once people realize they can read their local history without paying a fee. Eventually, though not instantly, the revenues will greatly exceed what the paper had been earning under the old system. Meanwhile, the expenses to run it will drop.

And, perhaps most important, the newspaper will have boosted its long-term place in the community. It will be seen, more than ever, as the authoritative place to go for some kinds of news and information -- because it will have become an information bedrock in this too-transient culture.

http://dangillmor.typepad.com/dan_gillmor_on_grassroots/2005/01/newspapers_open.html

I like this idea. Too much stuff gets flushed down the memory hole.

Also, Demopedia and Wikipedia News could be a step in the right direction.

Remember the Plame scandal? Remember Cheney's secret energy commission? Remember Enron? Remember all those liberal politicians who died in small-plane crashes? Remember Florida 2000? The list goes on and on...

There's been so many scandals, sometimes I think the RW just cooks up a new one to knock the current one off the front page, and keep us off-balance.

with all of the crimes that have been committed.