The New York Times has created “The Local“, which features two blogs; one that covers a couple Brooklyn neighborhoods and the other that documents a few towns in NJ.

Descriptions on the two sites (description 1 and description 2) make them sound like they’re aiming to be very similar to sites like DM.   A little FAQ created by the Brooklyn blogger asks the perennial question “How on earth does the Times expect to make money off this?”  Here’s his response…

We’re not sure yet. This is very much an experiment. As this venture grows, we’re hoping that a business model will emerge from it. If you’re a fledgling Internet entrepreneur and you have an idea – well, you can contribute to The Local, too.

Hmm.  Doesn’t sound too like they found the magic formula just yet…but I think just jumping in is the best way to figure it out.  A big part of the problem thus far has been that news folk everywhere have been attempting to find a business model that can be applied to every community.  Just the act of attempting that shows they’ve already missed the point of local blogs.  The best ones are molded to their individual communities.  That includes how it would possibily make revenue.

Regardless of the eventual outcome, good for them!  I’m obviously in full agreement that local blogs are of great value, and I think they’re on the right track by having bloggers blog their own neighborhoods.  In terms of being self-sustaining…that’s something everyone is still working on.