With TV station Web sites gaining on their newspaper competitors, it only makes sense for broadcasters to spend money producing Web-only content to hold that new online audience. Perhaps with that in mind, CBS5 now has a new blogger, Brittney Gilbert, who will be “sifting through hundreds of sites on a daily basis, offering up links to and commentary on the brightest, funniest, most engaging posts made by local bloggers, while providing a place to interact and converse about the issues of the day,” according to her Web page.
Headlines on her blog today include “Belgian Beer Bar Alert!,” “Free Trade Coffee for Free for BARTers” and “The People’s Pot.” The “Free Trade Coffee for BARTers” is a link to SFist.com, which appears to be in the same business as Gilbert — aggregating content and producing a locally oriented blog.
As we reported in November, Gilbert comes to San Francisco from Nashville, where she has been blogging for the local ABC affiliate since 1999. She may be the first blogger hired by a local television newsroom for the purposes of blogging.