• by Tom Siebert , January 2, 2007

Three Baltimore media professionals from different disciplines are melding their expertise and experience to launch a new online news site this spring that will mix professional and citizen journalism. The goal is a more "comprehensive understanding of what's going on in the city."

So says the interactive brains of the trio--Sean Carton, chief strategy officer for Charm City online consultancy idfive. Carton has teamed with former Washington Post and Baltimore Sun reporter Fern Shen and Marc Steiner, host of an eponymous talk show that is the flagship program of WYPR, the city's public radio station.

Tentatively titled The Baltimore Bulldog, the news site will combine text with audio and video to deliver daily news with updates throughout the day. It will also partner with local bloggers and established area names for columns and other coverage.

"The point is not to create a printed newspaper online but to do something that couldn't possibly be done on paper," Carton says.

Steiner says the Bulldog has already gotten a commitment from the former Sun columnist and author Michael Olesker. He resigned from the paper last January following charges of plagiarism, but remains a beloved Baltimore presence.

The essence of the site will be professional news coverage augmented by citizens, says Carton. "For example, you might have professionals writing about a zoning issue, but citizens providing photos and their personal perspectives."

Carton says the site will also be interactive.

The entertainment section will keep visitors posted on performances coming to town that are relevant to their tastes. And a wireless service will allow readers to submit instant reviews of a restaurant. ("The sushi is particularly fresh today." "The bagels taste a day old.")

Plus, Bulldog's comics section will use flash technology to allow the narrative to move.

Financially, the Abell Foundation has delivered a grant for $5,000 to create a prototype designed by Carton and written by a dozen professional journalists working gratis. The Bulldog, a nonprofit entity, is in discussions with several potential backers. The site hopes to compensate its earliest employees with "some split equity," Steiner says, although once it's up and running, that will change.

"The same rules do not apply to advertising in the online world, and we're going to be working with several people who have extensive experience in online advertising," Steiner says.

He promises to be aggressive in this area and "create new models and new ways of doing things that will sustain [Bulldog]."