The Patch is getting closer

On a related note regarding local news, the Patch placed an ad on Craiglist, looking for  reporters and writers in Northborough. This is the latest in a series of job listings for general assignment and sports reporters.
The Patch, aka Patch.com, is an AOL project to establish local web-based news outlets. They currently have forty sites in Massachusetts with another couple dozen in the queue. The closest is the Shrewsbury, MA Patch.
A few weeks ago, I had a conversation with an editor with one of the Patch sites in eastern Massachusetts. It's a tough place to work. The daily quota for output is hefty, both for stories and tweets. Dan Kennedy, writing for WGBH's Beat the Press site, provides more detail on the working conditions at Patch - Hard times working the Patch.
The Patch wants to be the next big thing in news, as the Atlantic's news and commentary site reported - Will AOL's 'Patch' Kill Your Local Newspaper?
Al Franken predicted this way back when on Saturday Night Live.