THE NEW WORLD OF NEWS

Randy Frey (prounced 'Fry') has mod- erated a Cameron County news site for over seven years. Where do you get your local news?

For an increasing number of area residents, the answer is the internet.

Endeavor News was an early leader in the migration of news content from paper and ink to the web. The online version of the newspaper, endeavornews. com, is averaging over 100,000 "hits" per week.

Yes, there is still a paperand ink version of Endeavor News for those traditionalists who like the feel of newsprint (smudges and all).

But each edition of the newspaper can also be found online and subscribers ($26 annual fee) have instant access to the paper in its entirety Friday afternoons. The online edition also includes a searchable archive of past editions.

Just added is a daily news feature. Click on Daily Dose for daily news bytes. Visitors can sign up for news alerts at the top left of the front page. They'll get email messages when new information is added to the site.

Advertisers also appear online and their email addresses and website addresses appear as live links.

Also new to the site are comment sections at the end of every story, creating a blog atmosphere for readers to share their opinons.

Who's to say how long there will BE a print edition? Newspapers across the country have been folding their tents or trimming their editorial staffs, in recognition of the changing times.

For those who prefer their local content with a heavier dose of personal comment, there are two popular sites that have made their way onto many computer users' "favorites" tab --Cameron County Online and Solomon' words for the wise.

Emporium's Randy Frey, who helps to lead a community service group for his employer, GE Transportation Systems, and sits on Borough Council, has kept a keen eye and a focused camera lens on the community for several years.

To provide a forum for news, photos and commentary, Frey started a community website through a platform provided by MSN back in 2002.

As time passed, the content and popularity grew and he began to recognize the site as an important means of informing and uniting many members of the Emporium community and even people who have left the area, but still want to be a part of their hometown.

The new site features sports coverage, written and moderated by Mike Bauer, artwork by local artists, news feeds from all over the state, a community calendar and up to the minute weather bulletins.

"Soon we will be hosting photo and video galleries for members to upload their own content," Frey explained. "The site is a work in progress, and new features and improvements will be added when we're able."

Mike Wennin and Michelle Clark assist Frey with managing the site.

In the first 30 days of the launch of the site, over 500 members registered. Visitors from 11 different countries peruse the site, which logs over 1,000 unique hits per day.

Frey has concerns about the area's worsening economy and feels drawn to play a role in rebuilding Emporium.

"I thought about letting the site go by the way side," Frey said. "But it has become a very useful site to so many people. We were going to let it die a quiet death, but felt that the site offered a valuable service to the community and filled a niche that's not met by other media outlets."

Cameron County Online suffered a setback when MSN announced it was suspending free service for web logs, or "blogs," such as Frey's site.

He has since shifted it to another provider, accessible at cameroncountypa. net (registration required).

Another blog, Solomon's words (the site moderator insists on the lower-case "w"), has reunited Roulette resident James Jones with the publishing business he left after an earlier career with a shopping newspaper.

Seven days a week, often for more than a dozen hours a day, he operates a website filled with content from Potter and McKean counties, accessible at solomonswords.blogspot. com.

Jones remembers racing on his tricycle to fires and accidents scenes in Bolivar, N.Y. to get the scoop. As a teenager, he began reporting for a radio station in Wellsville and for the Olean Times Herald. Later, he was hired as a correspondent for the Buffalo Courier Express before starting the "Moneysaver Shopping News," covering Eldred and Portville.