Last November, when Minnesota announced plans for web offerings, staff wondered where the content would come from. The site is to include news, chat rooms and e-commerce. The site will only solicit user information for specific, advertised purposes. MPR's Kling say's he's interested in creating online communities of well-informed listeners. The NPR-Minnesota deal will capitalize on NPR's production strength and Minnesota's business sense.
Managers say that dialogues can far outlast the headlines that sparked the discussion.
Many chat sites surged during the Monica Lewinsky affair last year. Colby Devitt who manages the Forums section of New York Times on the Web says there is no absolute way to do it and a lot of experimentation is going on. The amount of time people spend at discussion sites is attracting advertisers and corporate interests. Microsoft is looking into the issue by hiring a sociologist to study how online communities are formed and functioned. For many online news sites, providing a framework for discussion is becoming a standard.