Homewood Nation

My Homewood is no more. I followed this blog in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette because of the many references to the diaspora. Usually, that voice came from the dedicated readership. Blogger Elwin Green obviously appreciates this expanded sense of neighborhood:

The end of "My Homewood" is the beginning of "Homewood15208," a blog that will appear tomorrow as part of a new website, Homewood Nation.

When "My Homewood" began, some of the first responses came from people who used to live in Homewood, but who now live somewhere else. Some of the best responses came from people who haven’t lived in Homewood at all, but who care about Homewood. I learned to think of Homewood not as merely a physical place, or as a neighborhood, but as a far-flung nation of people who care about that neighborhood. Homewood Nation is in Atlanta, and in Seattle, and in Baltimore. It is in Iraq and in Korea. Homewood Nation is not my Homewood, it is ours.

And now, online, Homewood Nation is here. Please visit; enrich us with your presence.

Green articulates what I think is the new geography of journalism. The community is both hyperlocal and global. The boundaries are unclear. Places in Atlanta are closer to Homewood than many residences within the City of Pittsburgh.

To me, the migration from the Post-Gazette to a stand-alone website makes perfect sense. Like our schools, newspapers are from another time and economy. Almost all of us are connected to some place where we don't pay taxes. What media covers that beat?

The geography of community has changed, but journalists are still trying to catch up.