Newport Now, a site focusing on "local news and island life" just debuted on the Web this month, and is already filling a void in coverage (see their piece on last night's Alliance for a Livable Newport forum on consolidation).

They responded with web-savvy speed to an e-mail asking about the goals of their new publication. "With traditional media pulling back its coverage and restricting online content, we also believe that the timing is right for an online news source for Newport, and hope to be able to fill the gap in local coverage," said Amanda Lyon, site administrator for Newport Now.

In addition to on-the-scene reporting, Newport Now features polls, obits, property transfers, and restaurant reviews. For those like me who can't afford $350/year, there's also a section called "In Other News," recapping the print version of the Newport Daily News, including a running count of how many wire service stories fill up the pages.

The site design, based on leading blogging platform WordPress, is clean and crisp (I'm a sucker for Gill Sans) and they appear well positioned to take advantage of the vacuum in Newport Web reportage.

Resources:
Visit Newport Now.

Full Disclosure: They link to this site, which is how I found them.