What's New -- Week of August 31, 2009

Grappling with the technical management of your site? Share words of wisdom or woe with Collaboratory member Gail Robinson of New York City news site Gotham Gazette, who is not just trying to keep things from breaking or fixing them if they do, but trying to regularly add new features, such as the local government Wiki they've received a Knight grant to develop. How do you handle the technical side at your site?

Collaboratory leader Jane Stevens takes issue with how niche news sites' business prospects are portrayed in coverage of the recent Washington Post decision to shutter its Loudonextra.com hyperlocal news effort. Is conversational niche media the mainstream media's "black swan?"

* Meanwhile, if you're trying to decide if you've got a potential news business online, check out the work of our Business Assessment group and contribute your thoughts.

* Remember to add your blog URL and Twitter ID to your user profile, and to update the question that asks what kinds of projects you think we should use the RJI Collaboratory incubator to develop in future.

* Latest membership numbers -- the network stands at 399 members, as of 9/3. Invite new members. Plus, join a group or start your own, as well as create a blog and comment on others. And check out our most active groups and bloggers.