Media    Posted: Dec. 8, 2009, 12:00 a.m. ET

Patchwork Nation: Media Landscape Shifts Online in a Wired Town

If there is a community well positioned for the demise of a true local daily, it may be the heavily wired, tech-savvy college town of Ann Arbor, Mich.

BY ANNA SHOUP

Like many communities across the nation, Ann Arbor -- home to the University of Michigan -- has seen its local paper disappear. Yet despite the shut down, this heavily wired, tech-savvy college town is discovering new ways to fill the void.

After shuttering its doors earlier this year, the Ann Arbor News announced that with the help of a mini-army of local bloggers, it would be launching a new Web site, AnnArbor.com, to cover local stories. The site now competes with another local start-up, The Ann Arbor Chronicle, in a good old-fashioned newspaper war. The difference in this case, is that the battleground has moved online.