When No Depression, The New York Times of roots music, stopped publishing last May, then stopped updating the site frequently shortly thereafter it left a huge hole in the alt-country scene. Now it's back. Sorta.
The magazine, named for a Carter Family/Uncle Tupelo song, launched in 1995 is now a community-driven website: community.nodepression.com. It's operated on the Ning platform, and is sort of a hybrid between regular media sites and a fancy message board. Writers and editors like Peter Blackstock and Grant Alden are still on board, but more like moderators than traditional reporters.
"In this current state of the magazine industry, more and more magazines are shifting to the web," publisher Kyla Fairchild said in a press release. "With our new presence harnessing the capabilities of Ning, we envision a No Depression online community where we will pass the torch to our faithful readers who will help us create the next chapter in our story. "
Kim Ruehl, who was NoDepression.com's news editor, is now the community manager, culling the the best content from the threads to feature on the main community page.
Very interesting model for us professional media-types.
