Paved was a project commissioned by the Toronto Star, a unique effort to experiment with a hyperlocal weblog presence in the Greater Toronto Area, during the brief era when terms like “citizen journalism” and “participatory media” were intriguing (and confounding) traditional print newsrooms across the continent. Plans for the blog were sketched out over the course of September 2005, and the site went live October 6 (first workday of the Jewish calendar year 5766), with at least one post appearing each weekday (a few Fridays were taken off) through June 29. The very first proper prolific blog focused exclusively on Toronto, and not presented in the first person, was Better Living Centre (”BLC”), a voluntary effort launched September 1, 2004, published almost daily through mid-February 2005. Several other weblog format titles dedicated to Toronto emerged between fall 2004 and summer 2005, including Torontoist, blogTO, Reading Toronto and Spacing Wire. (The very invisible Metroblogging Toronto preceded all those.) Paved links appeared on the Toronto Star website on a regular basis, which was most effective when attached to a front page story, although results of that promotion varied. For a number of reasons, or maybe no reason whatsoever, the approach to the site evolved from a daily publication with multiple shorter posts, to a weekly publication updated with longer entries each day. Popular online topics during the life of Paved included Toronto’s alleged cultural renaissance, semi-unironic affection for – and frustration with – the Toronto Transit Commission, and the divorce of local actors Mary Jo Eustace and Dean McDermott after he had an affair with his next wife, Tori Spelling.
NOTE: Most images are in the process of being reformatted for this site.
… and that’s a wrap on this season of Paved. Things got started here back on October 6, with the agenda of reflecting the online action in the GTA, and plenty of links to the hot topics du jour. The format transformed during that period, as shorter posts excerpting from individual sites, and the occasional tip about what was happening around the city, settled into a one-a-day ritual with longer headlines, bigger pictures, and lengthier chunks of text. Some of the posts managed to cover news several days ahead of the mainstream media curve, other posts tried to supplement pieces that originated in various publications, and a few posts might’ve turned out relatively unreadable – such is the risk of working without an editor, in a style determinedly distinct from the work of a traditional reporter or columnist. It didn’t hurt that this was a provocative past year in the history of Toronto politics, society, media, culture, narcissism and self-awareness – as covered in the wrap-up, Pavedover – along with Canada’s first federal election race where blogging was a legitimate factor, not to mention all the GTA-related zeitgeist still lurking in the archives. None of this would’ve been compiled without a hearty sense of adventure at the Toronto Star, whose online laboratory scientists commissioned this project, and frequently linked to specific items at thestar.com. And, in return, they received the internet journalism equivalent of the halcyon days of free-form progressive FM radio, genuinely inspired by the weblog culture nurtured over the last few years, with hopefully even greater explorations ahead. Now, what happens to the blaugerista – who’s gone this far without using a first-person pronoun – is a bit more uncertain. Naturally, relevant updates will appear here, especially if the site resumes in some form. Meanwhile, there’s time to ponder the next big situation, whether or not you know where to find it: pavedblog@gmail.com
