When I started documenting Portland’s bike scene in April 2005, my main goal was to provide a window into an amazing community. I was new to town and was deeply inspired and excited by what I saw on the streets — and I figured other people would be too. I wanted everyone on the Internet to get a taste for the creative and vibrant culture around bicycles that was being created in this city and a daily blog just happened to be a great tool for the job. As the site grew and my role changed, there was always one question I would ask myself when I needed editorial guidance:
What does our community need most from BikePortland?
Was there a new bike-related business that needed help getting off the ground? Do a profile. Was a nonprofit looking to gain traction? Highlight their work and events. Was a good policy or program under threat? Draw attention to the issue. Was a politician being bad? Expose them. Was a piece of infrastructure dangerous to cyclists? Explain why and help push for changes.
Today, as I’ve stepped away from the daily grind of BikePortland, that question seems relevant once again. I want to strip BikePortland down to the studs and rebuild it, while adding back only what’s needed most. And I would love your feedback as I go through this exercise.
So again, I ask: What does our community need most from BikePortland?
At its core, BikePortland is a trusted, multi-channel platform with an audience from all walks of the cycling life. So what should we do with that? What type of information does Portland need from a bicycling and transportation site? Where should I focus my energy in the future? And how could readers like you take on a larger role?
Below are some types of content BikePortland has created in the past. Which of these are most important? Least important?:
- Breaking news
- Policy deep dives/explainers
- Personality profiles
- Event coverage and ride recaps
- Product reviews
- Infrastructure project previews, breakdowns, and reviews
- Event promotion
- Sharing relevant links (Monday Roundup) and examples from other cities
- Interviews with interesting people
- Guest articles
- Guest opinions
- Editorials by me
I can’t do it all anymore — nor do I want to! — so what pieces should I pick back up? And which pieces should I look for others to do?
Beyond the various types of stories and content you’ve seen on BikePortland, there’s also the question of framing and intent. As in, does a story push specific advocacy buttons? Or is it more for general interest or fun? (For example, Streetsblog is 100% focused on advocacy and pushing a specific agenda.)
If you wanted to build an influential and widely-read, cycling-focused outlet, where would you focus your energy?
When I started BikePortland, cycling in our city was on an upward trajectory and my work added fuel to a fire that was already burning. Today, we’re coming out of a bicycling decline/plateau and a socio-political milieu where bicycling doesn’t have the potency it once did. Even with me in a reduced role, I believe BikePortland can play a big part in whatever comes next.
I’ll be asking this question at Bike Happy Hour tomorrow (Weds, 4/29 from 3-6 pm at Migration Brewing on N Williams Ave) and wherever else I bump into you. Thanks for your feedback and patience as I go through these thought experiments.
Thanks for reading.
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I come here for a lot of reasons, but one of the big ones is local news coverage. I think you have a deeper and fuller understanding of how city government and backroom politics work than do the local television stations, the shell of the Oregonian newspaper, or the local weeklies. Also, all local news is biased and stilted. But you’re open about your perspective and you’re not bought and paid for by corporate interests.
I also dig general info about local cycling events and culture, infrastructure projects, and the Monday news roundup. I could do without the comment section. It is typically dominated by a handful of serial commenters that drown out others. I get involved in comment threads sometimes, but usually only out of frustration.
I would ditto this. You just don’t get coverage of committee happenings, etc from the bigger outets, and even social media accounts miss covering a lot of these. To your point about bias, I always appreciate how Jonathan Maus is clear about the distinction in articles; we’ll get the objective facts, and then there will be some writing caveated with “from my perspective”, etc. Obviously bias can be more complex than that, but it’s great journalism IMO. I care a bit less about the Monday, not-Portland-focused roundup, but I do peruse it.
Thanks Gron. I’ve gotten a lot of feedback about the comments section and I plan to moderate it differently going forward. And I hear you about the value of local news with a transportation focus. I’m really trying to find out if I can do less overall and still make BikePortland have value and impact. Then the question becomes, what do I stop doing?
I also find it interesting how often bias comes up when people talk about BikePortland (over on Reddit, it’s a lot of comments). That is only because “bike” is in the name. I mean, people need to realize that every major media outlet has all types of biases. They’re paid largely by corporations FFS! And outlets like NPR and PBS are biased toward being fair, which is actually a huge bias in an of itself! It’s just weird to me that people get hung up on that instead of just reading the words I type and taking them for what they are.
And yes, I’m biased! My bias is that I want bicycling to grow and I want our community to win. But does that mean my work is slanted? Nope. Sometimes covering things in a way that’s not good for our community can actually help us win IMO. My point is that having bias doesn’t result in the type of coverage many people assume it does.
I think the news and investigative reporting around transportation issues is most important to me, as well as ways for community to engage and mobilize around it.
I think focusing the coverage around transportation, mobility, and healing the car afflicted wounds of our city in general (not just bikes) might expand the circle in terms of the audience as well. It seemed like over the years you had already be doing this, despite continuing to call the site “Bike Portland.”
There’s simply no other source of this quality for local Portland news (as it relates to biking & transportation): reviews of new infra, breaking news, policy, interviews etc
I also really enjoy the extent to which BikePortland has created and shaped the biking scene in Portland, I do enjoy guest articles and the like.
In the blog title you ask “What does are CITY need?” In the article, you ask “what does OUR COMMUNITY need?”
I moved here in ’08 to live a car-free lifestyle and BikePortland was an invaluable resource that very well documented the burgeoning radically fun bike community with its bike rides/parties, bike moves, bike shops and maybe most importantly the DIY/Hacker blue sky culture that was cooperative, collaborative and w/o limits!
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Back then, Portland felt like a big town w. a chill vibe. “The dream of the 90’s” was alive & kickin’!!!f I was in my early 40’s hanging out w. 20-somethings, learning how to live a car-free lifestyle and having tons of fun along the way!
Portland evolved into a small city w. more vehicles of all types, a more serious economy and more people who sought the good life of what was becoming one of the most liveable cities in the U.S.
I say this b’cuz I think so much changed, so fast that city gov’t got caught flat-footed and struggled with practicing good governance in a time of rapid change and growth.
Anyway, I say all of this b’cuz we all find ourselves in a very different landscape. These days, I think a lot more about transportation in general and less about bikes specifically. I tend to read the articles that help me understand the problems, the politics, and the policies.
Yeah, it’s not nearly as fun, but I think it matters more to more people b’cux trying to get’ around town in a safely & timely matter is something almost everyone does every day.
What I think OUR CITY needs is more info, education and advocacy around general transportation. i don’t know what OUR COMMUNITY needs, because I don’t really feel a part of any community other than the neighborhood I live in, which a bike isn’t generally necessary.
What question which seems fairly obvious to me to ask you, is who’s the audience you’re serving and what stories, topics, events inspires you to write interesting, helpful blog posts?
If you can get metrics on articles such as how many people read an article, which topics are read the most,, etc, I’d start there. There doesn’t seem to be a simple like/unlike button on the posts.
There’s this Japanese philosophical idea of when one can align one’s interests, talents and skills to societies needs a sense of happiness and fulfillment can be achieved. However, I’m still trying to figure that out and I’ll be 60 yrs old soon.
Anyway, I don’t know if that’s at all helpful, but that was my intent.
Personally, I really look forward to the Monday Roundup. I also like getting news about infrastructure projects. I probably could find a lot of that elsewhere, but it kept me coming back here every day.
There isn’t a thing on that list that doesn’t cause a big information void for someone to fill. I think you should follow your heart and pick the ones that you most enjoy and give you energy.
It’s not on the list, but the comment section seems like a giant amount of work. I’d rather you turn them off if it can add another item from your list of focus areas.
Bike Happy Hour seems to bring you joy. It’s an amazing venue for discussion and feedback. Maybe think of it and/or something like it as the new comment section.
There could be a bikeportland Reddit where discussion could happen if there were a person in the community, other than you, who would be willing to be admin.
Whatever you decide, thank you.