Backfence: Community publishing platform raises $3MM-- Omidyar one of the funders.
Here's the quote from Omidyar's Doug Solomon: "With Backfence, everyday people can report on what's happening within their own communities and connect with others who care about the same issues. Backfence's citizen-driven model brings people together in a way that's meaningful and empowering to the participants and to the businesses that support them."

Consultant Peter Krasilovsky's started blogging. Welcome to the neighborhood, man.

Bizweek on AOL's possible sale--"Selling ads against lots of content that's easily searchable and on-demand is where Big Media is heading."