We’re excited to announce an editorial partnership with the Seattle Times that encompasses all of Next Door Media’s sites. The partnership originated with a grant by American University’s J-Lab, which aims to explore how established media companies can work together with promising neighborhood news sites.

You may have noticed over the last several weeks that SeattleTimes.com and MyBallard.com have been linking each other on stories, and that’s a component of the partnership. We’ll be exploring other ways to work together in coming weeks and months. Our friends at West Seattle Blog, Capitol Hill Seattle and Rainier Valley Post are also part of the partnership.

We’re very pleased that the Times has chosen to work together with organic, neighborhood-grown news sites instead of creating competing efforts designed to draw advertising dollars away from the neighborhood.