Build your own echo chamber

[Commentary] How can journalists help their work stand out in a media marketplace that's become stuffed with competition from thousands of blogs, websites and social networks? Not to mention umpteen cable networks, satellite radio channels and time-sucking iPhone and Crackberry applications? The easy answer is for journalists to provide sharper, more engaging work that's, well, even louder than what we've offered our readers back when most newspapers had monopolies in their local markets. Fortunately, as the Internet slams us with new competition, it offers journalists new opportunities as well. Specifically, today I'd like to write about the opportunity the Internet provides us to build relationships with our readers that will help amplify our reporting and its influence in society.