Can Google Save Local Media?

Google has played no small role in redefining how people read the news, and last week, one of its most prominent executives launched a side project to see if he can save local reporting from the lethal dynamics that threaten papers. When Tim Armstrong isn't busy running Google's North and South American advertising arm, he's behind the Polar Capital Group, which has just funded Patch, a new company dedicated to providing online local reporting in small towns that newspapers can no longer afford to cover. So far, the company has set up one reporter in each of three New Jersey suburbs: South Orange, Maplewood, and Milburn. Patch is based out of New York, where former Time Out New York Editor in Chief Brian Farnham will try out the new model.