Former WLNE-TV news reporter Jim Hummel has released the first video from his recently-opened-for-business website that is attempting to add something new to the local blogosphere: investigative reporting meeting television-level production standards, sans the television station. (Initial release of the videos is through the WPRO (630AM) radio website; Anchor Rising has a promotional relationship with the Matt Allen show on WPRO that this post and any future commentary on Hummel videos have nothing to do with.)
A major component of the success of any new-media venture hinges on its ability to uncover and explain news items of potential significance that traditional media has been missing. Judging by Hummel’s first entry, about a Woonsocket police officer who has been on full salary for a decade despite not having to report for work, there’s plenty of stuff out there that’s been missed and that the public should be aware of for him to work with — or perhaps more appropriately, to work against.
Bonus item: See Hummel confront Woonsocket Mayor Susan Menard — and live to tell about it!