Could it be a matter of time before Rhode Island becomes home to a solely Web-based news organization that carries on the mission of print newspapers?

Blogs such as RI's Future and Anchor Rising (and your humble blogger) cover some of this territory. These blogs certainly break news, develop research, offer viewpoints, and the first two of these sites benefit from their use of a group of animated contributors. (How RI's Future will be affected by the stepping back of its founder/prime mover remains to be seen, but other contributors -- particularly the peripatetic Mr. Crowley -- have been on something of a recent roll.)

RI's Future and Anchor Rising are defined, first and foremost, however, by their respective and unabashed left and right orientations. In this respect, they are different from the crop of Web-based news orgs springing up around the country, a story given front-page treatment yesterday in the NYT.