Newspaper company starts online-only paper

GateHouse Media, publisher of hundreds of small daily and weekly publications has launched a new newspaper. Except… there isn’t an actual paper. The Batavian serves people in the small-ish town of Batavia, New York – with an online-only presence. The site is more blog-like then new site-like – but the basic principle is the same: informing users. It also includes community features including comments and blogs for community members. GateHouse decided to delve into the Batavia market because the town’s legacy paper… doesn’t even provide its news online (Is this 2008??). Since launch on May 1, the site has climbed to 5,000 uniques per month – and GateHouse is talking to local advertisers. Oh, and the site offers free classifieds to boot.