Washington Post Starts an Online Magazine for Blacks With Genealogy Social Networking Features

In attempt to broaden its online audience, The Washington Post Company on Monday is to introduce an online magazine primarily for a black audience, with news and commentary on politics and culture, and tools for readers to research their family histories. The magazine is based in Washington, free to readers and will be found at www.theroot.com.The magazine they describe could be seen as a more highbrow, political alternative to established magazines like Ebony and sites like BlackAmericaWeb.com and BlackVoices.com. The Root’s emphasis on genealogy will set it apart from those competitors, which pay more attention to entertainment, lifestyle and consumption. The third major part of the new site, titled “Roots,” will have online tools for people to build their family trees, link to or add information to other people’s trees and construct maps showing their ancestral trails. It will also urge people to have DNA testing, which can help them trace their backgrounds to specific ethnic groups and parts of the world. It will offer links to companies that do the testing.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/28/business/media/28post.html?ref=business