CLEVELAND, Ohio--Belt Magazine, a Cleveland-based, online publication focused on life in the Rust Belt, practices principles that ring almost quaint in the new media age.

It assigns editors to work with writers on long stories with original reporting, writers who in turn get paid for their work.

The result is a selection of stories and essays that often offer fresh insight into regional issues and challenges and that stoke smart conversation.

Discerning readers in Greater Cleveland are not the only ones to notice.

The Paley Center for Media has chosen Belt Magazine to present at its "The Next Big Thing in Media and the Innovation Economy" conference September 23 in New York City. That's a big deal for a small publication.

Paley draws media executives and investors to its quarterly "Next Big Thing" gatherings, which are designed to showcase "disruptors in the media, entertainment, and technology spaces."

Apparently, tiny Belt is seen as big enough to disrupt.

Launched one year ago, Belt sees itself as an online startup in the best traditions of journalism. Editor and co-founder Anne Trubek, who teaches writing at Oberlin College, says the publication is intent on enhancing the quality of life in the communities it covers. It tries to engage people in civic conversations, she said, and encourages activism.

"We're not boosters," she's quick to add. "And we don't see ourselves as a daily news engine, so we don't compete with The Plain Dealer. But there's a gap here. There's a need for long-form, quality journalism in the Rust Belt."

Belt's homepage can at times be heavy with memoir and commentary, but in the past year it has published in-depth stories exploring Cleveland's reluctance to welcome immigrants, the chilling impact of the foreclosure crisis on people who lost homes, the nostalgic quality of Midwest literature and the fragile greatness of the Great Lakes.

While free, the web-based magazine does not raise a pay wall. It relies on memberships and sponsors to pay a part-time staff and a stable of freelancers. It's also had good luck with anthologies, collections of essays and stories from Rust Belt communities.

The first Belt book, Rust Belt Chic: the Cleveland Anthology actually inspired the magazine. It led to a Kickstarter campaign that helped launched Belt in September 2013.

Belt has since published anthologies about Detroit and Cincinnati and two more books are in the works.

The books make money. That's another new media lesson Trubek has to share.

"Everyone will pay $20 for a book," she said. "They don't think it's weird when you ask. But they might not pay $20 to join Belt."

Most of Belts reader live in Greater Cleveland, with smaller numbers in Cincinnati and Columbus, readership surveys show. Trubek would love to broaden her readership across the Rust Belt. Exposure generated by the Paley conference can only help.

"It an incredible opportunity for Belt," she said. "I will be able to tell many important people in the media what we are doing here. We see ourselves doing independent Rust Belt journalism, and we're the only ones doing it."

The Hadoop Users Group drew a crowd to a meet-up at the Global Center for Health Innovation in January.

Strong stomach suggested for Hadoop meet up at OMNIMax

The Cleveland Big Data and Hadoop User Group, an amiable bunch of techies and coders, is holding its next "meet up" September 8 at the Great Lakes Science Center and organizers thought a warning was in order.

In addition to presentations by industry specialist, the night offers a screening of Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag, in the center's OMNIMAX Theater.

Fighter Pilot is a movie about Air Force fighter pilot training. The OMNIMAX is known for creating realistic sensations.

"Rule #1," the emailed invitation states, "Do not hurl in the OmniMax theater."

Squeamish viewers are invited to step out and view the center's NASA exhibit, and "see actual astronaut stuff."

The meet up is free and open to all. It begins at 5:30 p.m. Monday, September 8, with a reception featuring a cash bar and appetizers. Learn more at www.meetup.com/Cleveland-Hadoop/

Robert L. Smith covers economic development and the innovation economy for The Plain Dealer. Follow him on Twitter @rlsmithpd.