No, I don't think it would be better to write that from scratch, since everything is already there, just a few things need to be added/changed.

But you might be right, nobody is waiting for this, and there are packages available that do just the same thing.

On the other hand, you could set it up in such a way that you reserve a certain part of your forum for these news item posts. And then you would be able to use the same software for different things, you wouldn't have to install yet another unknown piece of software...

Ivan
-----
Iyengar Yoga Resources / GT Plugins