One day in the spring of 2020, a few weeks after the COVID-19 pandemic was declared, I was driving around East Cobb in a daze, gathering photos of what was looking like a ghost town.
For a while, I was also wondering if East Cobb News would go down with the dozens of small and local businesses in the community that simply went away, unable to handle the shutdowns and restrictions.
I was angry about their fate, but had to scramble to ensure that mine wouldn’t be the same. East Cobb News was making some headway in terms of business viability at the time, not quite three years old, and I was feeling good about our prospects.
We had broken or led significant stories in the community, especially the failed effort over East Cobb Cityhood.
As strong as we’ve been in providing vital local news and useful community information, East Cobb News is also a for-profit business, in the mom-and-pop category that’s always vulnerable to even the barest of economic fluctuations.
We stared the end of the road squarely in the eyes more than once during that time. I tried like hell not to blink. I have to be honest here; I wasn’t sure if East Cobb News could survive.
But our readers, who had come to expect coverage unlike anything else in this community, picked me up when I needed it the most. I’d get an e-mail or other message asking if I could find out whether a store was open, or tip me off about an accident or something, anything, to get me back to the task of doing the news.
A few readers checked in to say hello, to see how I was doing, and said they appreciated what we’ve been doing all along.
That meant more to me than any of those well-wishers will ever know.
I felt the same way on that day I mentioned above, when driving around, I saw the sign on the neighborhood fence that’s in the photo above. I pulled over to safe spot and snapped that picture and published it. It’s stayed with me far longer than COVID.
It’s been one of the symbols of my pledge to carry on with East Cobb News, no matter what.
Please help us keep local news free.
On this day in 2017, East Cobb News first began publishing, just a few times a week at first, and now several times a day six days a week.
We’ve added a Sunday newsletter since then, and grown a healthy readership. Currently we’re averaging 125,000 pageviews and nearly 80,000 unique visitors a month—the latter figure representing a third of our coverage area.
We have more than 9,400 subscribers to our newsletter, and around 25,000 who follow us on social media.
We’re proud of those numbers and what they reflect about our readers, who’ve kept the faith with us all along.
East Cobb News is thriving journalistically, and I’m so proud of that, after more than 40 years as a reporter and editor.
We’ve built a modest small business with local business advertising, but like other news outlets—including many that are much larger and older than we are—East Cobb News also relies on reader support to sustain our efforts.
We have been asking for some months now for modest donations—suggesting $6 a month—and some of you have responded.
Frankly, we’re not getting a whole lot, and I understand why these appeals can be annoying.
But East Cobb News was founded on the premise that local news needs to be accessible to all. We have been publishing non-stop since this day nine years ago, more than 7,000 posts in all,
We intend on keeping it that way, and to keep publishing indefinitely into the future.
It’s what I called in my last message “the local news revolution,” and which I’m proud to be a part.
East Cobb News is among the hardy band of local, online independent news sites that wears their passion about their hometowns and the business of building up a local news business on their sleeves—and just about everywhere.
We can’t help it, because it’s not just what we do and who we are.
We consider ourselves local news revolutionaries here at East Cobb News, and we invite our readers to join us.
For just a few dollars a month, your support will help sustain local journalism—right here in East Cobb.
You rely on us to stay informed and we depend on you to make our work possible.
Your donation is voluntary and the amount you pay is up to you, but here are some suggested amounts:
- $6/month or $60/year
- $12/month or $125/year
- $30/month or $300/year
- $50/month or $500/year
- Custom amount
- One-time donation
Your donation—continued or new—will help keep East Cobb News strong, free and independent for years to come.
Click the box below to indicate your donation amount today.
Thank you for your support! And long live local news!
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!