Monday marks a very special day at East Cobb News.
Yes, it’s just another Monday in the hot summer, and we’ll be at our Monday routine as well to start off another week.
But on July 8, 2017, coming a few days after our national holiday, is the day that I formally declared my independence as a journalist and pushed the “publish” button for East Cobb News for the first time.
If I had known then what I know now, would I have done it? I wonder about that on occasion, and I have been asked that question too, as it has been a daunting experience from time to time.
Getting anything off the ground is a real grind, and just as we thought we were flexing our wings, the COVID-19 pandemic was declared, which changed so much about our lives, and the work we do here.
But as I set to turn the calendar to Year Eight of this local business of mine—how time flies!—I can say unequivocally that the answer is Yes! Yes! Yes!
I can’t emphasize that enough! After seven years, I feel as bullish about this enterprise as I ever have.
As I have written previously in anniversary columns, this has been the most difficult work of my 40-year-plus career, transitioning from old-school newspaper reporter to new-fangled local online news publisher.
It’s been quite a leap. Of faith, and into the deep end, and many other things.
But it has also been the most gratifying work I’ve ever done. Connecting directly with readers and advertisers has required skills, patience, resilience and resourcefulness I never thought I could possess.
Building a news enterprise with so much decline in my profession and industry is something I’m very proud to have done.
But there’s still so much more building to be done.
As I mark the 7th anniversary of East Cobb News, I want to start off this new year with a new concept that brings together everything I had in mind from the start—blending the provision of local news and information with local business promotion and community-building.
As I like to tell anyone who asks why I do this, these things all go hand-in-hand.
This new campaign, “The Power of Local,” will build on those three components. Whether it’s a story, an advertising campaign or a way for citizens to get involved in a worthwhile project, East Cobb News will be stressing all of those community connections.
It’s about demonstrating the power of a single place, the place we call home, East Cobb, and how it can help others, and redefine the community.
There are some details to be worked out as “The Power of Local” launches, and I will be sharing them here as they are finalized.
More than anything, it’s a way to message how vital all these components are to our community, and how they benefit from one another, and how we all benefit from them.
As we started out last year, we are continuing to ask for reader donations.
You can help support us by clicking here, and donating whatever amount you wish.
We’re suggesting $6 a month on a recurring basis, but that’s up to you. You can learn more by clicking here.
We’re grateful to those who have contributed, and those donations are being used to help us cover the local news that you love, and that you have come to expect from East Cobb News.
This is a voluntary thing do do; we do not have a paywall and readers do not have to pay anything to read what they see here.
But if you value East Cobb News in any way, please consider making a donation.
If you are a local business and would like to learn more about how you can promote your business with East Cobb News, you can get an overview of our advertising options by clicking here.
We’re the only all-online daily news presence in East Cobb, and offer the best opportunities for continued, measured exposure that our competitors simply cannot match.
Our advertisers appreciate our flexibility, our affordability and our willingness to do what it takes to get their message in front of East Cobb’s most engaged audience.
We’d love to talk with you about reaching that audience too!
And for our readers—now having grown to roughly 80,000 unique monthly visitors and more than 9,000 newsletter subscribers—thank you so much!
Thanks for your readership, your feedback, your suggestions, your news tips and items. You have made East Cobb News so much better with your contributions, and we look forward to engaging with you for another year.
To sign up for the newsletter, click here. To send your news, photos, calendar listings, recognitions, etc., click here.
It’s part of our core mission to champion local news and business, and to be a source of powerful community-building.
Thanks to so many of you, we have been able to accomplish some of that. With “The Power of Local,” we’ll be able to take it to another level!
Stay tuned for more details and enjoy the rest of your summer!
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