I think it’s possible today that you could find out certain segments of news faster on social media. But an in-depth story, one with heart, one with details, that’s best told in an online newspaper.
That’s what I’ve tried to do in my last month as editor of The Citizen. Lori Neidlinger bared her soul to us as she told everyone about her son Jarod’s Journey.
We followed the story of Al Novotnak and wept with his wife Donna as they found him passed in a secluded part of his Peachtree City neighborhood after six days of searching.
And we’ve brought home the story of my Sharpsburg neighbor Emily Phillips and her dad William Rochester who saw their home go up in flames. Now they are seeing the love of the community as a bright light in support of them and her little four-year-old daughter Karsyn, who now says that Santa came a second time with all the donations, “Because I was a good girl.”
I’ve also sought contributors who would add to your lives in meaningful ways. From gardening columns with Bonnie Helander to Southern humor with Dan Langford, from nonprofits with Jack Bernard, to life and history from both Jill Prouty, our local librarian, and Tricia Stearns, our Publisher, these new columnists are breathing new life into our paperless paper.
We’ve also kept some of your favorite columnists, like Rick Ryckeley, David Chancey, Neil Sullivan and Justin Kollmeyer. They continue to write from the heart and with local flair.
We’ve got great vision for a better, brighter future, though. We see that this community wants representative journalism. You asked me for a less partisan publication, and we’ve done that, too. Politics are not our priority, community is.
There are new things we want to do. We want to bring you the things you asked for. We want to bring you local sports. We want to be sure we are offering Crime reporting. We want you to know what is going on at city and county meetings. All of our best ideas and vision take more manpower and money than we currently have.
There’s a whole segment of story that can only be done justice on a site like The Citizen. Check out today’s release on the manhunt that started with a traffic stop and ended with felony arrests.
No one else cares like people who live here. We are your neighbors. Let’s go together into the new year. You can “subscribe” at any amount you prefer by becoming a donor to our publication at our paypal link.
My intention is to not put The Citizen behind a paywall like so many other publications. I want you to be able to get the news. I want your neighbors to have it. And I want you to have it as soon as it happens. You can help keep us free with your donation, or better yet, if you have a business, you can make us part of a viable marketing strategy.
I may have been wearing my editing hat the last month as we’ve re-launched The Citizen, but the hat I’ve most often worn in the last 15 years IS my marketing hat. Smart marketing strategy requires reaching an audience.
And I’m convinced we have the best, most loyal local audience in existence. Tell all our advertisers you saw them here. And if you want to advertise here, you can reach out to me at our contact form at this link.
In the meantime, the entire team at The Pulse PTC, the publishers of The Citizen, wish you the happiest new year. We think this is a wonderful place to live and work. We hope you’ll keep coming back, and that you’ll subscribe to The Citizen newsletter so you never miss an important story at this link.
