When Kenny Lerer and I started The Huffington Post on May 9, 2005, we would have been hard-pressed to imagine this moment. With The Huffington Post, the idea was to take the sort of conversations found around dinner tables and at book parties -- about politics and books and art and music and food and sex -- and put them online, open them up, and invite interesting people to participate, creating a one-stop site for news and opinion with an attitude, in real-time. Our merger with AOL, Patch's parent company, in February, allowed us to broadcast those conversations to a much wider audience. By combining The Huffington Post's attitude, journalistic acumen, and sheer energy with AOL's resources and technical expertise, we were able, as we say, to step off a fast-moving train and onto a supersonic jet.
So we are thrilled to roll out one of the most exciting offshoots of our turbo-charged web presence. Today we launch a great new chapter for Patch.com, the national network of hyperlocal sites currently covering community life in 800 towns across America. It's a vision that will utilize every possible resource to ensure accurate, relevant, and comprehensive coverage of your town: our ever-expanding network of Patch editors and reporters; aggregation of any news affecting your community; and cross-posting and amplifying the work of local bloggers who are already doing great work, providing them an even more powerful platform for expressing their views.
The timing couldn't be better. Patch will provide an unprecedented infrastructure for citizen engagement in time for the 2012 presidential election, with a focus on community and local solutions. And it will exemplify our belief that a left/right approach to news and politics is outdated. Patch pages harbor no ideological or political slant. Which is not to say that we expect them to have no political content. Bloggers will be free to post their views on a range of subjects - from politics to entertainment to local issues. These features will allow Patch readers to instantly put a finger on the pulse of their community.
What's so exciting about Patch is that it will bring quality, comprehensive news coverage to places that need it most. It's no secret that a disproportionate amount of news coverage is centered on our country's major cities, with their multiple newspapers, competing TV stations and armies of bloggers. Which, of course, is all well and good. But Patch's unprecedented contribution will be to bring that same energy and quality coverage to the suburbs, villages, and small towns too often neglected by traditional media. As much as any major American city, these towns provide a snapshot of our national story, a real-time portrait of the way we live now.
A place like Fridley, Minnesota, is a great testament to the relevance of Patch's mission. On the east bank of the Mississippi River, Fridley is home to businesses big and small, including the headquarters of a Fortune 500 company, Medtronic. It sits in a congressional district represented by Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, and is near the congressional district represented by potential presidential candidate Michele Bachmann. Last November, Fridley voters sent two women to the state Senate, Democrat Barb Goodwin and Republican Pam Wolf. The city's riverfront and creeks are lined with parks, and Fridley citizens have devoted their time and talent to maintaining city-owned nature preserves. Like any place, Fridley has its struggles: poverty, the need for redevelopment, businesses
struggling to survive the recession, the need for local jobs.
If you spend time with reporters or bloggers, you know that any of these issues offers an abundance of opportunities to explain, scrutinize, share and opine. And for readers, they are the stories of their lives. It is our hope that Patch will be the place you turn to for news about the things that matter to you – and your community. And, as you can see from our selection of top editors, reporters and bloggers, we are betting on it.
Starting today, we are welcoming new bloggers to Fridley Patch (and other Patch sites around the country) through our new Local Voices blog feature. Local Voices will complement Patch’s original reporting, allowing you, as a member of the community, to speak up and speak out to your neighbors – whether they’re across town, a block away, or two doors down. Local Voices reflects our belief that community residents feel deeply about their local issues, and deserve the chance to share their thoughts on issues great and small. As a forum for thriving conversation, Local Voices will connect all members of the community – be it the mayor, a school principal, a businessperson or a member of your family.
I hope that along with making Patch your go-to destination for community news, you’ll join Local Voices and let your voice be heard. If you’ve got something to say – say it on Patch!
Annabelle Howard, CEO www.AmericanLearningLeague.com
I would add that Fridley is my hometown, and I wholeheartedly agree with Arianna's assessment that it's a great place that's very worthy of serious news coverage. But relying on volunteers isn't enough. Many times, as a young reporter working at community newspapers in the Twin Cities and elsewhere, I would look around and realize I was the last non-elected person left in a public meeting room. People care about what's happening in their communities, but working families can't always devote the time to stay at a school board or city council meeting until 9 , 10 or 11 p.m. at night to catch all the debate and a final vote. That's why it's so important to have professional journalists, including freelancers who are paid enough that they don't have to hold down second and third jobs. Sincerely, Sara Steffens Learn more about the campaign against unpaid writing at the HuffingtonPost and elsewhere: www.newsguild.org/index.php?ID=10787 www.facebook.com/heyarianna www.GuildFreelancers.org
Sincerely, Lauri Lebo