Newsbf an obligation to neighbors
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October 22, 2013 |
By Publisher Mike Weland
Since offering this website for sale after my
wife and I decided to move to Alaska to be able
to spend the years we have left enjoying our
grandchildren, I've come to realize I may have
asked too much, and told too little.
Keeping this site updated and trusted seems easy
to me; reporting news and information of
importance to my neighbors is what I love to do,
and I do it without thought for recompense.
More than 18,000 hits a day, from around the
globe, tell me that my efforts are worthwhile
and appreciated.
Back in the day, a town crier was hired to walk
the streets and shout news. I'd have fit right
in.
Then came the printing press and newspapers,
which weren't really timely, but by which news
could be told with a little depth.
From an early age, newspaper publishers
recognized that businesses which could be
frequented by their readers might benefit were
they able to tell readers what they offered, and
advertising was born.
Advertisers helped spread the word of the
American Revolution at the local level, right
along with helping tell of neighbors born,
graduated, married or died. Grandma, living
miles away, could clip it out and treasure it
forever.
Then radio came along, and local news gained
immediacy; in a moment from notification, an
isolated DJ could break into local programming
and warn listeners of an approaching storm; an
impending disaster. Radio could and did save
lives, but the news was fleeting.
My days at KBFI are among my proudest.
Alas, with all the advances in technology came
higher costs to present the news, a need to
either charge advertisers more or gain a wider
audience of readers.
Media stopped treating local news as news, but
started treating it as advertising, To get local
news published; a birth, a death, a community
bake sale, you have to pay.
After more than 20 years in the news business,
newsbf.com stands poised to break the mold, and
I'm only waiting for advertisers to climb
aboard.
With the internet, cell phones, Facebook and
email, I can reach readers via newsbf.com with
news of importance in time to make a difference.
My reporting, done accurately, can save lives.
It can tell friends of a happy family's event,
it can reunite a bereft owner with her missing
dog.
I do it because it's what I do.
I don't sell ads myself, though I very much
appreciate those who advertise ... I worry of
the potential that my news might be swayed.
Since offering this site for sale, I've had
three inquiries; two of whom questioned ad
potential and a third who backed out because she
worried that she couldn't be fair in covering
local news.
I'd all but give this site away to someone who
would, because my friends and neighbors need and
deserve a free, accurate and timely source of
news, 24-7.
Newsbf isn't a business, it's a calling. I
sincerely need advertisers, not only to make my
wife happy, but to pay for the talented people
creating the graphics and to hire more help to
bring my readers news they can trust, in time to
matter.
It can make money, but money, I pray will never
stand in the way of giving you news when it
matters most.
I pray someone shares the trust. |
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