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Friday, March 19, 2010The American Fork Weekly GazetteThe what? Read on . . . Remember a few weeks ago, when I discoursed at excessive length here at the blog on the reasons and implications of my decision to stop commenting on American Fork government and politics, so I could use the considerable time I spent at that for other projects? Here's one of them. It popped up after I made the decision, but before I announced it. The American Fork Weekly Gazette is a new weekly news service, which sends a weekly e-mail message with stories related to American Fork to anyone who signs up for the free subscription. There's also a Web site with the same stories and an archive of past stories. What's that? Oh, yes, I'll wait while you go there to subscribe . . . . . . Are you back? Excellent. You're too late for today's mailing, but you're plenty early for next Friday's. The driving force behind all this is Danny Crivello, a Delta pilot who moved to American Fork almost two years ago, and who decided that, in the absence of the American Fork Citizen (may it rest in peace), American Fork needs more coverage than it's getting from other cities' newspapers. Danny has some spare time, enjoys writing, and wants to be involved in the community, so he decided to launch his own electronic news service. He swears he doesn't work on this in the cockpit. He called me several weeks ago to tell me he enjoys my blog, and to see what I thought of his idea, and whether I might be interested in helping. I like it, and I am, respectively -- but I don't want to take too much credit here. He's doing most of the work, so far, including the lion's share of the writing. Two long lunches later (one at Applebee's and one at China Isle, if you're curious), we had an editorial board of two (guess who) and the rough outlines of a plan. We're starting small, of course, and will never be huge even if we succeed. But we have some interesting plans, ideas, and possibilities for the future. Sooner than later, we want to become a place where people sent their press releases about American Fork stories and events. We're already syndicated; the Deseret News now runs our stories on its American Fork page. And we're now accepted as a news source by Google News, which was another important item on our to-do list. If you are in (or simply interested in) American Fork, please subscribe. Tell your friends, too. And when you have news, please send it to us, or tip us off in advance, or whatever seems appropriate. If you're interested in journalism or photography, or want to work on the computerized nuts and bolts behind the scenes, give us a call. We'd love to have someone work the American Fork High School sports beat, for example. We can use a little help now and then, if that's all you have to offer, or more, if you have more. You won't get paid, but you will get some experience and get to see your work published electronically. You'll get more publicity for your events and interests, and you'll be more involved in the community. This is a non-profit venture for the foreseeable future, but, come to think of it, if you're interested in advertising, let us know. As I said, we have some ideas . . . Last but not necessarily least, one of those ideas may interest you right away. We're blogging about our thoughts, challenges, and experiences as we build this little news service of ours. We think some of you will find that interesting. For now, at least, that blog is hosted at here at LocalCommentary.com. David Rodeback comments (3/26/2010): Silly me. The first two links the the American Fork Weekly Gazette site went right back to this blogged. My bad. Fixed now. Copyright 2010 by David Rodeback. |
