As I make my way around town, I meet twice as many people who have never heard of the Middletown Eye, as those who offer appreciation for this newsblog.
We reach a fairly narrow slice of the town's population - those who care about how things are done, where things are done and why things are done. We haven't yet offered sports, or many obituaries. We've ceded the crime and court coverage to the Middletown Press. But we're really good at covering meetings and events, and that says a lot about the small but dedicated volunteer staff who post notices here on the Eye.
We haven't achieved all of our goals, but we haven't abandoned them either. In two years we've never missed a day in which a new post was added to the site. In that time there have been a total of 2900 posts, 310,000 visits to the site, and 545,000 page visits.
We covered everything from Water and Sewer Commission meetings to the explosion of a power plant.
We are often tired, and burned out, and perplexed as to ways in which we can "commercialize" the blog so that we can pay reporters to cover meetings and events. We sit at hours-long municipal meetings and wonder what's wrong with us.
Still, our calls are taken by the mayor's office, hey, the governor's office. We know that the movers and shakers in town pay attention to the Eye. And so do you.
And so, on our second anniversary I extend an invitation again for you to join us. A post once a month is not too difficult, and it can be on any topic you are passionate about. And continue to tell your friends that the Middletown Eye is a place to get important information about the place where we live.
6 comments:
Congratulations and a Huge Thank You for "the Middletown Eye". Having spent 30+ years of my younger life as a "PAID" reporter covering local government in CT, NY and VT I truly appreciate what the "Eye's" volunteers are doing to keep us informed.
The "Eye" is my primary source of local news. I visit the site at least once per day and I continue to remind others about it.
Many Thanks for providing a great service to Middletown.
Why is it that some computers can access the site and others can't since the layout of the site changed? This is very confusing. Other than that, great job and keep up the good work.
Ed,
Congratulations to you and all your "reporters"! The "Eye" has evolved into the "go-to" news source for the residents of Middletown.
The overage provided by the "Eye" is fair, well written and extensive.
As the "Eye" continues to grow and change; the changes to the fromat are great, Middletown residents can rest assurred that they will be well informed.
I look forward to opening my "Eye" every day!
Again, congratulations to the entire "Eye" team.
I wish you continued success, and thanks for keeping an "Eye" on Middleotwn.
Fantastic!
Deb Kleckowski
Keep up the good work and congratultions for your two years of fine work.
A humble request: could the Eye reports & postings go back to its former font size? The reader comments are still appearing in the old font size. I admit that I'm less inclined to read a post thoroughly (i.e., without skimming) when I have to squint, even with my reading glasses on.
many thanks --
Thank you Ed McKeon, Steve Devoto, Jen Alexander and all the other frequent contributors to the Middletown Eye. This has become an essential source of in-depth, high quality news about Middletown, which enables us to participate more effectively in the life of our town. This is a great achievement. Thank you, thank you.
Judith Brown
Post a Comment