I’d like to begin the Emerson Valley Gazette’s new website with an inaugural post welcoming you all here and explaining some big changes moving forward. Over the last few years, we’ve seen a steady decline in our paper’s circulation. It was at the point where we were printing and delivering our newspaper to only three households. One of these customers actually died last year, and his family never bothered to cancel his subscription. It no longer made sense to continue with a traditional newspaper. Instead, we’ve decided to move everything online.

One of the great things about having the Gazette publish exclusively on this website is that we can put out articles whenever we want. This means getting you the latest news faster and giving you real-time updates as the stories progress. If something changes between the time of the initial publication and the present, you won’t have to go sifting through page after page to find the updates—they’ll always be right there in the same article.

Another benefit is that our employees now have the freedom to work from home. They can submit their articles as soon as they’re finished. No more dragging themselves out of bed at three in the morning to be in the office and have everything ready for the presses by five. Our editors (myself included) will have access to the queue of submitted articles, and as soon as we’re done spiffing them up, they’ll go live immediately.

These changes don’t mean our writers won’t collaborate anymore. My own house has become a hub of activity for several employees, as both my wife and I are members of the staff. She’s been especially helpful in assisting our writers during this transitionary period, working with them one-on-one to ensure they can adapt to the change.

The Gazette will continue to depend on the financial support of local businesses through advertising space, so anyone looking to promote their business on our website can contact us at emersonvalleygazette@gmail.com. Thank you all for helping us keep the lights on, so to speak. I have a great feeling about the future for the Emerson Valley Gazette, and we can’t wait to bring you more of the same high-quality content you’ve come to expect.

-Charles Donovan, Editor-In-Chief, Emerson Valley Gazette