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We’re 5, thanks to you

Posted on March 15, 2012March 14, 2012 by Staff

By Robert Dickson

Sometime near the end of our first year of publishing The Citizen, I was all by myself in our small office off Weaver Street, pondering then, as I still do, the wisdom of providing a weekly newspaper in our media-rich, highly connected community, when my reverie was thankfully interrupted by a visitor, an uncommon occurrence back in those days.

This visitor, a nice lady from a small business just down the street, had stopped in to tell me of her experience with The Citizen.

“I’ve never had a relationship like this with a newspaper” she told me. “On Sundays, I sit down and read the whole paper. I’ve never done this with a newspaper. You see, I grew up in Los Angeles.”

I’m sure I can no better imagine growing up in Los Angeles (California) than she could imagine my early years in Raeford (North Carolina). But we had one thing in our small town that was apparently missing in that great city of opportunity – a community newspaper.

She went on to thank me for starting this newspaper, and I said no, thank you for understanding what we’re trying to do, and for making it worthwhile. And as she took her leave, I couldn’t help but say to her, “And welcome to the world of weekly newspapers.”

In our first five years we’ve had many of you tell us that you appreciate what we’re doing here at The Citizen. I’ve heard our reporting described as “honest” and “accurate.” These words are some of the highest praise to which a newspaper reporter can aspire. And they’re music to my ears.

We’ve also gotten complaints and have had our share of corrections to make. We take pride in being factual, but we’re sure not afraid to admit it when we’re not.

So five years in, this newspaper is fulfilling its goal of providing quality community journalism to an ever-widening audience. The Citizen is about in-depth, nuanced journalism, for and about our intelligent and engaged readers.

For the record, when we began publication on March 21, 2007, we printed 5,000 copies and distributed them mostly in Carrboro. I’ll admit that we didn’t know what to do with all those newspapers, but we kept printing that many because that’s what we told our advertisers we were going to do. It was about being honest in everything we do.

For this first issue of our sixth year, we’ve printed 7,300 copies and have distributed them to more than 185 locations in Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Hillsborough, Pittsboro, White Cross and, yes, even Saxapahaw. You can expect these numbers to just keep growing.
On the occasion of our fifth birthday there are many thanks to be offered. The numbers of staff, contributors and interns who have played roles in this project are legion, far too many to list here. You know who you are though, so take great pride in what you’ve accomplished.

There are a few of us though who have been here from the beginning and who deserve not only awards for perseverance but also my eternal gratitude. These folks are Kirk Ross, co-founder and contributing editor; Taylor Sisk, contributing editor; Susan Dickson, editor (and daughter); and most particularly my long-suffering partner Vicky.
There’s one contributor who must be mentioned as well, and that’s Ken Moore, our Flora columnist. Ken has written 259 columns, only missing issue number one because it didn’t occur to us to ask him until the second week. Watch for Ken taking “a closer look” somewhere near you soon.

Of all the thanks I need to give though, none is more important than a giant thank you to all of you readers. Just like my visitor from down Weaver Street, you understand what we’re doing with The Citizen, and the difference an accurate and honest community newspaper can make.

Thank you for this opportunity to serve our community.

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