One year ago, we printed the first Chatham Voice. We launched the business based on what we saw as the need for a newspaper with the community’s needs in mind.
With more than one million copies printed and distributed, we can safely say that there is a need for an alternative to corporate media in our community.
The public response has been overwhelming. We’ve had so many people tell us they read us cover to cover that we made it part of an advertising campaign. The best part of our week continues to be when we encounter readers who tell us how much they enjoy what we do.
We’re motivated to tell the stories of our community. We rejoice when we win the big game, we mourn when we lose a member of our extended family.
Mostly we write about so-called “ordinary people” doing extraordinary things. We have a lot of those and we haven’t begun to scratch the surface.
As politicians have discovered, we don’t serve as a mouthpiece for any party or agenda and we expect them to do what they’ve promised.
We’re unabashedly pro-community but that doesn’t mean we ignore issues that need to be addressed. We’re not afraid to take a stand and give you our opinion, but we also always want to hear yours. No one has a monopoly on truth or being right.
The reason we can do this is the incredible support we’ve received from readers and advertisers. High moral intentions aside, it takes money to produce The Voice each week. We don’t have the backing of a billion-dollar operation. We rely on Chatham-Kent.
Our advertisers provide that support, knowing that their message will be displayed in a product that is respected for being what it is, a reflection of the community it serves.
We thank them for “shopping local” and we encourage you to patronize them so that we can continue to serve you.
Our goal for the next year is to continue to grow, to bring more jobs to the community and have fun doing something we love.
As always, we welcome your comments, story ideas and thoughts.
