out of their way to not just attack us, but the residents that have and voice concerns over
Lakewood Hospital and the secret deal. We take a moment and look back at the very first
story ever printed in the paper... "Lakewood Declares Its Freedom!" from corporate media.
It is refreshing, and as you can see had the full support of the Mayor and City Hall, even
Ed FitzGerald wrote a glowing review for the Observer when he was in office. But then the
tide turned as we questioned Ed, a person that needed serious questioning we find out.
But with the arrival of the Summers Administration came the cold shoulder, as they went
to background deals, secret missions and a plundering of what is and was good here.
So let's go back, to when City Hall didn;t fear the residents they served.
It is my great privilege to introduce Lakewood's only newspaper, The Lakewood Observer. What makes this paper different from the other papers available to our residents is the proud fact that our reporters, columnists, photographers, designers and artists are deeply connected to life and work in Lakewood. We are Lakewood residents and neighbors covering our city's news, events, social issues, history and excitement. Simply stated, we are filled with passion for knowing about life in our city. And our passion is built on years of experience in Lakewood. Our founders' team has over 300 combined years of living in Lakewood. Our volunteer staff has over 1,500 years of experience of living in Lakewood.
The Lakewood Observer will serve as the "home town" paper produced by a local citizen journalists who may be inclined to dive deeper into the stories noticed and unnoticed by The Plain Dealer, Sun Post, Free Times and Scene. However, the Lakewood Observer, as an experiment in home-based citizen journalism, is not in direct competition with other professional new sources.
As the most densely populated city between New York City and Chicago, Lakewood is uniquely situated to produce and deliver a local news source for what is going on here. With all our assets and talents Lakewood cannot afford to miss legitimate news, announcements, and the very stories that make this town so unique and fun to inhabit.
In the eight months leading up to our first publication, we have found hundreds of stories that fellow Lakewoodites would find interesting and fun. Even more important are the stories and projects that will transform our city. We hope to cover everything coming in the way of new developments. We are ready to tackle such heavy topics as Lakewood Currency, Café Universities, Building the Lakewood Brand and Revitalizing Lakewood's Housing Stock. And, with your help, we will try not to overlook the story about little Bobby's first baseball game.
At the Lakewood Observer we hope to create a new way of seeing life in our city. We will focus on the particular and positive dimensions of everyday life in Lakewood, and on simple and complex things. That challenge, while large, is not impossible, because our staff is made up almost exclusively of people who live or work in this city. Their kids go to school with your kids. They walk next to you on your way down Detroit and Madison Avenues. They stop at Phoenix or Caribou for their morning coffee, much like you do. They attend one of Lakewood's great old churches, and then go to Lakewood or Madison Park, as do you. They are your neighbors, your friends, and your family.
We invite, in fact, encourage you to become a part of this exciting urban experiment in citizen journalism. All you have to do decide to contribute, and we hope you do. As part of the Lakewood Observer team, you can report on everything and anything that has to do with this great city. From news at city hall, to an elementary school bake sale. From the parking problems on Madison to little league triumphs. The Lakewood Observer is all about being in the know. Our goal is to make sure that every Lakewoodite learns more about this city than any resident has learned about any city in the past.
What really makes the Lakewood Observer different, and we think better, than all the other papers trying to service this city? We are "open source." Anyone can participate in this project - suggesting stories, writing stories, discussing stories. Come aboard. There is a seat for you at this very large table.
The most visible part of the Lakewood Observer is the very newspaper you are currently reading. The print edition is scheduled to appear every two weeks. The size of the newspaper will vary, depending on advertising and contributors' copy. Circulation is targeted at over 20,000 copies, nearly twice the circulation of other weekly papers in the area. The newspaper is free. The Lakewood Observer will strive to reach nearly every household in the city.
Another exciting dimension to the Lakewood Observer is the website. Our website team is as diverse and hardworking as the city itself. In their efforts to make the Lakewood Observer website relevant to the city, they have constructed an interactive event calendar, a photo gallery, a current news feature, a reflective history section, and a capacity for podcasts, which might include anything from local music groups and lectures at the library to city hall meetings and interviews with interesting neighbors. Our website is brought to you new, fresh, 24 hours a day, and at no charge. Our website will serve as your single complete source for EVERYTHING happening in this great city.
We plan to launch round table discussions wherein residents and non-residents can take part, suggesting story ideas, commenting on current topics, and more importantly, continuing discussion of issues reported in the paper and articulated on the website.
To bring critical insight to our city, we have identified some of America's top urban/social experts and have asked them to take part in Lakewood Observer discussions. Their response has been very positive. Knowing first hand how engaged this community is, they see Lakewood as one of the few "inner ring" suburbs with a plan, a hope, and a future. In essence, Lakewood is quickly becoming known nationwide as the city with ideas, with a creative vision of itself, with plans for success in the knowledge economy.
The Lakewood Observer is a gift from one group of residents to our fellow neighbors. This is our chance, once again to become a community, not just a city. This is our effort to inform, to engage, to have fun, to entertain, and to shed some light on a great city, its people and organizations. This is our way for Lakewood to know and understand itself better than any city ever has.
Wyatt Earp once said, "Look the town is getting a newspaper. Why a town isn't really a city until it gets it's own newspaper. It's what make us metropolitan." The Lakewood Observer is part of a growing trend in America toward independent citizen based newspapers. In fact, the TV show "Democracy Now" reported recently, "It is the new small independent home town newspapers that will take the cities, the people, and the country out of the dark ages back into the light of day."
Lakewood's day has come.
.