Editor’s note: This is the second in a week-long series of stories focusing on who and what the HF Chronicle is. After publishing for a year, we thought it was about time we introduced ourselves.
Welcome to the Kardashian-free zone.
You may have noticed a complete lack of celebrity news at the H-F Chronicle. A total drought of juicy tidbits about Miley, Jay Z, JLaw or Bieber.
Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada.
So what the heck are we doing anyway?
This week, the Chronicle is celebrating its first year of providing local news to the H-F communities.
We’d like to offer a truly inspirational story about the founding of this online publication. You know — it all started in a log cabin. Some days the snow was so high that we had to use a dog sled to deliver the news. Stuff like that.
We are, in fact, a product of the digital age. We come to you online, via computer screens or tablets or mobile phones. We are on Facebook and Twitter. Our product is not printed on paper and is not delivered to your driveway by kids on bicycles.
The Chronicle has three principals who do double duty as reporters and editors. We all live in the H-F towns. We all have long careers in community journalism. In recent years, we have seen substantial changes in the way local news is delivered — or not delivered — to our communities.
We believe in Homewood and Flossmoor. We have friends and family here. Our children have attended this community’s fine schools. We know that our diverse, well-educated towns are made up of good people who work hard, pay taxes, play by the rules and watch out for their neighbors.
There are so many stories here that are worth telling. We are doing our best to share them with our neighbors. That’s why we’re here.
It was not so long ago that well-established newspapers regularly covered Homewood and Flossmoor.
The most notable of these, The Star, ceased publication in 2007. Since then, any attempts to cover the news in our H-F towns have flitted between little and none. The only stories that get regular coverage from most news outlets deal with people doing bad things – crime news. We know there is so much more to our towns than that.
In its first year, the Chronicle has covered scores of governmental meetings because we think it is important that you know how your tax dollars are spent in the schools and on the municipal level. We produced a voters’ guide for this April’s local election and wrote stories on school and village candidates.
We know that it matters to you. We have covered local businesses. And police news. And our houses of worship. We have told you about what community groups are doing and the remarkable accomplishments of young people in our schools.
We are giving you news that you can’t get anywhere else.
We are happy to be here in the Kardashian-free zone.
And we are here to stay.