Reader congratulates The Resident on 13 successful years

Congratulations to The Resident Community News on 13 years of existence! Your monthly newspaper is the third and most successful journalistic publication of historic Jacksonville. During the 70s, we had The West Side Story, and around the 80s and 90s, there was The Express.

In January 2007, The Resident published its inaugural edition, which covered news in the Westside historic neighborhoods of Riverside, Avondale, Ortega, and Murray Hill. The following year, the paper began publishing an additional Southside edition, concentrating on San Marco, San José, and St. Nicholas. This two-edition reach presently covers the central Jacksonville neighborhoods south of Downtown near the St. John’s River.

In a time when daily newspapers are losing money to the Internet, The Resident is bucking the trend by specializing in historic neighborhood news, sponsored by a healthy amount of school, business, charity, and real estate advertising. The story themes are impressively wide in scope. They include art, health, music, business, politics, religion, education, city projects, local history, resident opinions, civic organizations, and architectural preservation.

The slogan of The Resident reflects its key to success: “Fiercely local news…fiercely loyal readers.” Rather than resurrecting the general, county-wide coverage of the disappearing daily, The Resident concentrates on the historic neighborhoods of the city’s center. Such hyper-local news on a monthly basis allows for more in-depth and informative reporting of local issues. This specialization is part of a growing trend towards niche journalism.

So, I propose a toast to the continued success of The Resident. Our neighborhoods have dreamed of having a viable, local publication since the Disco Age. Now, with The Resident, it looks like the third time’s the charm.

All the best!

Marcos Protheroe
Avondale

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