Two years ago, March 12, 2018 was an auspicious date for Ark Valley Voice – it’s the day we went live as a digital news media platform in the Upper Arkansas Valley. We had thought to hold a drop-in birthday celebration at our offices at 101 F St. today, but given that the COVID-19 health crisis became a global pandemic yesterday, our plans for this are on hold. Clearly the focus of our community and our own work at Ark Valley Voice must be on supporting each other and working through this. With a community effort, we can help our neighbors, our county, state and ultimately our country get back to our normal lives.
While Ark Valley Voice had been operating, writing stories and covering meetings and events prior to March 12, 2018, we waited until we had media liability insurance prior to taking this platform live. Serious journalism and factual reporting means taking risks in order to present the issues. Given the nature of our work and the world we live in, we thought this advisable.
While our digital format means that we can continue to cover breaking news as this pandemic unfolds, engaging with the public in forums both small and large adds another layer of risk. We’ll continue to be there in person, but will also rely on common sense and alternate forms of communication (such as the phone and online tools) to get the information we need to cover and validate our stories. Our staff are instructed to consider personal safety above all else – each of us play multiple roles in our communities, including delivering fair and accurate reporting every day.
During the past two years, we have built our audience here and on the Front Range into a major readership that now includes 41 states and more than 30 countries. More than half our readers read www.arkvalleyvoice.com right on their mobile phones throughout the day. We have been accepted as members of the Colorado Press Association, invited to become a member of the Colorado Media Project, and been trained by the First News global organization to recognize and report on disinformation campaigns and attempts to damage the free press and our democracy. The Gates Family Foundation has also chosen to recognize our work, awarding us a $5,000 matching grant in recognition of our quality community journalism.
We cover all the local governments and school districts, the hospital and major organizations important to this valley. We publish at least six days a week – often seven – and since launching, have written nearly 2,400 news stories. We just launched a comprehensive, self-service Ark Valley Voice event calendar intended to allow single-source coverage for the entire Upper Arkansas Valley. Publishing for just two years, we have covered two major wildfires that threatened our community, and are now deeply involved with COVID-19 News Coverage.
From the start, we have tried always to live by our mission, to give truth a voice. This is more true now than ever, as just about every topic imaginable has been taken, twisted, and politicized by groups that seek to divide us. As the great astronomer and physicist Allen Hynek said, “facts don’t have a side – they don’t believe – they just are.”
We hope you’ll join us in uniting this community under the banner of seeking the truth and bringing all sides to what matters to you the most. And please consider a donation to Ark Valley Voice to help keep quality local journalism free and functioning in the Upper Arkansas Valley.
Stay tuned for our Ark Valley Voice Very Merry Un-Birthday Party at some point in the future, when we’ll all have yet another reason to celebrate.
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