When the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service launched nearly eight years ago, I couldn’t have guessed that this project would quickly become a labor of love for me and our amazing staff of part-time professional reporters, web/social media directors and interns. Although many things have changed over the years, our passion to provide a more complete and balanced picture of the city’s central city neighborhoods than is available in other media has only intensified.
During my tenure, we have published thousands of stories focusing on the neighborhoods’ many strengths, as well as their sometimes-daunting challenges. Thank you for telling us your stories and allowing us to share them.
NNS has won numerous journalism awards and our articles are republished by respected local outlets and news organizations throughout the country. But I am most proud that in a small way, we have contributed to changing the narrative about city neighborhoods and the people who live in them. It has been an honor to do this work.
Beginning Feb. 1, NNS will be in the highly capable hands of Ron Smith. I wish Ron and the staff the very best of luck, and I know they will take the organization to even greater heights.
I will close with one of my father’s favorite quotes from the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam: “The moving finger writes; and, having writ, moves on.” It is time for me to move on, and for NNS to carry on.
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