January Begins 7th Year Of MyEverettNews.com

I published the first article of MyEverettNews.com on January 6, 2011. Since that time we’ve never missed publishing at least one story per day of news and events in Everett, Washington.

MyEverettNews.com started as a way to fill what I saw as a hole in reporting breaking news in Everett. There was less and less spot reporting of on-the-scene events involving the Everett Police and Fire departments with traditional news organizations waiting on press releases or ignoring altogether events as they happened in Everett, WA. With a background in radio reporting and utilizing a camera to capture things as they were happening I developed a style of short reports that give the basics with photos when possible and links to deeper connections and additional resources when available.

With the rise of smart phones and faster internet connections people were able to get a quick read on their computer, tablet or phone and move on to the next thing in their lives. Being a one-person operation allows flexibility and the ability to quickly get on on the scene when something is still going on. I listen to a lot of police and fire scanner traffic and try to answer that question, “What was going on in my neighborhood last night?”

I don’t try to compete with the local newspapers or television stations in their coverage of Everett. I don’t have their resources. I don’t have the time to spend hours in court or digging through mountains of paperwork. I try to find links to those resources and provide them within the story so if you would like to learn more you can. I try to provide photos to give you an idea of what a scene looked like and what our first responders may have faced at the time. I don’t do a lot of video due to the time and expense involved with editing and producing a final product.

The focus of MyEverettNews.com is Everett. We are what is called a hyper-local news website. There are now more than 108,000 people in Everett and depending on which study you read will have 60,000 more people in the next four decades. I was born and raised here in Everett and am often amazed and sometimes confused by what I’ve seen. It’s not the same city as when I was twelve or when I was thirty. I enjoy trying to point out the changes over the years both good and bad. I spend a lot of time on stories that reflect emergency services and there are those who say we are only about the negative in Everett and I beg to differ. For every story about a shooting you’ll find a story about a family opening a new play space for kids in the autism spectrum or an artist brightening a grey wall at an elementary school. For every photo of a crashed car you’ll find a sunrise over the mountains or senior enjoying a meal prepared by a first responder.

Recently I’ve implemented a subscription service in order to afford the cost of publishing MyEverettNews.com. After five free views per month readers are asked to subscribe to see additional articles. The cost of a one year subscription is ten dollars. That works out to 19.5 cents per week or 3 cents per day. Advertising revenue does not cover our expenses and so I am asking our readers for help in keeping MyEverettNews.com going. To give you some idea our costs include: web hosting and security fees, taxes and licensing, office rent and utilities, gas and vehicle maintenance, photo hosting and trying to make enough money on which to live. I’m the only employee and work seven days a week, morning, noon and night to bring you what I believe is a good product that yes is worth $10 a year. Sometimes I make mistakes and when I do they are corrected quickly and publicly.

According to Google Analytics in 2017 MyEverettNews.com had 1,679,174 Pageviews. 1,237,510 Sessions and 584,212 Unique visitors. 54 percent of our readers are female, 46 percent male. 69 percent of our readers are between 25 and 54 years old with 32 percent of their IP addresses in Everett, 22 percent in Seattle and the rest elsewhere.

We currently have 579 subscribers to MyEverettNews.com and need 3600 to remain viable. This year we are adding a subscriber newsletter and some special coverage and opportunities for those that support us with a subscription. Please click here if you would like to give yourself the gift of local news in Everett or if you know someone who would like access but doesn’t believe in paying for news on the web or who can’t afford the ten dollars per year.

Thanks for reading and as always if you would like to pass along a comment, complaint or suggestion I can be reached at 425-280-7620 or by email at news@myeverettnews.com. Our mailing address is MyEverettNews.com 10121 Evergreen Way #25-467 Everett, WA 98204.

Leland Dart
Publisher