Editor’s note: MyEverettNews.com is working to introduce our readers to more independent business owners here in Everett, Washington. We want to highlight their businesses, tell their stories and invite you to shop locally and help move Everett forward. If you know of a business we should feature, send us a suggestion via email: news@myeverettnews.com. Leland Dart – Publisher
Today a bit about me and MyEverettNews.com as we begin our 12th year of covering news and events in Everett, Washington. Leland Dart – Publisher.
We’re a one-person operation and find donuts to be the perfect fuel for news gathering.
I started MyEverettNews.com on January 6th, 2011. I was looking to put my previous experience as a news reporter and radio personality (dating back to the late 1970s) to use informing people living and working in Everett, Washington about things I found interesting here in my hometown.
At that time established media in the Puget Sound was reducing coverage of local happenings here in Everett. Budget cuts and consolidation led to fewer reports from Everett by TV stations and the local papers.
With my experience in covering Everett for radio and writing short, quick stories and the affordability of publishing on an online platform where the cost to publish was low, I began MyEverettNews.com. I designed it to cover police, fire and city council developments that other media ignored or wouldn’t cover if it didn’t happen weekdays 9 to 5 or they couldn’t reprint from a news release.
Over the past decade plus, I’ve chased a lot of fire trucks, police cars and sat through hundreds of City of Everett meetings, various court hearings and a few trials to bring you things I found interesting and thought you would as well.
I’ve tried to present a summary of what was happening and then provide links to more detail for those who wanted to explore the story further. While there are lots of regional and national things that can impact us in Everett, Washington I believe the things that really affect us most happen right here in our own city. That’s why the focus is hyper-local to Everett, Washington. I’m also a one-person operation so it helps me to focus just on Everett.
Our Google Analytics for 2022. Click to enlarge. City data is where the user’s server is located in most cases. Take all numbers with a grain of salt. We do.
Age ranges and demographics per Googles Analytics.
MyEverettNews.com is designed to be a quick read from your phone, tablet or computer. There is no big corporation or editorial board, and we make no political endorsements.
I was born and raised in Everett and am supportive of our first responders. However, I also point out when there are problems or issues. Our news comes from listening to police and fire radios, attending meetings and reviewing press releases, looking at social media posts from various City departments and getting tips from readers like you.
It is not easy financially to support this effort and I have to thank our local advertisers who make this possible. A special shout-out to Claudia McClain and McClain Insurance and attorney Rick Merrill from Merrill Law who have been with us from day one. Our other local advertisers are greatly appreciated and I’d ask you to visit them, take advantage of their offerings and let them know you saw their ad here. It really helps a lot.
I’d also like you to suggest to local businesses that they support us with their ad dollars. Yes Google, Facebook and Nextdoor target by zip code and other demographic information but they don’t offer insights about Everett, Washington like we do. We also have a local business license and pay taxes here in this community.
We also publish Google ads in order to capture some of that revenue they receive. Those ads you see with the little blue triangle in the corner are based off either the story where they pop up in, or that mysterious ever-changing algorithm that figures what you (or someone using your computer) have been looking at so you must want to see what they have decided to show you.
I sometimes get asked why we’re running a particular ad and advise that ad is based not on us but in most cases what’s gone through your computer. I tried a paywall for a while but that seemed to cause more ill will than good so we just remind folks they can donate to us when and how they wish.
If you look on the right side of the page under the McClain Insurance ad you’ll see a text box that says Support MyEverettNews.com. You can click on the donate button there to make a one time or monthly donation through a credit card or PayPal. I’d love it if you did but if you don’t we still aren’t going to put up a paywall. There are a few annoying pop up ads but you’ll never be restricted from visiting our page.
In 2023 we will continue to offer our “Meet the Owner series most every Saturday. We’ve got a list of business owners to get to through but some of those you have suggested would rather not participate, so please keep the suggestions flowing.
The media landscape continues to change but we’re going to keep doing what we’ve been doing. You may have noticed stories on MyEverettNews.com that are reported a day or two later by other media outlets. We try to get news out as fast as we can but will continue to delay on in-progress events for safety and context. Things aren’t always the way they first appear. We’re not perfect but do try to get it right.
I appreciate your support but if you don’t like us that’s okay, there is no requirement for you to keep reading here or following us on social media. We’re not everybody’s cup of tea.
I do want to thank our loyal supporters and long time readers and welcome those of you who are new. According to Google Analytics we had more than 1.8 million pageviews in 2022 so we must be doing something right. Thanks again for your support.
I am working on re-establishing our free subscription service that will send you an email each time we publish a new story. It will be free and you’ll have to opt-in and can stop anytime you’d like. Our former service with Feedburner is no longer functional so I am working with a new provider and it is taking a bit longer than I’d like as I’m much more a reporter than web-developer but should have it taken care of soon.
Best to you and yours in this New Year. Wow, twelve years, here we go!
Leland Dart
Publisher/Editor
January 7, 2023
Everett