FALLS CHURCH TIMES Conceived 1 Year Ago on May 18

OK, it’s a little too early to celebrate our 1^st anniversary, but that won’t stop us from remembering our date of conception.

On May 18, 2008, three Broadmont neighbors, all with kids in City schools, got together and decided to create an online City newspaper.

Looking back, this writer (not a founding member) suspects that each of the three had his or her own idea of what the paper should become. But their common cause was to fulfill a long-obvious City need: to supply residents with accurate, timely, and unbiased information about City events.

Note our use of the words “newspaper” and “paper.” That’s an effort to emphasize that we are not an opinion “blog.” The name Falls Church Times was chosen for the same reason — to stress the “newspaper” aspect of the online endeavor.

The first edition of the Falls Church Times appeared June 8, so the gestation period was about 21 days. The first few stories were all by our webmaster, Dave Witzel, probably the only one at the time who knew how to publish a story.

The first “reporting” story appeared August 10, under the rather lengthy headline: “City Council to Vote on Falls Church Housing Corporation’s City Center South Proposal August 11th.”

Then, come September, we were really off, with a new posting every other day or so. Readership, however, was scant. But the staff’s gene pool expanded with the addition of two writers living “across the tracks” in the Winter Hill area.

One Saturday we printed some fliers and distributed them at the Farmers Market — learning in the process that at least half the Farmers Market clientele live outside the City.

The paper continued on through the end of the year without a great many residents having heard of it. Christmas Day registered a record low — only 2 visitors. Not even the staff read it that day!

And then, come January, our little paper suddenly got on a roll that hasn’t stopped. Readership grows 50-100 percent every month. Our “subscribers” list has passed 100. (Want to subscribe? Enter your email address at the top right corner of the page to receive a daily email with links to new stories in the paper. You can cancel anytime, and don’t worry, it’s spam-free.)

The City’s movers and shakers are aware of us, read us, and give us the time of day.

But we remain beholden to no one. No advertising, no patronage, and no obligations — except to our readers, the residents of the City of Falls Church. With your support, we’ll continue to provide an unbiased source of news about the City.

(ADVERTISEMENT: Like to write? Enjoy volunteer work? Want to become better connected with what’s going on in your City? Consider writing or photographing for the Falls Church Times – you’ll have fun, get to know your City neighbors better, and help promote citizen awareness.)