Gainesville Guardian will transition to an email newsletter format
Dear Guardian readers:
In March, the Guardian will transition from a print newspaper delivered to homes and businesses to an email newsletter delivered directly to your in-box on your phone or computer. The thoughtful coverage you are accustomed to receiving about the people and issues important to you won’t change.
The economic challenges of the local news business mean that we can no longer continue to provide a free printed newspaper to the community. Instead, for those readers who sign up, we will send a weekly email newsletter on Wednesdays where you can easily access local news from East Gainesville, about topics such as Black-owned businesses, community engagement opportunities, spirituality, health, education, youth sports and more.
These stories will also be available on our website, https://www.gainesville.com/news/guardian/. Residents who subscribe to the Gainesville Sun will also see some of these stories in the printed edition of the Sun throughout the week.
The final print edition of the Guardian will be Thursday, March 2. The first email newsletter is scheduled for March 8. To sign up for the email newsletter, send an email to [email protected] or go to https://profile.gainesville.com/newsletters/gainesville-guardian/. You also can scan the accompanying QR code with your phone camera, which will take you to the page to sign up.
A distinguished history
The first edition of the Gainesville Guardian was published on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2005, with the centerpiece story being about the formation of the African American Accountability Alliance of Alachua County, or 4As.
The formation of the organization grew out of a summit that resulted in the creation of work groups that focused on getting Black residents appointed and elected to government positions, health care issues, promoting civic, social and community organizations, crime and law enforcement issues, Black businesses, fraternities and sororities and other aspects of the Black community in East Gainesville.
The newsletter will continue to provide stories and information useful to residents in the community and shine a light on the bright stars in our community.
Those bright stars include the many churches and faith-based organizations that continue to serve the community, some of which have been around since soon after the end of chattel slavery in this country.
The Guardian has covered many church services and events throughout the years and looks forward to continued coverage of those stories.
Also, The Guardian will continue and increase its focus on informing its readers about Black-owned businesses, from small mom-and-pop shops to those that provide medical and financial services to their customers.
We will do the same with our coverage of youth sports and community and civic organizations, as well as reporting on governmental issues.
On a more personal note, I would like to thank the East Gainesville community for the love and support that The Guardian, and myself, have received for the past 17 years.
I was born and raised in Liberty City in Miami-Dade County, and attended all-Black schools from my pre-K days at the James E. Scott Community Association daycare in Liberty Square (known by many as the Pork n’ Bean’s housing project), to Liberty City Elementary, Charles R. Drew Middle and Miami Northwestern Senior High schools, all while living on Northwest 18th Avenue and 66th Street in the heart of the city.
East Gainesville has been my home since I enrolled in the University of Florida in the summer of 1985. After I graduated from the UF College of Journalism, people from back home often ask me why I love living here so much. I tell them all the time that I just love living in a community that is so much like the one where I was born and raised.
I look forward to continuing as your editor, guiding coverage of this community for our weekly newsletter.
As The Guardian transitions to being published as a newsletter, please subscribe and send us invitations to cover your events that we can share with our readers to help enhance their quality of life.
For more information, please email me at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: New format, same commitment: The Guardian moves to email newsletter
