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ZEBULON - 2016 has been a big year for Pike County Times. November marked my ten year anniversary. It has also marked a number of firsts for me. I’ll give you some firsts and then we’ll roll with some goals because I don’t normally make New Year’s resolutions. Why? Keep reading and you’ll see!
A Year of Firsts
The number of hits on a website are important because I can gauge my outreach. There were over 200,000 hits on my website for seven months out of this year. And November marked another first with there being over 300,000 hits on my website in a month.
My biggest article of the year because it was opened over 14,000 times in a month. Readers were very concerned with the housing development on Hughley Road. I’ve been following this story for two years, and it finally came to a close last month:
www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/breakingnewshughleyroad11.21.16.html.
The surprise story for this year—for me anyway—was learning what Tannerite is and providing an incentive for people to use it with care. The article went online in June after my phone and FB were inundated with talk of a loud boom. 13,723 is the number of times that this article was read in the month of June. Pictures of the cloud remained on my pictures page and it still gets a couple hundred hits a month.
www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/tannerite6.7.16.html.
The story of Lt. Robert Eugene Oxford has been unfolding since 2006 with my articles going back to 2007. The families of crew members from the B-24J aircraft “Hot as Hell” have been waiting for 72 years for closure on the death of their loved ones. The Long Journey Home tells of search and recovery efforts for these families.
www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/oxford12.1.15.html.
In June, a brief tornado rolled through Pike County causing damage to the Meansville area. This story was read almost 12,000 times in the month of June.
www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/storm6.17.16.html.
It was a big election year, and I was honored to work with candidates across the political spectrum to get a short campaign message out to voters so voters could check them out and make an educated decision come Election Day. I was at the courthouse in Pike County on all but two election nights this year. (Yes, there were several!)
I was also able to bring hope to readers. Buddy Mays is the recipient of the USTA Southern 2016 Annual Tennis Award: www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/mays12.19.16.html, A K-9 vest was funded in one afternoon: www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/breakingnewsK9vest12.15.16.html, and Harold Callaway’s accident brought our community together in prayer and support for him and his wife Andrea: http://pikecountytimes.com/secondary/callaway2.1.16.html.
I was privileged to cover the reduction in ISO rates for the county when 95% of the county went to a 5/10 and hopefully brought some relief to home and business owners in the form of lower fire insurance rates: www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/ISO6.1.16.html, and it was really cool to catch up with Coy Bowles and follow up on his story that I wrote in 2008 when the Zac Brown Band’s first hit “Chicken Fried” was making its way up the charts: www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/coybowles12.24.08.html
Our county has come a long way from December of last year when we had flooding that washed out our roads including the bridge on Highway 109 East but the drought that has followed brought fires to Pike and surrounding counties before the rain began again on a regular basis: www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/roads12.22.15.html and pikecountytimes.com/secondary/breakingnewsfire11.21.16.html
2016 was the first time that an advertiser presented my Breaking News articles: www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/firstbankofpike.html. Thank you to First Bank of Pike! Find out how you can get on my Breaking News Alerts list at www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/earlynotification3.16.15.html so you can get a text or email about breaking news as it goes online.
I also learned that people around here REALLY love estate and yard sales with 9,158 hits about a January estate sale in Concord in just the first three days of posting the ad and another couple thousand reading about it during the next four days of advertising! People are serious about estate, yard, and barn sales! And $35 for a week at the top of the home page with an article that shares very easily on social media is a big help too.
Some have found my newspaper for the very first time just this year. And one man was even shocked to learn that it’s just one person pulling this all together with the help of contributors from the community. I love what I do, and while it’s not an easy job to pull together news and events from our community, but I don’t see me doing anything else any time soon!
Goals for the New Year
I don’t make New Year’s resolutions because I would rather start today than waiting until another day, another week or another month. Just like this article is going online the day after Christmas instead of waiting until December 31. I would LOVE to get caught up with everything before the New Year begins so I continue to plug away with swearing in pictures, Zebulon Parade pictures, an article on the Fire Department, and the last Board of Commissioners meeting.
My biggest goal for the upcoming year is to continue building relationships with law enforcement, fire, EMA, forestry and other agencies that protect us and can provide valuable information in times of emergency. I will also continue to ask questions when actions come to my attention that need clarification or changes. I’ve been a citizen activist for longer than I’ve been a reporter, and sometimes it just takes questions and a suggestion for something new to fix a situation. And sometimes it takes more. I’ve been involved in both, and I’m ok with that!
Keeping an eye on county expenditures is a goal that began with this newspaper being a watchdog for the Pike County Commission back in 2006, and it's still a goal today. I have my own comments in blue at times these days, but thankfully, it isn’t what it used to be!
Closing and Thanks
I am thankful for all who have advertised with Pike County Times and sent donations to support my newspaper over the past year. Advertising and donations keep Pike County Times free for readers and justifies the massive amount of time that goes into this online only newspaper. It means a lot to know that my efforts to keep readers up to date on our County Commissioners and local news are appreciated.
Those who contribute on an annual basis to Pike County Times through Breaking News alerts are appreciated as well. To know that readers are willing to support this fairly new text and email outreach is a huge deal to me.
Thank you especially for the texts and emails and Facebook posts that keep me in the know about what is going on in the community! I couldn’t do what I do without the help of the community. Some of my biggest articles began with a text or a picture coming to me from a reader who happened to be somewhere that I wasn’t. I truly view this newspaper as a community effort!
I will continue to expand in my coverage of hard news in the upcoming year and expand columns as needed. There are syndicated columns and variety of information to choose from including Better Business Bureau tips, a movie review from Jackie K. Cooper, and Conservative Commentaries from Spencer Price online already. Send me info from student and communty events, and I’ll get it online with your name on it!
It’s been a roller coaster ride of ten years for Pike County Times, and I look forward to what 2017 will bring. You can find me at editor@pikecountytimes.com, https://www.facebook.com/becky.c.watts, https://twitter.com/@PikeCountyTimes, https://www.instagram.com/beckyclarkwatts/ and by cell phone at 770-468-7583.
Have a wonderful New Year!