Middletown >> “The community has been crying out for some kind of weekly publication for a couple years now,” said Mark Bredt, the publisher and editor behind a new online weekly paper for South Lake County. The effort has survived some bumps, but is just about ready for the waiting audience.
The “Middletown Mercury” began to take form just two weeks ago as a fundraising endeavor for the Gibson Museum. But within a day, the paper hit a snag. Museum staff discovered that operating a newspaper out of their public building was in conflict with the uses for the building dictated by the Lake County Historical Society. The Gibson Museum had to step back from their sponsorship.
“It cannot function as a project of Gibson and none of us can afford to do it if we have to pay for it,” explained Nina Bouska of the museum. “Unless there is finical support from the community it can’t be done.”
But Bredt wasn’t easily deterred. He decided to move forward with the project and quickly organized the paper’s website. He’s planning to release the first edition of Middletown Mercury online on Jan. 6.
In the past, various individuals in the Middletown area have attempted to get a paper off the ground, but the money hasn’t been available. According to Bredt, physical papers cost roughly $3,000 an issue. “Print is very expensive and it’s a small community,” he explained. “Raising the kind of money it takes to consistently print weekly is a challenge.”
He hopes by taking a new approach and turning to a digital format, the effort will prove a success. It is just going to take some time for citizens to grow accustomed to an online paper. “There’s this feeling of, it’s not real if it’s not paper,” Bredt said. “We have to get past that.”
Although the paper is exclusively online for the time being, with enough community support Bredt hopes he can take it to print in the future. And even though Middletown Mercury is still young and relatively unknown, he said those who are aware of the paper are enthusiastic about the venture.
Bredt isn’t new to the newspaper business. He’s the fourth generation in his family with publishing experience and his past includes managing editorial stints with the “Times Star” in Middletown, the “Clear Lake Observer” and the “Lake County Record-Bee”.
Though the desire for a South Lake County community paper seems to have been circulating for some time, the idea finally came to fruition in the wake of the fires. “Everybody in Middletown knows we need local communication,” Bouska said. “What we need is a method of knowing how people survived the fire and what they’re doing now.”
One recent example, and the first piece of Middletown Mercury news, came from David Neft, a Valley Fire victim. Neft, a prominent Lake County pianist, lost his home and his brother in the fire. He sent in a blurb to the new paper, which stated that he continues to play his music and included a performance schedule for the rest of the month.
The Middletown Mercury will receive content from the community to fill their virtual pages. Bredt hopes the paper will close the communication gap between local organizations and individuals, who currently face difficulties exchanging information. And though he doesn’t want advertising to overwhelm other content, he recognizes that the paper will need the revenue to cover costs.
“I do want it to be driven by the people and their need for information and for them to be able to communicate with each other,” he added. “We are asking everybody to participate in it and make it really a community newspaper.”
Since the website went live last week, they’ve seen a couple hundreds hits, a fairly modest flow of traffic. Bredt expects it will be some time before the community is aware of the newspaper. “It’s one of those things that it’s going to take a while to become a overnight success,” he said. “We’re starting with zero and moving forward with that.”
Though Middletown is in the title, the newspaper is for everyone covered by the South Lake County Fire Protection District. “If you’re in that area and you want to know something I want your first thought to be, ‘it be in the Mercury,’” Bredt said.
The Middletown Mercury will be available online at middletownmercury.com beginning Jan. 6. Visit the website now for a preview.
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
