Six years later, the shine has not worn off

By Brenda Stewart, publisher, Laurens County Buzz

On Sept. 1, the Laurens County Buzz turned six years old.

I will admit something. When I started this, I worried I would burn out. I pictured myself several years down the road, worn thin by deadlines, tired of writing one more article, tired of sitting through one more meeting, tired of standing in the sun at one more ribbon cutting with a notebook in my hand. I thought the shine would eventually wear off.

The opposite happened.

Finding and sharing the stories of the greatness that exists in Laurens County has become a passion. Every meeting is a chance to understand this county a little better. Every ribbon cutting is somebody’s dream finally opening its doors. Every interview introduces me to a person I would not have met otherwise, and nearly every one of them leaves me thinking the same thing: people need to know about this.

That is the whole job. That is why I am still here.

We have grown a great deal in six years. The newsletter that goes out every Tuesday and Thursday now reaches more than 6,000 subscribers (and growing), up from a handful of people who agreed to sign up for something new. Our Facebookfollowing has grown to more than 5,700. Those numbers are not vanity. They represent neighbors who decided that what happens here matters enough to read about.

The way people receive news has changed too, and not in the direction the experts predicted. Readers do not want a wall of noise. They want news about their own community, about the school down the road, the business opening on Main Street, the nonprofit that needs volunteers, the council vote that will show up on their tax bill, with some statewide news sprinkled in when it actually affects life in Laurens County. Local, community based news is what people are asking for, and the Buzz is the standard bearer for getting it done.

We got there by building things nobody around here had built. The Buzz was the first local news source in this area to offer an email newsletter, and it is part of our platform rather than an afterthought. We were first with photo galleries, so families can find themselves in the coverage. We were first news source to include business directory listings, first with a community events calendar, first with job postings. All of  it is free, and that was intentional from day one.

It stays free because of our advertisers. Some of them have been with us since launch, when the Buzz was nothing more than an idea with no track record and no audience, and they signed on anyway. Many more have joined in the years since because they recognize the value of being part of the Buzz and the good news network of Laurens County. Their support is what keeps this news free for the people who read it.

There is plenty of negative news in the world. You can get that anywhere, at any hour, on any device, and it will find you whether you go looking for it or not.

There is more good news in Laurens County than we could ever print. That is not optimism talking. That is six years of evidence. Businesses are opening. Students are winning. Churches and nonprofits are feeding people, clothing people and showing up for people who have nowhere else to turn. First responders are running toward what the rest of us run from. Volunteers are quietly holding this county together. Our job is to help you know about it.

Thank you to every reader who opens the newsletter, every advertiser who invests in local journalism, every business owner who lets us tell your story and every reader who sends a tip because you thought your neighbor deserved recognition. This publication belongs to Laurens County. It only works because you participate in it.

If you are not yet receiving the newsletter, sign up by clicking HERE. It arrives in your inbox every Tuesday and Thursday, and it is free.

Six years in, I am still looking for the next good story. Send it my way.