About 10 years ago, Cobourg Internet started to include Cobourg News on its web site and allowed comments. But the technology was limiting so a new separate site (this site) was launched in September 2017 and continues to this day. For some reason that I can only speculate at, the site has become a community forum with the audience continually growing. Not all comments are positive but unless they break the rules of the blog, they are encouraged in the interest of free speech. A statistic from the last few days is interesting: 48 different people contributed the last 100 comments! Some posts attract a limited number of contributors but others get a widely diverse audience. But let’s look at some other details:
Since September 24, 2017, there have been:
- 1053 articles
- 26,066 comments
Most Popular Article Subjects
- Status of Northumberland Mall
- News about the Beach
- News about Developments and Buildings
- Go Bus service
Categories (Tags) with Most Articles
- Municipal 467
- Culture 118
- Waterfront 117
- Events 97
- Business 88
What is the Cobourg News blog?
I must mention once again, that the “blog” is NOT the email that arrives telling you about it. The email is not the blog. The blog is on the Internet at www.CobourgBlog.com. You should know these things about it:
- Blog posts are often at 1:00 pm any day although they can be posted at any time.
- Blog Posts can be and are found by a Google search – unrelated to any email.
- The email goes out automatically at 8:00 am the day after a post is made. I’m not an early bird sending emails at the crack of dawn! It’s controlled by an RSS feed which you can also access – see the box at bottom right of home page. (Use an RSS reader like Yahoo’s portal to read).
- The email goes to about 1500 people but blog posts often have more hits than 1500. The largest number of hits for an article so far is 38,157.
Comment Moderation
I’m quite liberal in what’s allowed (go here for rules) but I do delete offending comments from time to time.
Advertising
The only advertising I accept is via Google. As a result I get about $50 – $100 per month from Google. If you want to support the blog, simply click on any of the ads that appeal to you.
Recently added feature
Starting in November 2020, “Letters to the Editor” were accepted. This provides an opportunity for anyone in Cobourg to contribute content without the limits of the comments system. The rules are similar to those at Newspapers: real name is required but other identifying information is confidential; the subject can be anything – there are no restrictions about staying on topic; letters stay published for 3 months; comments are not possible. The feature was introduced in this blog post: Letters to the Editor now accepted. For technical reasons, these letters are hosted on the CobourgInternet site. Emails notifying subscribers of new letters to the editor go out at 8:00 pm. There is currently one published letter but I am looking forward to more readers contributing here.
Print Article:
Please, do not also forget Pete Fisher (today’s Northumberland) for local news.
With all the well deserved kudos to John for providing this community with a much needed source of solid, well-referenced, impartial information concerning local governance issues, CamC (below) raises the question “who will/can shoulder it other than the founder?”
Regardless of how successful anything is in the present, everything has an end unless that end is recognized and planned for.
In other words, the day will come when John retires. What can be done, planned for, that will ensure this valuable and objective service to the Cobourg community continues?
There is no doubt that this blog and your other efforts e.g. Letter to the Editor, have been well received, deservedly so. I for one very much appreciate the fruits of your efforts.
Draper for “Citizen of the Year” in Cobourg!
I second that motion ! Well done John !
After the loss of our local newspaper this blog is the most important source for community news. I thank you John for starting this and helping the community try to keep town council transparent.
This is the model to follow for coverage of municipal politics in the Digital Age. It is the volunteer project of an individual. Who will/can shoulder it other than the founder? Only time will tell. John is a pioneer.
100%! A great local service , thanks to John’s community spirit.