© Jerimiah B. Brown

The Ann Arbor Chronicle

Mary and Dave's online daily paper

by Vivienne Armentrout

posted 10/1/2008

Local news is now being served up daily by an ambitious new publication—but you can’t find it on a newsstand. Mary Morgan and Dave Askins launched annarborchronicle.com on September 2, their wedding anniversary. Morgan, a twelve-year veteran of the Ann Arbor News, and Askins, best known for his “Teeter Talk” interviews on homelessdave.com, write that they hope to “create a daily news site that reflects and embraces the energy, oddities, and character of our community.” In a story on the Fifth Ward primary recount, Askins faithfully reports the process and the outcome (Carsten Hohnke still won)—but also “the smell of democracy in the morning” (coffee from an institutional urn) and someone’s inscrutable write-in vote (Hillary Clinton for drain commissioner). In September the site was running ads for Shaman Drum Bookshop and the Old Town Tavern. Morgan says the ads cost $100–$300, and says she and Askins hope to bring in enough revenue to support themselves and eventually to hire freelance writers and even columnists. There are some limited opportunities for reader comments—but, as the founders fiercely note, “it’s not a blog.” Instead, the Chronicle is very much like a traditional newspaper with an “ultralocal” focus—pitched to readers “who’ve lived here all along, who pass through here briefly, or those who choose to stay.”   

[Originally published in October, 2008.]