Editorial by Eric Curl
Aug. 18, 2024 – Connect Savannah ceased publication last week.
It is really disheartening to see the glee some folks on social media have expressed about the publication’s demise.
We need more local news. Not less.
Connect provided a platform for freelancers and burgeoning writers to get paid and recognized for their work. Full-time employees earned their living there. There were people behind those bylines.
Related: Freelancer Kareem McMichael offers his take on Connect’s end
On a personal note, Connect supported Savannah Agenda and published my Property Matters articles while promoting my website. While it was under a different owner at the time, Connect also helped me get my start as a reporter. I published my first freelance articles in Connect back in the early 2000s.
The publication provided an alternative news source and voice. A bit of healthy competition. Let’s keep our local media providers on their toes, thirsty, eager and excited.
Connect was free to read and accessible to those residents who could not afford to pay for a subscription. That free, advertising-supported model may have been part of the publication’s downfall. Unfortunately, many residents who are able to pay balk at having to do so. Journalism is hard work, and reporters deserve recognition (and pay) for that work.
With media resources dwindling, the loss of one local news platform means one less government monitor, one less place to learn about a local artist or business and one less place to find information about a tropical storm.
We are fortunate to still have excellent reporting in this community. (Check my Other News and Voices page for many examples). Let’s keep it that way.
Support local news. Criticize local news. Recognize the need for local news. Otherwise, Savannah will be truly disConnected.
You can find Jim Morekis’ thoughts on Connect’s demise in his column for The Savannahian. Morekis is a former long-time editor of Connect who left with some fellow editorial employees to launch The Savannahian in 2020. He offers a unique perspective on Connect’s end.
Related: Freelancer Kareem McMichael offers his take on Connect’s end
#stayengagedsavannah
When and Elder dies, a library burns to the ground. The demise of Connect Savannah is like a library of information being lost. It is healthy for a community to have a variety of news sources.