The first issue of the Eastside Voice was published March 13, 2009. Sometime during that day, the four owners raised plastic glasses of sparkling cider and cheered the accomplishment. We were pretty proud of ourselves — it is no easy task to create a newspaper from scratch in the middle of a global financial crisis, when newspapers were closing or converting to digital-only editions. Some people told us we were crazy. Some people secretly worried that our investment of time, energy, and creativity would be wasted. But we persisted.
While we changed the name of the newspaper to Weekly View in 2013, and one of our founders left to pursue a new career, we haven’t changed a lot over the years. The mission of the Weekly View, published by Eastside Voice Community News Media, Inc., was — and remains — to provide news, information, and entertainment focused on the east side of Indianapolis, western Hancock County, the towns of Lawrence, Beech Grove, Greenfield, Cumberland, and Southport. We also decided many years ago that print publication would be our main focus, bucking the online and social media trends. We believe that information should be widely available, regardless of access to the Internet. You don’t need Wi-Fi or batteries (or a subscription) to read our paper!
We have been truly blessed with contributing writers. Alan Hunter, Steve Barnett, Linda Kennett, Steve Nicewanger, C.J. Woods III, and Brian Howey contribute their words and wisdom every week. Jerry Mannell’s editorial cartoon says volumes with few words. Monthly contributors such as Dr. Nydia Nunez-Estrada and our other guest contributors round out our pages with unique content. We dearly miss the wit and wisdom of Rose Mary Clarke, but her words live on in our online archive at weeklyview.net
During the last ten years, we’ve supported food drives for Gaia Works and donated unused distribution boxes for neighborhood food initiatives on the east side. We also collect toys and stocking stuffers for the Gaia Works Christmas drive for Coburn Place. We recycle our newspapers by donating them to Indianapolis Animal Care Services and FACE, and have supported a feral cat colony here at the office for years. We also try to support as many community, school, and church projects as possible by publishing their stories so they can get the recognition they deserve. We have also been the advertising partner for the Warren TreeFest for many years, supporting arts education for Warren schools.
So here we are, ten years later with another edition under our belts. By our estimate, we’ve published over 4,200 broadsheet pages, not including special sections. That’s a lot of ink and paper! In addition to our thousands of weekly paper copy readers, we have over a thousand online readers weekly at our Web site, weeklyview.net and over a thousand followers on our Facebook page. In other words, a lot of eyeballs fall on our pages every week, and we appreciate each and every one of our readers.
The last few years have been challenging for us, make no mistake. As an advertiser-supported newspaper, we rely on ads from local businesses and classified/home service for our revenue. Last year, we experienced a significant printing cost increase — on top of the many other increased costs for phones, insurance, and the rest of the expenses that we must pay. Like many small businesses, we fight the good fight every week to keep the doors open and the lights on.
This year, we plan on building on the success we’ve had over the past ten years, but we need your help to thrive. Do business with our advertisers and let them know you saw their ads in the Weekly View. Take out a garage sale ad this summer, or advertise your lawn mowing service. Talk to your church leadership about placing a Church Directory ad, or advertising your special events with us. Starting a new business? Remember to budget for advertising!
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for a great 10 years!
