Community Corner

Change Is Coming At Waterford Patch

A Message From The Editor

Dear Readers,

Waterford Patch is about to change.

Not too much. The focus will still be on the news. I will continue to make sure I give you every piece of information you’d ever want if you live in Waterford (a promise I made in my ). I have been trained as a reporter, love reporting, and really know very little about any other business but reporting. That’s my job, and it isn’t going to change.

Find out what's happening in Waterfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

However, news is not enough. I need voices of the community to make this website work. One person distributing the information is not only bland, it is ineffective.

So starting late next week there will be a new section of blogs, which will be an aggregation of voices in the community. There will be two types of blogs: the informational type and the more traditional interactive, opinion-based blog.

Find out what's happening in Waterfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The informational types will feature many of the town departments, such as the schools, public works and the tax collector. They will essentially provide information to the public, such as taxes are due this month; this road will be closed this day or garbage pickup will be pushed back a day.

These blogs will not be meant to be interactive, but instead informative. There is not going to be the interaction between the reader and writer like a traditional blog. I would suggest if anybody has a question with any of the information, they can ask me (and I’ll try to find out) or call the department itself.

The second type of blog will be the classic variety of authors discussing various issues. Just to make this perfectly clear, they will be opinion, and they do not represent Patch or myself. I will only edit these blogs for spelling and grammar before they are published. If I deem the blog to be inappropriate for whatever reason, I’m not going to rewrite it; I just won't run it.

If anybody is interested in blogging, I will set one up. I’m not going to discriminate against anybody having a blog because I don’t like his or her opinion. Simply put, if somebody wants one and is responsible with it, I’ll run it.

All bloggers need to use their real name (sorry, Polar Bear, otherwise I would have loved to have you). Anybody with a blog can post as often or as little as they want; there is no minimum requirement. If somebody wants a blog and posts one time, that’s fine. If somebody wants to post every day, that’s even better. Also, people can post as long or as short as they want, and can post video and pictures as well.

Businesses are allowed to blog. However, if it is deemed just promotional, I’m not going to run it. But if a garden business wants to have a blog about the best way to garden, that would be terrific.

The blog section will be almost as prolific as the news section, although clearly separated. We are still working out the specifics, but the homepage will be redone. I can tell you the blogs will have a much more visible location than the announcements currently do.

Why are we doing this? Because Waterford Patch is not just one voice, Waterford Patch is truly an online community. I want to hear from the public on issues. I want to know what people are thinking. I strongly believe in the battlefield of ideas and welcome anything that puts that forward.

Most importantly though, a single person (myself) never knows more than the entire population. This allows me to tap into that aggregate, so all that knowledge and opinion comes into one source.

If anybody is interested in writing a blog, email me (paul.petrone@patch.com) or call me (860-287-5265). I’ll get you set up. I admit I’d rather have a blog about something informative and useful (like if you are an expert hunter, how to hunt); but if you want to have one just to riff about life, politics or whatever, that’s fine, too.

Have a great day. And as always, thank you for the interest. Without you, there would be no Patch.

Paul Petrone


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here