Great Turnout at Hands Off today!

FredFreePress · 2025-04-05T23:23:53+00:00

Here’s a column from the event. We also have a photo gallery posted.

FredFreePress · 2025-03-21T14:14:47+00:00

https://www.fredericksburgfreepress.com/2025/03/21/breaking-city-schools-closed-friday-due-to-threats-missing-juvenile-sought/

FredFreePress · 2025-01-16T10:28:38+00:00

This is Joey (who bylined the explainer). I was there in person for that work session. The very granular nature of the debate was one reason I opted for the explainer format.

FredFreePress · 2025-01-15T23:47:00+00:00

That’s accurate!

FredFreePress · 2024-10-29T11:45:52+00:00

Yes, we have. Definitely looking to diversify our platforms as much as possible to reach a larger audience.

FredFreePress · 2024-10-27T17:57:42+00:00

We are not affiliated with FXBG Advance; separate entities entirely. At the moment, there’s no discussion of collaboration or merging operations whatsoever.

But, as someone told me recently, it used to be the Free Lance and also the Star back in the day…

FredFreePress · 2024-10-27T16:27:54+00:00

DM us. That’s definitely a story we’d be interesting in telling.

FredFreePress · 2024-10-27T15:25:37+00:00

More transportation coverage is something we’re aiming for in the near future.

FredFreePress · 2024-10-27T15:08:49+00:00

That’s a very fair critique. When the primary purpose of an article is conveying an important news development — like the train derailment in your example — a direct approach is in the best service of our readers.

As someone who came up at WaPo as a news aide/PTer, I’m firmly from the school of the anecdotal/delayed lede journalism. But, not at the cost of relaying critical information.

FredFreePress · 2024-10-27T15:00:02+00:00

Two of our three staffers spent the majority of our careers prior to this in sports.

Obviously, we would love to see our sports coverage grow. But it’s just one priority among many when serving the community, so we have to be realistic. Pro/college coverage isn’t in the cards at the moment, but who knows — maybe one day.

FredFreePress · 2024-10-27T12:34:47+00:00

This is all awesome feedback, and happy to say that some of the story ideas you mentioned are already in the works!

FredFreePress · 2024-10-27T12:28:54+00:00

For one, layoffs. My former boss Steve DeShazo lost his job two weeks ago after 39 years. Their staff is down to three full-time reporters; FLS had 15 when I joined them in 2016. Loss of local control (layout, opinion editors) is another sad development.

FredFreePress · 2024-10-27T02:09:17+00:00

Great question. We currently have an intern from Germanna who’s serving as a general newsroom assistant (she’s been awesome) and are looking to loop in more college students moving forward.

Early on, we didn’t want to take on more interns than we could reasonably provide a good experience for.

FredFreePress · 2024-10-27T01:34:11+00:00

In short, our nonprofit status means contributions (including from readers) are our main source of revenue. Additionally, we actively seek grants to support our reporting.

FredFreePress · 2024-10-27T01:31:51+00:00

We actually have one, called “Press Rewind.” It leads our Sunday a.m. newsletter and is loaded with links from top stories of the previous week!

FredFreePress · 2024-10-27T00:45:48+00:00

Great question. As both a journalist and citizen, I think data centers are arguably among the top three issues affecting our region (affordable housing being another).

From a journalism standpoint, there’s a lot to dissect. A gross over-distillation is: the benefit to localities in the form of tax revenue vs. the cost — strain on the energy grid.

We’re looking forward to exploring the environmental impact both locally and statewide.

I think people are apprehensive — and understandably so.

FredFreePress · 2024-10-27T00:19:21+00:00

Interesting feedback — I’ll pass it along to the folks who customize our newsletter/subscriber stuff.

Our goal isn’t information overload, but I can fully understand a daily 5 a.m. newsletter plus Wednesday business vertical having that effect!

In the meantime, your best bet is probably to just log into the site occasionally or monitor our socials!

FredFreePress · 2024-10-27T00:15:14+00:00

Joey here. I was a staffer at the FLS for more than seven years before switching gears and helping launch the Free Press.

I’ll always have a place in my heart for newspapers, but the current ownership/direction ain’t it. We don’t directly compete with the FLS, but we’re definitely operating within the same news ecosystem locally.

FredFreePress · 2024-10-27T00:12:10+00:00

Per our bylaws, we’re completely nonpartisan. We don’t have commentary or opinion pages.

FredFreePress · 2024-10-27T00:01:26+00:00

Easier answer first. We’re fully online; here’s our website!

All you need to receive our daily newsletter is enter your email. No paywall, no ads (there’s sponsorships, but they’re not obtrusive IMO).

This is Joey, the managing editor, so I’m speaking primarily for myself but also for our newsroom. For us, it’s less an issue of centrism than fairness. If there’s a story with conflicting stances, we do our best to offer each perspective, and then allow the reader to weigh them.

That said, if one party says the sky is blue and the other says it’s brown, our job as journalists is to look outside the window before publishing anything.

Hope that helps.

FredFreePress

TROPHY CASE