When I started this local news blog in January, 2012, it was largely because I had found a dearth of news reporting about Fishers, the place I had lived since 1991.  That was about the time The Indianapolis Star no longer assigned a reporter to cover Fishers.

I was critical of the Star in several commentaries written in the early years of my blogging history.  Those blog posts normally came after another round of journalist layoffs by Gannett, the owner of the Star.

My attitude toward the Star has changed over the years.  What is happening at the Star is indicative  of what is happening at local newspapers throughout the nation.  The Star is just one example.

I have also praised the Star for doing award-winning investigative reports.  That is what separates a run-of-the-mill newspaper from a great newspaper.  For that, I give the Star much credit.

In recent years, I have seen more attention to Fishers from the Star.  John Tuohy covers Noblesville and Fishers and has been spending a lot of his time on Fishers stories lately.

But I must give great credit to Star education reporter MJ Slaby.  She has attended Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board meeting in person lately.  I know because I have been at the same meetings and see her there.

Ms. Slaby and her editors have focused on Fishers recently.  There was extensive coverage of the HSE Racial Justice Town Hall.  There was also a profile of the new HSE Equity & Inclusion Officer for HSE, Nataki Pettigrew.

Her latest story as of this writing is all about HSE’s plan to offer virtual learning to families wanting that learning paradigm for their children in the 2021-2022 school year.

If you want access to the stories written by reporters like John Tuohy and MJ Slaby, you need to subscribe to the Indianapolis Star.  Yes, I know the print edition subscription cost has risen dramatically.  Jane and I take the print edition two days a seek and I read the e-edition of the Star, which is the print edition online, every day.  The cost isn’t that much, at least for me.

We once took local news for granted.  People subscribed to the daily newspaper and advertisers knew that was the best way to market their products.  The Internet, social media companies and more choices for marketers have spelled trouble for local newspaper business models and many dailies have closed up shop entirely in less-populated areas.

The Indianapolis Star can only provide news about Fishers, and the investigative journalism, if local people subscribe to the newspaper, in print, online or a combination of both.

Let me also put in a plug for the Indianapolis Business Journal, a locally-owned weekly that does a great job of covering the business and political beats.  North of 96th reporter Kurt Christian has done a good job, including a well-researched story on the cost of constructing the upgraded State Road 37.

I already tried to retire from this blog once, then COVID hit and caused me to re-evaluate.  I am still reporting on Fishers because I am the only one doing what I do.

I could go back to just being a retired guy and retire this blog if other newsrooms would concentrate more on Fishers.  What I have seen in the Star lately is very encouraging and I hope it continues.

In the meantime, I will continue my partnership with the Hamilton County Reporter.  I also spent some years writing commentaries for Current in Fishers.  Both those publications are still alive and have, so far, survived the economic tailwinds of COVID.

So, I continue to blog about Fishers, encouraged that there are news operations spending more of their reporting effort on Fishers.  This is good to see.