(APN) ATLANTA – November 23, 2006, marks the one year anniversary of the founding of Atlanta Progressive News (APN). To commemorate this occasion, Matthew Cardinale, Founder of APN, has issued the following letter to our readers:
Dear Readers,
Hey everybody! It's been one year of APN! Can you believe it? We really have come a long way. I want to thank you for your readership. Our readers are such an important part of what we do and we always enjoy hearing from you.
It has all gone by so fast, so this is really the first time I've had the opportunity to communicate with you about our vision for progressive, independent news in Atlanta, and our plans to offer a viable news alternative for the people of Atlanta.
November 23, 2005, is the date I bought the website name and hosting package for www.atlantaprogressivenews.com
As a lot of you know already, I was still staying at a hotel in Atlanta when I started the website. I had just moved to Atlanta with my 3 cats after evacuating from New Orleans as a result of Hurricane Katrina. Some excellent accounts of our story were written for Southern Voice and Atlanta Magazine.
What attracted me to Atlanta? Well, I had already wanted to start a progressive newspaper. And I knew I wanted to live in the South. And, Texas was out of the question, so that really left Atlanta. I also really wanted to work with US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney to help highlight the work she has been doing.
I spoke with friends at the National Coalition for the Homeless including my friend Anita Beaty at the Task Force for the Homeless about whether Atlanta had a progressive newspaper or whether it could benefit from one. Atlanta certainly needed progressive media, they told me.
I found it hard to believe, actually, that such a large metropolitan city, mostly a left-leaning city, with such a deep, rich history in the Civil Rights Movement, would not have a progressive newspaper.
To be sure, Creative Loafing doesn't count, despite their occasional somewhat leftist political piece. Creative Loafing is kind of like a LA Weekly or a Gambit Weekly–focusing mostly on entertainment and the arts–and so that's not really what I had in mind anyway.
The point of Atlanta Progressive News is to speak to issues of major importance to working families. We have a list of progressive editorial principles, or causes, that we believe our coverage should advance. These include universal health care, living wages, a clean environment, elections integrity, affordable housing, and peace. And these are like, to me, the most basic things. I really never thought of our principles as radical, or as anything other than common sense.
When I got here and started to study what media was available, I was like, oh no, honey, these people need more options!
In the past year, we have been blessed with over 1.5 million hits on the website, 108 original news articles, and over a dozen op-eds.
We have printed two quarterly print editions and are about 2 weeks away from launching our third print edition.
We have a team of wonderful staff writers who help cover local and national progressive news, including the prolific Betty Clermont and Jonathan Springston, who were both recently promoted to Senior Staff Writers; as well as staff writers Susan Keith, Robert Soloway, Sarah Epting, Douglas Hartley, and Kristina Cates.
Matthew Cardinale is Editor of Atlanta Progressive News. He has written previously for the Sun-Sentinel Newspaper, Shelterforce Magazine, The Advocate Magazine, The San Francisco Bay View, and the Berkeley Daily Planet Newspaper. He has also written for numerous online publications including OpEdNews, BuzzFlash, CommonDreams, AlterNet, RawStory, and TruthOut.
