Muncie Free Press is Back

Wow. I never thought I'd see that happen - not in my worst nightmare. First off, apologies to all visitors and advertisers for the site being down for approximately 10 days. We had an administrative error and our domain name wasn't renewed. Rest assured that at the soonest possible date, measures will be put into place so this particular problem won't happen again. (Namely, putting it on auto-renew!) As I said, apologies for any inconvenience while it was down. All the emails expressing concern were appreciated.

As MFP nears it's second birthday (July 4th of this year), I've been doing a lot of thinking over the last 10 days about what I'm trying to accomplish with MFP, what I'm actually doing, etc. I missed the site when it was down. I hope you did as well. The time away from it, though, has somewhat reenergized me - given me yet another "second wind" to continue. I do need your help, though. Here are some things that will help!

• Tell people about the site! - MFP really needs to start growing. This can be as simple as mentioning MFP at work or emailing your address book to let them know about the site. I can also supply fliers for people interested in hanging them up around town or passing them out at events.
• Get involved! - The premise of MFP is that of Pro-Am Journalism - a combination of professional (trained) journalists (like myself) and amateur journalists (like you!). It really doesn't take a lot of training to be a journalist. And I'm willing and able to help you tell your story in any way possible.
  
• Advertisers - First off, all current advertisers will receive 1 free week of advertising for each day we were down. So, that means 10 free weeks to Wishbone Gifts, etc. If you've been sitting on the fence, rest assured that measures are being put into place so this outage doesn't repeat itself. To help swing you over to MFP, I'm willing to offer one free month of advertising with any package bought for the next 30 days starting from today. Contact Jomo Williams, the MFP sales rep., for more information.
• Donations! - MFP's coffers are very empty. Money helps with hosting, advertising, and helping me donate more time to this site. (Maybe we could bring in enough to afford some advertising in The Star Press! ;)
  

I'm willing to hear your ideas as well. If you have a thought that might help MFP during our quest to offer an alternative to big media in our community, by all means leave a comment here or email me. Mary and others are stepping up to the plate in Muncie to help start a weekly meeting for people interested in helping MFP. I'm sure there are tons of other great ideas out there. Send them. This is your site too. Truly.

In the past, journalists stood in their towers or on their soapboxes and told people what should be important to them. This was a one-way transaction. The future, though, is journalism as a conversation, something we try to foster at MFP. Instead of me as a publisher publishing what I think should be important to you, I want to listen to you tell me what's important to you and report on that (as resources allow.)

That's about it for now. I may have some more thoughts later. Until then, apologies and welcome back to Muncie Free Press.

Your friendly publisher,
K. Paul Mallasch