It’s been a while.
If you don’t care about my personal memo and just want to know what’s next, skip toward the end of the article and read the information under “The Future of The Cary Report” header. I won’t be offended, promise!
On New Year’s Day, 2024, I decided to cease operations for The Cary Report.
This was a very hard decision to make. The Cary Report is run entirely by just one person (with the exception of an excellent handful of volunteers that wrote guest articles) and I was feeling a bit burnt out. While it’s an incredibly rewarding and fulfilling project, it also is something that I do outside of my full-time job and other responsibilities. I was getting to the point where I felt like I needed to make content, instead of getting to create it, which kind of defeats the purpose of a passion project.
So I took some time off to reflect. A lot of you have sent me incredibly thoughtful and kind messages and emails about how much you liked The Cary Report which I really took to heart. I will sometimes go back and reread the kind words you have left me. The Cary community is unmatched and something that I will never lose passion for. Y’all are the best and I love serving you however I can.
Brief History of News in Cary
I started The Cary Report because Cary did not have a specific news outlet. Big events/crime will probably get covered by WRAL and News & Observer, but a lot of interesting things get missed. I don’t blame them, because they are also providing coverage for much larger cities that have more going on, but Cary is a town of almost 200k residents. I remember feeling frustrated I couldn’t just find news specifically and only about Cary, and lots of folks that I talked to agreed.
The Cary News, Cary’s long-time print (and then digital) newspaper ended publication in 2017 after being purchased by News & Observer. Cary Citizen, an excellent online publication that ran for over a decade, ceased operations in 2022.
If you’ve been in Cary for even a couple of years, you’ll know that the town has experienced HUGE changes after those publications closed down, and while WRAL/N&O would capture most of the big stuff, all the smaller stories – the type of content that you would have read in a truly local newspaper – would not be published.
The Birth of The Cary Report
There was so much happening around town, and I wanted to help pull that information together in one place. Social media can fill that role sometimes, but you have to cut through a lot of junk to find legitimate information. I was determined to create something that people would find helpful and also enjoy reading.
After creating The Cary Report, I was worried that it would be hard to find an audience, but my audience found me right away. I was very quickly flooded with emails of story requests, praises, criticisms, sponsorships, and more. It was a little overwhelming at first, but I found a lot of joy after leaning into it.
Speaking to members of the community, small business owners, students, parents, real estate agents, and all other walks of life has been the highlight of running The Cary Report. The people of Cary are the most amazing diverse group of people and it makes me love where I live. I truly believe this is the best place you can reside in the United States.
New News in Town
Since ending The Cary Report, two other local newsletters began that I want to mention. Cary Spotlight published their first issue on October 24th, 2023 – about two months before I ended The Cary Report. They have since published a new issue every single day (they are currently on issue 616). That’s incredible dedication to the community, and I’m in awe of founder Chris Coetzer’s work ethic. Really cool stuff.
Cary Digest is the other newsletter I mentioned. It is run by Cary resident Jake Henderson and it started earlier this year. I think that Jake’s voice in the content that he writes is just perfect. They are written in a very conversational way and are legitimately fun to read. He publishes twice a week (Tuesday and Friday) and I legitimately look forward to reading it each morning it comes out.
The Future of The Cary Report
My goal for The Cary Report has always been to give you actionable hyperlocal content. I want you to read an article and have a new greenway destination to explore this weekend. I want you to know where to go for the 4th of July fireworks. I want you to know about upcoming developments, new restaurants and parks, tax increases, small businesses to support, rezoning decisions, where to park downtown, how to catch a town shuttle to Lazy Daze – you get the idea.
That mission hasn’t changed, and I’m excited to share that The Cary Report is back. I’ll be publishing more in-depth articles to help you stay informed and make the most of life in Cary. Whether it’s weekend plans, town updates, or new places to check out, my goal is to make local news feel useful, trustworthy, and easy to enjoy. Thank you for reading. It’s good to be back.
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