Hi everyone. If you look under the Ridgewood title here, you will see my name (Caitlin Brown) as the person posting this. I have been working for Patch now since June, and I have recently (two weeks ago) become the Bergen County Editor. I find all of these changes to be exciting, and there is a lot to get done! I am busy getting to know the town councils, police and fire departments, and especially the residents. I have been covering local Ridgewood stories for three weeks now. I post them to this Facebook page every time I post one to the actual Patch site. I see and have responded to so many messages and complaints about there not being any local news, and all of the posts made by the Patch Media Team from nearby towns and across the state or country. Please allow me to explain... While I am getting established on the ground and looking for any news, events, public announcements, etc. that I can post for the residents of Ridgewood, Patch has a responsibility to bring you news. You will see Caitlin Brown as having been the person posting, or Messenger when it is the Patch Media Team. Each of those posts by the Messenger go to each and every patch in the area, state, or nation, depending on the article. They arent doing this to change the format of how Patch works- they are doing this to make sure that while I am settling in to my editor position and working better, faster, and more in-depth for your town news, you will still have news, daily. Furthermore, a lot of these stories that the media team posts DO have something to do with Ridgewood. Ridgwood is not an island isolated out there. It is a town that is part of an amazing county. I am from Monmouth County, and the feel down here is different than what I see in Bergen County; I see all of the towns in Bergen taking pride in their separate identities, but also coming together time and time again, event after event, such as the recent tragic passing of Waldwick Officer Goodell. I love the local format of Patch- and I became a Patch reporter because I was very active with my hometown Patch and having worked as a freelance journalist for several years, Patch was where I felt the most excited to begin my career after college. BELIEVE ME WHEN I SAY that I understand your frustration in seeing news not just exclusively from Ridgewood, but from all over the county or state. However, I also see why it needs to be done: I like to think of Patch not as a plot of ground, but as a patch of a quilt, or a patch of land connected to other patches. The bottom line: each town IS connected to the other. The heroin epidemic is not exclusive to Newark or Camden. It is in ALL of our towns. The Media Team isnt picking outlandish, tabloid stories for you to read; they are choosing only the stories that they feel everyone in the county or state may be interested in reading, and they keep this page updated constantly with news. I will continue to stress this because I feel like I have been on trial the last few days: like any good reporter or editor would do, I have been on the ground in your town, making my contacts and exploring my sources. It gives me some relief to know that while I may not be able to find anything newsworthy every single day for Ridgewood specifically, the media team assists in keeping my readers satisfied by finding you nearby stories and sharing them with each Patch. I have responded to several comments, and I will continue to try to establish myself with you all as best as I can. I have to be honest, as I will ALWAYS be with you, Patch readers- Ridgewood is one of four main, priority towns for me in the entire county. The response I have received here has been disheartening at best. Mahwah, Wyckoff, even Wayne, isolated up there as my only Passaic town, have all had residents and Facebook members who have been so incredibly helpful to me: sending me events, welcoming me, sending me information about something they want to know about or have investigation. Am I being too forward by asking the same of the Ridgewood residents? I cannot stop the Media Team from posting stories, especially while I am writing and researching my own. I feel pretty isolated from you all as a community, and I hope this does not turn in to a storm of criticism, but an open discussion, introducing myself to you, answering further questions, and working with you all to make this Patch the hometown news source it can and WILL be- a valuable news source you just cant get from the bigger companies. Lets work together, shall we? For now, the county and state media posts remain. But I will work tirelessly at giving you your town news, events, and announcements. Here is a Ridgewood story for you. Thank you to those in Ridgewood who HAVE reached out to me and welcomed me. I look forward to many more open conversations. Thank you all for at least reading this and considering what I felt I needed to say. Green Team is given the green light by the Village Council
Posted on: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 23:01:17 +0000