Long-time readers know by now that I pen a short column every Sept. 1 celebrating the official anniversary of the launching of OnMilwaukee.com in 1998. But this year is a little bit different -- I've never experienced anything as a business owner like I have in the last 12 months.
OnMilwaukee.com, Milwaukee's daily magazine, named veteran Milwaukee reporter Tim Cuprisin as its new media columnist Thursday, further cementing its commitment to hyper-local content and lifestyle coverage.
If anyone wants to know what I'm doing on a daily basis, they're probably already reading the 830 articles and blogs I've published over the years on OnMilwaukee.com. That's why I've avoided Facebook, and up until this weekend, Twitter.
Veteran Milwaukee journalist Drew Olson will join OnMilwaukee.com May 1, the company announced today. Olson, a former president of the Baseball Writers Association of America, becomes senior editor/columnist and also will serve as the daily magazine's sports editor.
For the past 11 years, OnMilwaukee.com has innovated with its use of relationship and social media tools. Today, the company announced that it's the first in the Milwaukee region to incorporate local Twitter feeds into the interface of its online magazine.
Working for an independent media company in a down economy has its advantages. We don't have layers of bureaucracy weighing us down. We aren't the profitable arm of a company with its lifeblood being sucked out by the elderly, non-profitable wing of the company. When we see something coming down the pike we react to it, even if we couldn't plan for it. We are nimble and make our own decisions quickly.
Former OnMilwaukee.com political columnist Dennis Shook's fine piece in this week's Shepherd Express about the sorry state of local TV news got me thinking: it's high time someone called out your Milwaukee affiliates on their weak attempts to drive traffic to their underwhelming Web sites.
For female reporters in Milwaukee, working in sports presents a unique set of challenges. OMC columnist Bob Brainerd talked to them all, including Jen Lada, Jessie Garcia, Bobby Roquemore, Kyndra de St. Aubin, Lori Nickel and Stephanie Sutton.