announcement

ARLnow welcomes three new staffers

By ARLnow.com
Twilight over snowy Rosslyn and Courthouse (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

You will be seeing three new bylines on ARLnow stories in the coming days.

Three journalists joined the site this week, two in a full-time capacity and another as an intern.

Madisson Weyrich is our new Food and Drink Editor, a newly-created position that will mostly serve ARLnow but will also involve reporting on restaurants, small businesses and events for our sister sites ALXnow and FFXnow.

Madisson has a background in food, lifestyle and culture writing and comes to us from Crystal City-based PBS. She lives in Arlington with her husband and her corgi, Tater, and spends her time trying — and writing about — new food.

Dan Egitto joins as a reporter for ARLnow, alongside James Jarvis and Assistant Managing Editor Jo DeVoe, who will be departing in a couple of months.

Dan is returning to the East Coast after a year in California at the Vallejo Times-Herald. Hailing from Central Florida originally, he studied at Duke University and got his start in hyperlocal reporting at the Palatka Daily News in Florida. His background includes public safety and local government reporting, and he is deeply interested in learning how to survive an Arlington winter.

Savannah Taffe joins us as a spring semester intern as she completes her senior year at the University of Missouri in Columbia. She is currently studying Broadcast Journalism but is branching out into online news to widen her horizons.

Please join us in welcoming Madisson, Dan and Savannah!

ARLnow parent Local News Now partners with Montgomery County news site The MoCoShow

By ARLnow.com
The MoCoShow logo

ARLnow has a new neighbor in the ol’ datacenter today.

The MoCoShow — the homegrown (and very popular) local news site for Montgomery County, Maryland — has partnered with Local News Now, the company that publishes ARLnow, ALXnow and FFXnow.

Much like LNN’s partnerships with PoPville and Potomac Local, our company will be working with The MoCoShow to help sell advertising to local organizations, to provide a high level of service to advertising clients, and to host and maintain their website.

It remains a challenging time for local news, even at large companies with deep financial backing like the Washington Post. But LNN and its partners are finding success through authentically local, audience-focused coverage; through forward-thinking and client-focused advertising solutions; and by centralizing technical and back office functions.

With the addition of The MoCoShow to the roster of LNN owned-and-operated and partner sites in the D.C. area, the company now collectively reaches more than 3 million monthly unique website visitors while serving over 80 million pageviews annually.

“We are so excited about our partnership with LNN and look forward to being able to expand the ways we can continue to work with local businesses,” said The MoCoShow founder Alex Tsironis.

“Local news is alive and well in the D.C. area and the added scale and reach this partnership provides will help bolster the editorial mission of all of our sites and partners,” said LNN founder Scott Brodbeck. “We’re especially pumped about working with The MoCoShow since its rapid organic growth reminds of us of the first years of ARLnow — except they now have an even bigger audience. And that’s not to mention their incredible social media engagement.”

“The MoCoShow is an authentic local voice for Montgomery County and an example of how local news consumers are prioritizing useful, relevant and fact-based information over staid news reporting styles and sensibilities,” Brodbeck continued. “We can’t wait to see how they find more ways to serve MoCo residents as we help grow their revenue and keep non-editorial costs down.”

This is LNN’s first presence in Maryland since the sale of Bethesda Now to Bethesda Magazine in 2014.

Expanded advertising opportunities on The MoCoShow are now available. In the coming months, meanwhile, LNN will embark on a major web development project to modernize the look, feel and function of The MoCoShow, ARLnow and the rest of our local sites.

Sign up for ARLnow’s AI-written morning email

By ARLnow.com
Robots in a local newsroom (AI generated image by ARLnow via Midjourney)

ARLnow’s flagship Afternoon Update email newsletter gives you links to all of the local headlines of the day — up until 4 p.m., at least.

But what if you wanted a quicker way to breeze through local news stories for the previous day?

Now there’s an official option for that (in addition to the Early Morning Notes email for ARLnow Press Club members).

Today ARLnow is officially rolling out its AI-written morning summary email. You can get it in addition to — or instead of — the Afternoon Update here.

For existing subscribers, click “Update your profile” at the bottom of any email and select the option of “Add morning AI email.”

The morning email goes out weekdays at 8 a.m. and is completely written via AI, with only minor human intervention when necessary. Despite tweaks over the past few months, it remains somewhat overwrought and corny in its approach, but it does summarize stories pretty well.

This is, admittedly, a bit of a novelty for now. You shouldn’t use the AI-written email alone for decision-making purposes. But if you want to see an interesting showcase of current AI capabilities, while getting a quick summary of local news in Arlington, sign up here.

A recent ARLnow morning email

Introducing the new ARLnow merch shop

By ARLnow.com
1/4

Arlingtonians have a new destination for Arlington and ARLnow merch.

Today ARLnow is officially launching our new online store. Whereas we used to only sell items on Amazon — the best-selling Gondola Now shirt for instance — now we have our own storefront for a wider variety of items, designs and colors.

Brown flip flops? Check. Fresh gondola designs? Check.

More items are in progress and we’re also happy to take requests. Let us know what you want to see in the comments, and you might soon see it added.

A portion of all purchases support ARLnow’s local reporting.

ARLnow welcomes new assistant editor

By ARLnow.com
James Jarvis (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

ARLnow has added to its full-time news staff.

James Jarvis, previously of InsideNoVa and FauquierNow, has joined as assistant editor, becoming the tenth full-time employee of Ballston-based Local News Now, the publisher of ARLnow.

Jarvis joins fellow assistant editor Jo DeVoe, staff photographer Jay Westcott, freelance reporter Matt Blitz and editor-in-chief Scott Brodbeck on ARLnow’s editorial team. The hire was made possible in part by the ongoing support of ARLnow Press Club members.

Born and raised in Northern Virginia, James completed his undergraduate degree at Franklin & Marshall College in 2018 before getting a master’s degree in journalism from Georgetown University in 2020.

He started his journalistic journey as a Fairfax County reporter for InsideNoVa in 2021 and took over coverage of Fauquier County for the FauquierNow.com website in January 2022 after InsideNoVa acquired it. His earlier career includes internships at The Hill newspaper and freelance work for both the Washington City Paper and Country ZEST & Style Magazine.

During his time at InsideNoVa and FauquierNow, James reported on a wide range of topics from local government and education to comprehensive investigative pieces.

Now part of the ARLnow team, James is enthusiastic about opening a new chapter in his career, striving to cover all facets of Arlington, and ensuring that local residents gain a more insightful understanding of their local community. He will also be contributing photos to stories and assisting with the relaunch of ARLnow’s podcast.

It’s a busy spring for events and announcements on ARLnow

By ARLnow.com
Events from ARLnow’s event calendar

If you’re not already checking out events and announcements on ARLnow, you’re missing out.

Community submissions to both the event calendar and the announcement section have ramped up significantly this spring. It’s now an even better way to discover happenings and offerings around Arlington.

Some current examples:

In addition to going to the dedicated events and announcement pages, you can also see them under articles, in the middle of the homepage and at the bottom of our email newsletter.

Happy browsing!

Readers can now sign up for ARLnow’s AI-written email newsletter

By ARLnow.com
AI-written newsletter screenshot

For the past few weeks, ARLnow has been experimenting with an automated email newsletter that’s written almost entirely by AI.

The “ARLnow AM” newsletter sends at 8 a.m. each weekday morning and summarizes that day’s Morning Notes and the past day’s local news articles.

Aside from the headlines, the intro and the article summaries are all written by the GPT-4 generative AI model. Further, the email’s design was mostly coded by GPT-4 and the creation and sending of the email each morning requires no human intervention.

The idea behind the email was to give readers a morning alternative to our venerable Afternoon Update email without needing to use scarce additional staff resources.

The newsletter is admittedly not perfect. Let’s list the ways:

  • We’re still working to refine the design. Coding an email newsletter that’s compatible with all email clients is much harder than it sounds.
  • Sometimes the AI-written article blurbs miss factual nuances in stories.
  • The AI-written intros are, for lack of a better term, corny. They’re also a bit repetitive. We’re trying to figure out ways to improve it.
  • At this point, we have not included any local advertising. (According to our polling, at least, the ads from local businesses on ARLnow are seen as a generally positive feature of the site.)

So, the bottom line is that this is experimental and the blurbs should not be entirely relied upon for decision-making purposes. But, if you want a front seat to seeing how AI can be applied in local media, we’re offering a chance for readers to sign up and check it out.
 

Subscribe to ARLnow’s AI newsletter (beta)

* indicates required







Note that this is on a separate mailing list, so signing up will not affect an existing Afternoon Update or ARLnow Press Club subscription.

Post your organization’s special announcement on ARLnow!

By ARLnow.com
Announcement on ARLnow (left) and promoted in our daily newsletter (right)

Local companies and community organizations share a challenge: figuring out how to get the word out quickly and cost effectively.

Good news: ARLnow has you covered.

Our recently revamped Announcements feature lets you self-publish an announcement, with an accompanying photo, directly on the website and our email newsletter. Fill out one form, and you’re done.

For just $99 your message appears:

  • On the ARLnow homepage*
  • Below ARLnow articles*
  • In the ARLnow newsletter*
  • In search engine results

The homepage gets 100,000 to 150,000 weekly views while our email newsletter has 16,000 active subscribers. Also, for an extra fee, we’ll boost your announcement via our Facebook and Twitter accounts, with about 100,000 followers total.

Post announcements here or, if your announcement is a job opening, use this form instead. Jobs listed are posted as announcements but in a optimized format.

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[su_button url=”https://form.jotform.com/222106445621143″ style=”flat” color=”#ffffff” size=”6″ center=”yes” icon=”icon: hand-o-right”]Submit an announcement[/su_button]

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[su_button url=”https://form.jotform.com/222475836733160″ style=”flat” color=”#ffffff” size=”6″ center=”yes” icon=”icon: hand-o-right”]Submit a job listing[/su_button]

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* For one week, potentially in rotation with other announcements

Looking for a career upgrade? We’re looking for you.

By ARLnow.com

ARLnow publisher Local News Now is seeking eager, goal driven and detail-oriented candidates interested in an account management role on our growing team.

This unique opportunity may be of particular interest to new college grads, stay-at-home parents looking to re-enter the workforce, and job switchers, especially those in the service and retail industries. It will provide training and hands-on account management experience to 1-2 individuals on a part-time basis, with flexible hours.

The goal is for the position to become full time by the fall — or sooner. (We are also open to hearing from those with directly relevant sales experience who are seeking an immediate full-time opportunity.)

Our company helps advertisers build and grow their business by providing them with individual support and solutions to a variety of business needs through display advertising, sponsored content, and social media on our sites and social platforms.

As an account manager, you will be responsible for helping our company grow by identifying potential advertising clients and engaging them via email. You will also assist with client relations, marketing, and operational responsibilities. This position does not involve cold calls or visits.

If you are outgoing by nature, adept at establishing interpersonal relationships, and possess strong organizational and problem-solving skills, this may the perfect way to put yourself on a path to a personally rewarding and financially lucrative career.

The ideal candidate should also have:

  • Basic technical skills and ability to quickly learn new systems, like Asana, Airtable and Pipedrive
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills
  • Sales experience and/or a customer service background
  • The drive to make clients feel comfortable and supported
  • Strong work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit; our team is self-disciplined and motivated
  • An interest in social media and community outreach
  • Familiarity with startup culture is a plus!

Local News Now’s office is based in Ballston. You’ll be expected to complete at least some of your job responsibilities at our office. Local News Now offers a close-knit team and a fun, startup-like environment to work and grow

This position will pay a competitive hourly rate plus performance-based bonuses.

To apply, please send a PDF resume or Linkedin profile link to [email protected]. In your email, include 2-3 paragraphs that concisely describe why you’re interested in this position and why you are uniquely suited to succeed in it.

ARLnow seeking summer interns

By ARLnow.com
Former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam answers reporters’ questions at Amazon announcement in Pentagon City in 2018 (file photo)

Can you turn a quick story on a hen loose outside the Pentagon? Do debates over gondola transit between Arlington and D.C. captivate you? Are you the first to ask about a new business in town?

Arlington-based Local News Now, the publisher of ARLnow, is looking for energetic, creative and detail-oriented interns at our growing online news company. Interns will get hands-on local news reporting experience while working closely with editors and learning how to write interesting stories that encourage reader loyalty and engagement.

Three paid internships are available:

  • General assignment reporting (2 positions)
  • Audience engagement and social media management

The interns will report and work on projects across LNN’s three websites, with a focus on ARLnow in Arlington while also contributing to ALXnow in Alexandria and FFXnow in Fairfax County. We regularly write about everything from breaking news to government meetings to development and local business.

Candidates should be able to quickly learn new subjects, work under deadline pressure and have a passion for telling stories in engaging ways.

As we expand, we are bolstering our audience engagement strategies and will work with one of the interns to craft social media posts, as well as monitor and measure responses across various technology platforms.

Interns would work Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from June 1 through mid-August. The position is mostly remote (work from home), but interns should be able to go to local assignments and to our office in Arlington, as needed.

Local News Now is an innovative company focused on building a sustainable local news business model. LNN’s flagship website, ARLnow, recently celebrated its 12th anniversary. Since its founding, LNN has launched several other websites, including ALXnow, and recently announced the expansion of coverage in our existing Fairfax County market. LNN employs 10 full-time employees plus a number of freelance contributors.

If interested, email a resume and cover letter to [email protected] by March 21.

ARLnow has a new media kit and new ways to advertise on the site

By ARLnow.com

ARLnow’s advertisers aren’t just reaching a huge local audience, they’re helping us serve the community with award-winning local news coverage.

It has always been our focus to find the intersection of highly effective ads (for clients) and legitimately useful and interesting ads (for readers). In other words, ads that you actually want to read.

That’s why we’re proud to officially roll out our new 2022 Media Kit today.

With a greater range of cost-effective options, we can deliver more value to our clients and more locally-focused ads to our readers, while also reporting more local news.

We’ve kept pricing in the new Media Kit largely the same as 2021, as local businesses continue to recover from the pandemic. But we’ve added a number of new options, including:

  • Posts with embedded forms and buttons
  • Contests and giveaways
  • Sponsored job listings
  • Social media-only promotion, including on our popular Instagram account

In addition to those options, available by contacting our account team (via email, phone or the form below), advertisers can now quickly book four types of sponsored content via self-serve options:

All four include links in our email newsletter, homepage placement, and optimized search engine indexing. The Listing, Job and Promoted posts are also promoted via social media.

Those are in addition to revamped featured events in our event calendar, on our homepage and in our daily email newsletter.

Our ad options provide a viable, local and affordable alternative to social media ads, which are increasingly expensive on a per-impression basis, and print ads, which reach an increasingly limited audience.

(more…)

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