Greetings and salutations!
Welcome to our all-subscriber newsletter! We send these out when we have news to share or other updates. This one has an update on ForwardKY on Apple News (no longer), some new contributors (yay!), AND a request for some help. Enjoy!
We’re leaving Apple News
A few years ago, we signed up for an account to have Forward Kentucky stories show up in Apple News. We’ve now decided to close that account and stop putting our content on Apple News.
There are a number of reasons for this, but the two biggest ones are (a) the low readership there, and (b) it keeps people from actually coming to the site since it provides the entire story within Apple News.
Elsewhere in the newsletter we have a listing of all the places you can get our content in addition to the site itself. If you’re looking for a good mobile app for that, try NewsBreak. It gives you a summary, but links to the site for the complete story.
I need your help
Hi – this is Bruce Maples, the publisher. I need your help.
For the past few years, I have tried to come up with various perks for the different membership levels on the site – Basic, Supporter, and Sustainer. If people were willing to pay a little more, I thought they should get a little more value. This would be in addition to getting past the paywall, which goes for all memberships.
We did discounts on items at the store, but the store turned out to be a bust. (I still have bumper stickers here in my office. 😉 )
I was going to offer discounted prices for in-person events across the state with guest speakers and food – but the pandemic knocked out that idea. We have adjusted the ads on the site so higher levels see less or no ads, but most people use ad blockers anyway, so that’s pretty meaningless.
So, at this point, I am stuck. I am turning to you for ideas for perks and value-add items. What would you think was a nice perk to get? What is something of value that ForwardKY could provide? Exclusive stories not available to non-members? Special resources? Special online sessions? Earrings? Cheeseburgers?
If you have thoughts, suggestions, ideas, or comments, please click the link below to send me an email. No guarantee we’ll use your idea (we really can’t afford an ocean cruise just for members 🤣), but I can guarantee you that every response will be read. Help me out by sending me your feedback. PS – If you are not a paying member, please weigh in anyway, because I want the perks to be attractive to you as well!
Click here to weigh in on perks for members
New Forward Kentucky contributors!
We’re excited to announce some new contributors to Forward Kentucky. AND, there’s more news at the bottom of the story as well.
Marshall Ward
Marshall Ward is the former president of the Calloway County Retired Teachers Association, and serves on the executive council of the Kentucky Retired Teachers Association. He is a columnist for the Murray Ledger and Times. With their permission, he has started sending us his weekly column for publishing on Forward Kentucky as well. (Marshall’s posts)
Anora Marie Morton
Born and raised in Woodford County, Kentucky, Anora Marie Morton came to Louisville chasing her childhood dream of becoming a lawyer. She graduated from the University of Louisville with degrees in Criminal Justice and Paralegal Studies and is currently studying law at the University of Louisville, Brandeis School of Law. Anora is a first-generation college graduate who is passionate about criminal and social justice. (Anora’s posts)
And more to come
We have a few more new contributors to introduce to you, but we will save those for the next newsletter. We will simply say that they are from some parts of the state where we did not have good coverage, so we are excited to have them on board!
The Forward Kentucky Atlas
An atlas is something that helps you find places you are looking for, as well as giving you ideas of things to explore. So, from time to time we want to help you find ForwardKY content, as well as give you some things to explore, by publishing our own “atlas.”
All Our Content
ForwardKY.com – All our content will be here, including postings of videos and podcasts. If you only check one place, this should be the place.
NewsBreak.com – Excerpts of all our content, with links to the full post.
The NewsBreak app – You can follow us in the NewsBreak mobile app, and see excerpts of all our content, with link to the full post. If you want us on your phone, the NewsBreak app is a great way to do it.
Some Content
DailyKos.com and Medium.com – We cross-post stories on these sites on occasion.
Videos
On our YouTube channel, we live-stream The State of Kentucky every Friday, with the recording of the show posted soon after. We also post other videos on that channel.
Podcasts
All of our podcasts are on the standard podcast publishing platforms, so check them out there.
- My Old Kentucky Podcast – Weekly analysis and interview show. Recognized as one of the best podcasts in Kentucky.
- The State of Kentucky – The audio-only version of our weekly show.
- Moving Kentucky Forward – Interview show that is on hiatus for now.
Social Media
Facebook – All our content is promoted here, as well as some additional items shared from other pages.
Twitter – All our content is promoted here, as well as retweets of others and interactive conversations.
LinkedIn – We post some of our content here.
Instagram – Almost all of our content gets promoted here. (Our Instagram work needs work.)
Pinterest – We post cartoons and photo galleries here.
