Rebuilding America: A letter from the editor, advertising director of the Tallahassee Democrat
May 31 marks Day One across all 260 USA TODAY Network markets – including right here in Tallahassee – for the Rebuilding America movement.
Today’s special section represents a coordinated effort between news and advertising as we continue to rally our nation, our state and Tallahassee residents and businesses amid the coronavirus pandemic.
This, as everything we produce, aims to be a multimedia experience. In this case, we are focusing on some of the business segments that power American life.
Our mission for this movement is a continuation of what you have seen on our print and web pages since the beginning: Inform our readers on how the community is dealing with, reacting to and rebuilding its economy.
We will examine the changes, the progress and what consumers can expect. Simultaneously, we will navigate readers and consumers through the “new normal” of our marketplace and personal lives. All designed to help Tallahassee reopen with confidence.
We can say with confidence that we have learned a lot about ourselves and our community these past few months:
► We have watched restaurant owners change the way they run their entire operation in a matter of hours and then change again and again.
► We have feared for and celebrated our front-line health care workers as they immerse themselves in the danger zones to ensure that our community stays healthy and safe.
► We have supported our nonprofits, our homeless population, our children and our neighbors through donations of time, money and kindness.
As Tallahasseeans have proven time and time again, we are resilient, we are generous, and we are committed to moving our community forward for generations to come.
We have heard from business leaders that care deeply about their employees and the customers they serve. We have heard from community leaders who strive to serve this community. We are all ready to safely get everyone back to work, our students back to class and our economy stabilized.
Our news and advertising teams are ready. Whether through stories for our readers or marketing solutions for our businesses, we are here to keep Tallahassee informed and moving forward.
Along with the other properties in the USA TODAY Network, we have seen our readership expand during COVID-19. Our most recent readership numbers show that we reached an audience of more than 173 million people across the United States on our digital platforms and local websites alone.
Plus, we have more than 300,000 campaigns running on behalf of clients across the nation provided by LocaliQ, our marketing solutions organization.
“Local“ in that name, along with the Tallahassee in our masthead and website name, represents our deep knowledge and relationships we have with this community and clients that we have been proud to serve for 115 years.
We wake up every day thinking about how we can make our community stronger and help local businesses thrive. We try each day to connect the heart and soul of our community.
We take this responsibility very seriously and closely collaborate to achieve just that as we think about sustaining and growing our business as well. We know our results will be reflected in the outcome of our work. Those outcomes will determine the level of investment we can make in journalism, a critical component of this democracy.
Thank you to our subscribers and our advertisers for your investment in us. You are funding the journalism that creates a healthy economy in which to conduct business — and to live and raise a family. If you'd like to support local journalism and join the ranks of our subscribers, visit offers.tallahassee.com
We’re all in this together. Together, we will come out stronger than ever.
Editor William Hatfield and advertising director Cari Thro are market leaders at the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact William at whatfield@tallahassee.com and Cari at cthro@localiq.com