No Longer Do You Have To Feel Alone – Kristi

It started about four or five years ago. We were local journalists and photographers hanging around during the lunch hour while our editors quibbled over details and brainstormed our next adventures in the meeting room. I think we were all becoming disenchanted with how things were done because we began talking about how things could be done. We were young and starry-eyed with a lot of fresh ideas, and we joked about starting our own newspaper business.

Those lunch hours spent conversing about journalistic dreams turned us into a little family. We knew that each of us had strengths that when meshed together could be something great, but it was just talk then.

A year ago, after we had each moved on to new jobs (most of us to non-media related positions), we started reviving those old ideas. We read the news daily and pitched ideas on how it could be done better and more effectively for readers. All we needed was a format to build on.

I had been blogging for a while and suggested that we seriously consider making our ideas happen through WordPress.com until we could create a real website. Brian ran with it and thus The Dagger (coined by Matt and Brian) was born.

I remember hating the name, but it has grown on me since that fateful day. We’ve managed to take that name and give it real meaning through edgy news coverage and commentary. I don’t think any of us expected the grand scale of success The Dagger has had in just a year’s time. It truly has been wild watching our collaborative dream grow into a well-known, high traffic online news magazine. We’ve met new people, all from different walks of life, and our little family has grown.

Each of us at The Dagger has a job and family and other priorities, but we take the time to keep The Dagger alive and growing because we believe in it. We come and go, sometimes writing feverishly, sometimes not at all, but each of us is continually a part of its life force, and so are our readers.

The Dagger provides readers across the county, and even the world, with a way to be actively involved in the news—and instantly. No longer do Harford County folk have to send letters to the editor and wait a week to see if it is published. No longer do they have to identify themselves and risk scrutiny from their neighbor or potential job loss when they want to state their opinion publicly. No longer do they have to feel alone.

We’ve provided Harford with the power to have its voice heard and to learn the truth behind what’s going on in the world. No fluff, no hidden agenda, no censorship. In return, Dagger readers have offered both their personal and educated insight, often providing information we might not have learned any other way. That’s why we’re celebrating The Dagger’s one year anniversary today.