Capital Witch Enters Second Year

“I became a journalist to come as close as possible to the heart of the world.”

Henry R. Luce

Dear Readers,

On this day one year ago, this site was officially established as the DC bureau of the Pagan Newswire Collective. We have accomplished so much in the past year. As someone who had zero journalism training before embarking on this journey, I have learned so much about writing and reporting just from jumping in and doing it. There are probably more qualified people in the community who have lived here for longer than I have who would have done a great job starting this project off. I think I was just in the right place, at the right time, with the ambition needed to start it.

It was tricky to start out, of course. I think this was the case for most of the original PNC bureau seed-cities.We were sort of flying by the seat of our magical britches with our fearless leader Jason Pitzl-Waters at the helm of our organizing efforts. Bureaus are arranged by cities or city-areas with a national team overseeing recruitment efforts and the editorial process for larger projects. At first, we'd be lucky to get a dozen or so page views a day. Being interviewed and reporting on events made people nervous and suspicious. No one knew what the PNC was and what we did. My PNC press badge might as well have been a sheet of toilet paper!

Things have changed. Over the past year we've built up a dedicated reader base, with new people subscribing to the blog and checking in on their smartphone feeds daily. Currently, around 100 individual people will come to the site to get their DC Pagan news on an average day. For breaking news and major features, that number is usually doubled, at the least. To be honest, it was almost frightening knowing that people actually look to this site to read about what's happening in our community. Wait, I have to spell check my work now? Wow, this thing might actually require a level of professionalism!

In early October, I found that professionalism when I brought on Jennifer Moore to be Editor. Jen checks in on my work to make sure I don't have any glaring mistakes and lets me know when she spots them. In addition to this, she also feeds stories of national interest to the main PNC site and helps brainstorm recruitment efforts. She's also contributed some fabulous articles and musings from her own pen. Jen has been a freelance writer in DC, off and on, for the past decade, so her insight is extremely helpful to our work.

As we grew, we became comfortable reporting on more than just events and happy musings. We started to include stories of both scandal and controversy. It's not surprising that these are among are most widely viewed articles, with several stories being viewed nearly 1,000 times over. The local news as  reported by CapitalWitch has even garnered national interest on more than one occasion. We've been on the scene for some of the most historic events in the Pagan community, speaking with a wide array of fascinating people and organizations.

We are entering our second year hoping to offer more than ever before! The addition of our newest staff member, writer Maria Aquila, will bring an added layer of experience and reporting diversity that will make our news interesting to the largest circulation of community members possible. And of course I cannot forget those who frequently contribute by posting their own views and news on what's going on in the area.

Though we have posted more than 140 articles, there is still work to be done. The next year will be a defining year for our community. All eyes are on DC as The Open Hearth Foundation plans to launch a Pagan Community Center by Imbolc 2012. Leaders and clergy from all over the nation will also be looking in our direction if some of our most important civil rights cases wind up in Washington to be tried. PNC-DC will be on the ground to cover it all. What else could be in store? A podcast? More video reporting? You'll just have to wait and see!

The most important thing I have learned over the course of the past year is that Pagan media is important in more ways than we realize. We have received letters from disabled and elderly Pagans who cherish our event reviews and photos, since they're unable to get out and attend in person. We're valuable to new people moving to the area, because we can present a balanced view of what happens in our community with a layer of personality that you just can't find on meetup or Facebook. People now know that when PNC-DC is on site, questions will be asked and answers will be given.

On behalf of our whole team, I would like to thank the DC Pagan community for supporting this important work. We look forward to entering our second year serving you with the detail and integrity that you've come to expect from us. If you can, come out on Thursday to celebrate our first year and see the faces of those who make this happen.

Sincerely,

David Salisbury
PNC-DC Bureau Chief