GOOD Morning Wilton Celebrates 10-Year Anniversary

If you’d told me 10 years ago what it takes to publish GOOD Morning Wilton daily, Monday through Friday, I’m not quite sure I would have launched it.

But I’m so grateful I did.

Our mission from day one has stayed the same: focus primarily on GOOD stories in Wilton (and only Wilton) to encourage residents and readers to get more engaged in town and connect more with one another — and to do so staying committed to always keeping the news accessible and free to everyone.

Recognizing the GOOD in Wilton has been a vital part of GMW‘s mission, so important that we emphasize it in our logo and name. We have not shied away from covering hard news when it’s necessary. Still, all of our coverage is for the good of Wilton, especially at a time when independent news is shrinking both locally and nationally.

When GMW celebrated one year, I wrote: “We began this auspicious experiment, taking the hyperlocal news plunge and starting GMW from scratch. With no backing from any media company, with just the idea that very local news could be positive, original, fair and covered by people who live and breathe the issues and events in town, we launched this website.”

Since August 18, 2013, we’ve published 10,673 stories and posts and garnered over 11 million pageviews from Wilton and far beyond. Through them all, we’ve walked that same path. We’ve remained independent and intimately connected to this town like no other news organization. The number of media outlets covering Wilton has declined and we’ve watched as the resources anyone else puts toward covering Wilton news has slowed to a drip.

We’re grateful that Wilton has embraced the idea of GMW and the ideal of GMW. When talking to colleagues in the hyperlocal news publishing field, I often say how lucky we are to be covering a “unicorn town” like Wilton. It’s a town of engaged citizens who care deeply about one another and about the town’s future, and they want to read and support a hyperlocal online news publication. At just under 18,500 residents, Wilton is the perfect size to manage what’s needed to publish daily news and there are GOOD stories to cover everywhere.

That’s the ideal part — the GOOD.

We’ve introduced new businesses and revisited long-standing ones, and learned more about the people behind them; we’ve helped raise money for local organizations as well as for individuals in need; we’ve covered storms, bears, protests, town meetings, politics, murder, real estate, Wilton kids doing GOOD things, sports, and what’s happening at Town Hall and in Wilton schools. And who could forget COVID — we definitely covered that too.

We’ve seen high school interns and contributors grow up to become professional reporters (including one TV meteorologist). We’ve welcomed new contributors, experimented with new features, and been lucky to have very talented writers join us in fulfilling our mission. We’ve branched out into streaming video and video reports and we’ll be doing even more in the coming year.

We’ve also been recognized by local civic organizations and professional journalism associations alike. Receiving the First Amendment Award in 2021 from the Society of Professional Journalists was a milestone. But just as meaningful as the professional recognition are emails we receive from readers thankful for the service GMW provides to the community.

Of course, we haven’t been perfect and anytime we’ve stumbled we’ve tried to take accountability. We’re continuously trying to improve, learn, do more, and figure out how to better serve our readers.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be taking a look back at our 10 years, following up on some of our favorite stories and looking at what’s happened in Wilton during the last decade.

None of it would have happened without the many people who made it possible:

• The cheerleaders at the beginning and along the way who saw the potential and kept encouraging us…

• The loyal advertisers who have supported us with their business…

• The over 650 members whose financial support has helped us grow to sustainability all while making sure independent journalism stays strong in Wilton…

• The many writers and photographers who make it possible to cover as much as we can — from those who, in the early years, contributed their talents for nothing but a byline; to those who now dedicate themselves to providing GMW with the highest quality journalism in the market…

• The friends and family who have offered unwavering support, most especially my husband, my children, my parents and my sister, this would have been impossible without you.

And of course, GMW readers, thank you for providing the reason we continue to do what we do. Ten years ago I might not have been able to anticipate what it took to produce GMW on a daily basis, but now that I do, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I hope you’ll stick with us for the next 10 years … and beyond.

If you’d like to join the readers who want to help GMW remain sustainable to continue to provide independent news coverage in Wilton, please consider becoming a member.