by Rick Todd
(Rick Todd is the publisher of Orlando-based Watermark and his Publisher’s Desk column from the April 11, 2024, issue of the newspaper is reprinted below with permission.)

Journalism matters. Journalism fosters knowledge and knowledge is power. Journalists ask questions and report the facts. At times they ask questions that are tough for some to answer. The goal is to get to the truth, to tell the stories that bring change when needed and inspire a community.

This may seem like a Pollyanna view of this profession, but for me it is simply how journalists should approach their chosen profession. I am not naïve, there are bad actors in every corner of life. Some reporters tell a story with a specific slant, regardless of truth, or invent their own truth and some engage in vendetta journalism.

I hope you don’t find that to be the case at Watermark. Here, we aim to keep our opinions out of the news. You won’t find us describing Florida’s governor or legislative agenda as a piece of shit. We would rather tell you what the agenda is, how it will affect you and uplift the people who are working for you to make your life better. You don’t need our opinion telling you what to think. You need us to bring you the truth so you can form your own opinion.

Watermark matters. Our mission is to advance LGBTQ+ interests. We do that by connecting community, informing you of what is happening around you that might not be on your radar. We celebrate your triumphs and, at times, we question your missteps. We uplift those fighting the good fight and hold those accountable who seek to silence you.

Now, it is important to distinguish fact from opinion, a journalist from a pundit. I am not a journalist. I only bring you my opinion in every other issue of this paper. In addition, we have others who share their views on our Viewpoint pages. These are designed to bring you a variety of backgrounds navigating a variety of topics as seen through the lens of that person.

I end my columns with the sentence, “We strive to bring you a variety of stories, your stories.” You are our purpose. Bringing you these stories in a manner you can trust is our mission and our job.

The importance of what we do here and the professionalism we must take in pursuing our mission was ingrained in me from the beginning of my 22 years with this company by my mentor and Watermark’s founder, Tom Dyer. I hope to honor that every day.

Watermark is celebrating its 30th year in business. It’s a huge milestone considering Florida politics, recessions, terrorist attacks and a pandemic. We owe it to the businesses that advertise with us and the dedicated staff that has graced our doors throughout the decades.

Times are certainly different than they were 30 years ago. The arrival of the internet has been a blessing and a curse. Although LGBTQ+ media continues to maintain the loyal readership and revenue from print publications, others have not fared so well. This continues to drive the cost of production.

The days when Watermark staffed 13 employees seems like a distant luxury. Today we navigate the news world in two major markets with seven full-time employees and one part-time employee. All of this with the added feature of our online presence with our podcast, website and social media.

It takes a lot of resources to pull this off. That is why we are launching a campaign to ask for support from our loyal readers. There are many ways you can help. You can pick up a copy of the paper and shop with our advertisers. You can simply follow us on our social media platforms. You can engage on our social media posts by liking, sharing and commenting. This engagement increases our visibility and truly helps. You can sign up for our eNewsletter. This is a big one as it shows our potential advertisers that we indeed have a large, concrete number of loyal readers who want to hear from us.

The newest and most direct way you can support Watermark is financially. We need this support to keep doing what this column has laid out that we do. This option is available via our eNewsletter where we provide you with the links to make a one-time gift of support or sign up for a monthly membership.

The main drive here is to keep local journalism thriving, to allow us to keep connecting our community in the way we are uniquely qualified to do. All support is helpful. In addition to making a difference in your community, our membership packages hope to give you some added benefits by providing you greater access to us. We will create a Facebook membership group for you to share thoughts directly with us, we will give you access to exclusive video of our podcast recordings and provide you with a weekly eNewsletter designed specifically for our members. We want you to be part of our family.

We strive to bring a variety of stories, your stories. I hope you will join us in this endeavor.

GUEST COMMENTARY
Volume 26
Issue 4