GREETINGS.
A heads-up—if you clicked to read the ‘About’ page first, that’s what this post is … about. I wanted to highlight the site’s mission to new visitors. So, then. Welcome to WestVirginiaVille. We’re just getting started. To stay tuned to our latest efforts, subscribe to our free newsletter at: WestVirginiaVille.substack.com | May 25.2020
WHAT’S THIS WEBSITE and NEWSLETTER ALL ABOUT?
WESTVIRGINIAVILLE is a selective, opinionated ‘many/media’ guide to some of the best writing, photography, video, and features on the life and times of West Virginia. We create our own multimedia features and also curate from other sources and take suggestions, too. (We’re highly suggestible.) As the news business contracts and changes, feature and news-feature stories are often the first to go. This site is an attempt to fill that gap. TO RECEIVE UPDATES, SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE at westvirginiaville.substack.com. You will notice The Village of WestVirginiaVille website has all sorts of sections and department, but no content. That’s why you need to stay tuned.
WHAT DOES ‘MANY/MEDIA’ MEAN? SOUNDS DUMB.
WE’RE NOT AFRAID TO BE DUMB. I’ve been looking for a substitute for the tried-and-true—and tired—descriptor ‘multi-media’. For five minutes, I thought of nodding to my Italian roots and going with ‘molti-media.’ But then we’d have to explain it and that would be annoying. We promise we won’t use it often. But ‘many/media,’ signifies two things. WestVirginiaVille showcases everything from traditional text and photographs, to videos, podcast, Youtube series and whatever else the species dreams up next. If, that is, we don’t off ourselves from climate change like a self-cooking frog in a pan. We also draw from many media sources—notebooks to Canon Rebels, blogs to web series, a 1944 Underwood typewriter to Instagram.
WHO’S BEHIND IT? ARE YOU THE ‘DEEP STATE’?
WE DO INTEND TO GO DEEP on some subjects. And there’s a serious lack of deep-dish pizza in the Mountain State. But WestVirginiaVille is a project of Douglas John Imbrogno, former feature editor, writer and multimedia producer with the Charleston Gazette and Gazette-Mail; and videographer Bobby Lee Messer of MesserMedia in Huntington WV. Other collaborators and fellow travelers will be joining us along the way.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
ONE WORD: Free. We hope later on to be rolling out subscription content beyond what we offer for free. Meanwhile, subscribe to our free newsletter. (Shout-out to the substack.com platform, which we highly recommend if you’re looking to launch a low-cost, no-cost multimedia newsletter).
CAN I CONTRIBUTE?
YES, BUT IT HAS TO BE GOOD. Got exceptional stories, images, video or work somehowconnected with the state that deserves a wider audience? E-mail me at douglasjohnmartin AT icloud.com and we’ll consider it. You can also write via the ‘Contact‘ page. Be well, stay safe. Wear a mask in public like a superheroine/superhero. | Douglas John Imbrogno
