By Fred Wilkinson.
We are very grateful for the support and the encouraging comments we have received to date, and proud that our publication has become a regular weekly read for many Aberdonians.
To date we have published 142 articles by 43 local writers, have been visited by individuals from 64 countries and have accumulated almost 40,000 website hits.
Aberdeen Voice grew quickly from a single comment on a social networking site, and a pledge to take action to create a much needed accessible, balanced and fair means of presenting news and views sourced from, and relevant to the people of Aberdeen and the Northeast of Scotland.
We have been perhaps fortunate in that said action brought together a particular group with a mix of experience and skills to make progress possible. From that first meeting, a group of virtual strangers have developed through co-operation and perseverence into an effective and dedicated team. This development has involved substantial learning of skills and some very long days and nights, and will no doubt involve more in the future, but there is reward in the satisfaction that Aberdeen Voice has proven to represent something of value to the people of the Northeast of Scotland and beyond.
We employ no political or ideological agenda to constrain what we publish other than applying our best judgement pertaining to legality, quality, morality, and relevance
We also hope that we represent an example of what can be achieved with very limited resources other than a shared goal, a spirit of ‘have a go’, and a willingness to make sacrifices in order to amass the time and energy required to make our goal a reality. It is hard even for ourselves to believe that it is less than four months since we took a deep breath said “lets do it!”.
The Northeast of Scotland is an exciting place to live at the moment where there are many positive events originating from the benevolence and goodwill of the ordinary Aberdonian to the questionable emanating from those you might expect to know better. Where far reaching change is in either in progress or being proposed there is much at stake, but this is countered with a groundswell of individuals and groups who, out of their love of this part of the world, have become active in their attempts to influence events that could prove highly significant to the future of Aberdeen, in many cases in opposition to overwhelming political and financial motives.
It would be naive or negligent to ignore that these factors have provided an environment where there is a role for an accessible, independent, impartial, and representative source of online news and information.
We are the vehicle, you are the voice. Without your voice there is little to say
Likewise it would be equally naive, negligent or an abandonment of every Aberdonians civic duty not to acknowledge that a groundswell of discontent with established local media coverage has played its part in creating the need for an alternative outlet.
We have stayed true to our aim to create a medium in which we present factual news and articles as well as the real views of the real people of Aberdeen and the Northeast of Scotland. We employ no political or ideological agenda to constrain what we publish other than applying our best judgement pertaining to legality, quality, morality, and relevance to our target audience. We are proud as well as grateful to claim that the quality and quantity of content received to date has seldom given cause for us to present said contributions in significantly altered form.
At this time, it is right to publicly ask “where do we go from here?” – and it is consistent with our ethos to point out that you the readers and potential contributors are where the answer must come from.
We are the vehicle, you are the voice. Without your voice there is little to say, but we are always interested in hearing from individuals who wish to become part of the vehicle.
If you have any comments re. Aberdeen Voice, or may be interested in becoming involved, you can contact us via our home page, or use the comments box below*.
Thanks once again for all your support and encouragement to date.
( *Note. All comments are moderated and monitored for legal purposes.)