This is not goodbye: A final note from the NRI NOW editor’s desk

This was not an easy decision.

Eight years ago, I started NRI NOW with a plan to fill a hole in local news coverage in northern Rhode Island, and to bring more attention to the people, places and things happening in the northwest corner of the state. I found great success, hiring talentetd freelancers, securing advertising revenue and simply doing the job I have always set out to do: reporting the news.

Now, the same dedication I brought to this hyper-local, online-only experiment will move to a different outlet, as NRI NOW merges resources with The Valley Breeze.

This website, which many readers now visit daily, will no longer feature new content as I focus efforts on adding to the local news coverage at The Breeze, bringing even more consistent, thorough and original journalism to the well-respected publication.

The move will mark a homecoming. I previously spent six years working for the newspaper under esteemed editor Marcia Green before I left to forge my own path in 2018.

I am grateful for every reader who has enjoyed my content, for every advertiser that invested in me and for every source that trusted me to tell their story. But the truth is: I haven’t had a single day off since 2018.

I worked through my honeymoon and camping trips, and learned how to look away from the computer screen often so I could avoid car-sickness, and continue responding to emails and typing up reports, while my husband drove us to family events. I have often had the computer on my lap in the morning while my coffee is still brewing and have taxed my family’s patience with long intermissions when news breaks in the middle of a movie.

This is not to say I won’t still be working hard at The Valley Breeze. But I won’t spend additional time selling and designing ads, working out technical/coding issues, monitoring comments, assigning freelance stories, paying freelancers, billing advertisers, updating/rotating ads throughout the website, posting local briefs, promoting social media, adding and engaging subscribers, sending newsletters… You get the picture.

My actual output, and ability to really engage and dig into local stories, will increase at least threefold as I get back to simply reporting the news.

The business will merge with The Valley Breeze and I will return to the paper as a senior staff writer.

I’m sure many of my readers will be surprised by this decision. In recent months, NRI NOW has been stronger than ever in terms of content, engagement and ad revenue. But I find myself with an opportunity to add stability to the mix – not just for myself – but for the region’s news landscape. Under the direction of Managing Editor Laura Colantonio and Publisher Jamie Quinn, the two publications’ purposes align, and that is to bring one audience strong, reliable, local news long into the future.

This is not goodbye, as I intend to bring all of you with me. Please continue to reach out with all of your stories – and know that you will continue to hear from me.

Let’s work together to bring the region’s stories to an even broader audience, and make the Blackstone Valley a model for others of strength, success and commitment to excellence in journalism.

There is much more work to do. Thank you to all who have already played a role.

Your editor, publisher and unrelenting newshound,

Sandy Hall

The Valley Breeze is honoring all NRI NOW advertising contracts and has generously agreed to keep this site active to preserve our archive as a service to our readers. Watch for changes in the near future as we edit the website to put emphasis on the searchable database.