Belmont now has a daily independent media outlet covering the “Town of Homes.”

The Belmontonian – a word used by several local writers to describe someone living within Belmont’s five-square miles – is dedicated to comprehensive, consistent local coverage based on honest journalism, without agenda or partisanship.

Well, that’s all well and good, but why does our “small” town – which is the 75th largest community in the Commonwealth so it’s not really that tiny – needs a new outlet?

To put it bluntly, Belmont is too interesting a community not to have one. The Belmontonian will be the local venue for news and all things media.

More than ever, Belmont is in the midst of fundamental change on such far-ranging issues from financing basic government and its world-class schools, the growing diversity of its population and the need to pull commerce into town.

And there are neighbors who all have a story to be told, teachers and students who are doing exciting things in and out of the classroom, families and parents seeking interesting events and activities.

With other local media outlets are undergoing rounds of cuts in coverage and staff or moving dramatically to publishing articles with little or no Belmont content, the Belmontonian is a response to public demand for hyperlocal news that others can no longer produce.

The Belmontonian will endeavor to embrace our entire town from politics, arts and culture, business, education, and sports; if it is about Belmont, you can see it here. And each morning, those who sign up for the morning newsletter will receive a list of the most recent stories and other media in your email.

The Belmontonian brand will include extensive use of social media such as the already popular “Belmontonian” Facebook page, Twitter, a Youtube channel and anything else I can get my hands on.

I’m a three-decade Belmont resident (still referred to as a “newcomer” by some), a proud parent of a child (“The Boy”) who spent 13 years in the Belmont School District, a dozen years as a hockey dad, an award-winning journalist and editor (including at the Belmont Patch for nearly four years) who can be found at my three home offices: the Starbucks’ in the Center and Cushing Square and in the library.

The web page will undergo improvements and design changes as technology and as my own tastes change but it will remain the go-to site for all media concerning Belmont.

But this site will only grown with your involvement: sending story ideas, telling me interesting facts, spending time talking at “the office” and, or course, advertise and sponsor those businesses which (hopefully) will place ads on the site.

Thanks for taking the time and bookmark the site right now!

Franklin B. Tucker, Publisher and editor, The Belmontonian.

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