The Howard Courier Serves Howard County, Maryland
The Howard Courier was established to fill the gap left behind by the Columbia Flyer and the Howard Times after the Baltimore Sun Media Group purchased the two entities.
Howard Courier and Guilford Gazette are both run by Maryland Newspapers LLC, a company established by Ricardo Whitaker, who operates both news websites as the publisher.
Guilford Gazette originated in 2011, while Howard Courier began in 2024. Both experienced rocky starts. The Gazette closed its doors for several years, making a limited comeback in 2023. That began the journey from hyper-local coverage of a small area of Howard County to expanding coverage to all of Howard County.
Supported by Howard County Citizens
This company is not a huge conglomerate, neither is it owned by a multi-billionaire. It is owned by a resident of Howard County who currently lives in a small condominium in Columbia with his wife. No little children and no pets. No wealth. Ninety percent of support comes from Howard County residents.
Moving from the third person to the first, I want many of the same things that other residents and business owners of Howard County want.
I want information about our government and local institutions. And I do not want to jump from website-to-website or from social media platform-to-social media platform to discover news information about where I live.
Building a One-Stop Shop for County News and Information
For that reason, we are building, through Howard Courier, a one-stop information shop. As there is no flood of money from outside sources, we are building this shop month-to-month, one step at a time. The work requires Godly patience on the part of this publisher and probably our dedicated followers.
The decision was made not to convert Guilford Gazette to a permanent county-wide news source, but rather to create a new dedicated website for that purpose and return the Gazette hyper-local coverage, eventually turning it into a journalism teaching hub for local students who will run that entity under the supervision of experienced staff.
The Courier Serving the Community
In 2025, Maryland Newspapers LLC will use its resources to help bring back a volunteer program called Raising the Bar, which is designed to help local parents of young children discover optimum parenting skills, which will enable them to help their children achieve academically and socially.
When readers of Howard Courier become paid members, they not only contribute to bringing Real Journalism to Howard County, they help us achieve multiple helpful programs set for mid-year in 2025. Our subscription portal for Guilford Gazette is closed until we upgrade the site and return to full-time reporting for that website.
While our numbers on Howard Courier are growing, they are not growing fast enough to keep pace with the financial demands of the business. For anyone thinking about supporting our work, this month is an excellent time to sign-up.
Lots of Resources Available and Coming Soon
In a few days, we are bringing on three new freelance reporters. Before the end of the month, we would like to hire up to four more. Each new subscription, which we prefer to call a membership, helps us pay our writers and photographers.
Members get access to the article comment section, all posted articles, full access to post, review and edit calendar events, plus access to special offers from our partners.
Of course, we are posting news and information, but take a look at our Howard Courier news menu. We are developing a focus on what matters to our readers. We have a Youth & Family section where you can quickly find information regarding important news related to Howard County’s core values. For those who want to zero-in on environmental issues, we have a category just for you.
We’re also planning a Political Resource page where readers can quickly gain information about government, candidates and political parties. Stay tuned.
We have search capability to allow website visitors to quickly find any article we’ve posted. When someone is not sure how to search, the topical archive is available on each primary category page. So if a reader wants to scroll through Crime & Justice articles, he only needs to scroll down on that category page to find the archive box, which has all published articles for that category.
Two-way Communication
If you have an idea for the Howard Courier staff, there is a chance that we’re already working on it, but please do not hesitate to share your thoughts. Just use the bottom menu to find the Contact Us page to send a message. We’ll do our best to respond within 24 hours. If you have a suggestion for news coverage, a helpful tip for upgrading our website, or anything at all, please reach out.
You may also be interested in joining our mailing list to receive weekly news updates or receive updates on the progress of the business. If you want up-to-the-minute updates, just look for the red and white bell at the bottom of the website. Click it and then answer the questions to receive instant push notifications whenever a new article is posted. You may download the mobile app to your smart phone to quickly access the site at your convenience. We have lots of options to keep you informed, which include following us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and NextDoor.
In the coming months, we’ll bring back Meet the Publisher, which is the live opportunity for our readers to meet me in person to discuss concerns you want us to cover.
Reader Support is Always Appreciated
We genuinely need your support. Not just financial, but other methods such as visiting our sites frequently, sharing article with friends, and inviting others to visit our websites and subscribe. Anything you, our readers, can do to help us grow to better serve you is greatly appreciated.
Regards,
Ricardo Whitaker – Publisher Howard Courier and Guilford Gazette
