Saturday, January 29, 2022

The Richardson Echo is Reborn

Back in 2007, I started a website that was part news and part blog called, "The Richardson Echo." After a time I gave it up. Now is the time to start again.

 This time: More analysis, More opinion, More depth.

Fifteen years is a long time ago I guess. It wouldn't be right if I didn't say how I got here. Read that after the jump.

At the time, there was no news being reported on Richardson, Texas. The Dallas Morning News had some weak coverage that was limited to their column width. Hyper local news and websites were starting. There was a very negative blog which might be described as conspiratorial. Another similar blog would start up later. This was before Facebook, smart phones, and Twitter were near ubiquitous. The audience was still largely on the desktop and laptop screen. In that background, The Richardson Echo was born.

So I was trying to address the lack of news and information. It was a labor of love. Blogging and turnkey websites were a lot harder then. I had to use my technical knowledge to keep it going and that part I did not enjoy.

Richardson Echo Masthead: 2007 - 2012

What I did enjoy was spreading news and information about Richardson, its neighborhoods and its people. It was hard to keep up for a number of reasons. I was heavily involved in community activity in my neighborhood, had a very young kid, and my employment kept me in offices with a sizable commute. By 2012, I gave it up and closed it down. Even so, in the last 2 years I went months between posts. 

I tried to keep my posts news based with less opinion. This time around that is going to change. I won't just do Richardson specific pieces either. I hope to cover broader topics outside of Richardson.

This time: More analysis, More opinion, More depth.

I didn't pick the name - The Richardson Echo - out of nowhere. It was the name of Richardson's longest running newspaper founded by Sam P. Harben. 

Richardson Echo Masthead in the 1950s.

The Richardson Echo was at one time the longest running weekly paper in Texas and around 1950 Harben claimed to have never missed an issue after it had started as a pamphlet in about 1900. According to Clifford Huffhines in his autobiographical book about Richardson, "My City, My Friends, My Life: A 50 year love story of a man and his city" Harben was one of the founders of the Texas Press Association and served on its board for 32 years. 

Part of the motto of Harben's Echo printed below the name is: 

"Devoted to the Good of Richardson, Texas."

That has always been an implied goal of mine in all the things I have done around the community and it is my desire to do exactly that this time around.

Thank you so much for reading.

-- Andrew




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