Editor's Notebook: Details on relaunch still a bit sketchy, but flight plan starting to take shape

Over the last few days, it has been encouraging to see some positive reaction on social media channels to the news that “The B Square is back.”

It is hard to deny that The B Square is back, given that some fresh news is getting reported on this new platform.

A previous editor’s note, published on Feb. 25, tried to adjust expectations downward, by comparing the current phase to a pair of red-tailed hawks building a nest.

The new platform will eventually bundle three functions in one place: website news reports; regular email messages to a subscriber list; and a way for people to donate money.

The vision is ambitious. I am not interested in returning to work as a sole proprietor reporting local government news. The idea is to transform The B Square into a publication that folks who live here describe as “Bloomington’s local paper”—even if it is delivered only to digital doorsteps.

But there is a lot of work ahead, before The B Square even reaches a phase that might be considered a soft launch. What you see right now is more like a squishy launch.

Testing out the website news reporting has already started.

By Tuesday (March 4), I hope to have test sent “The Almost Daily Bulletin” to an email subscriber list. The initial list will include those people who opted in for the old list. The initial test send will include any new readers who have added themselves on the new platform—by clicking one of the Subscribe buttons.

Around the start of April, I hope to roll out the donation program. I will be asking rank-and-file residents to help support The B Square through recurring monthly donations.

Why not launch the donation program right away? I am trying to balance the urgency of getting some cash flow into this operation, and making sure that a long-term, sustainable business plan is in place. It’s important to be able to tell contributors exactly what type of legal entity they’re helping to support.

The relaunch effort has come with the encouragement and support from some local community organizations—to reconsider what I had thought was a decision last year to shut down The B Square for good.

In this initial testing phase, I ask for your patience.

I hope that around the start of April, a fledgling new B Square will sit perched on the edge of the nest, then launch itself into the sky.