By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
APRIL 1, 2025 | April marks the 25th year that GwinnettForum has been published. Simply, I started this publication to extend my life, for I had seen too many retire, do nothing, and drop dead soon. I’m still around.
During these years, we’ve been blessed to have Gwinnett companies help underwrite the expenses associated with publishing. We enjoy publishing it, and have had the good fortune of having many readers, mostly in Gwinnett, contribute and respond to current topics and exchange views, on a wide array of opinion. There are no paid employees of GwinnettForum.
Our biggest fear when starting was whether anyone would send good “stuff” (stories, views) for publication.
For the first issue, we asked Ellen Gerstein, of the Gwinnett Coalition for Health and Human Services, to write 500 words for our main topic, and we also began writing 500 words for each issue. We asked for relatively short submissions, since we know people won’t read long stories as much as shorter ones.
We should never had worried about content. Time we began sending out GwinnettForum, here came the writings on a wide range of topics from people eager to get their two cents in on all sorts of issues to reflect the variety of opinion in the community. There is a cadre of individuals who routinely contribute stories, and for this, we are grateful,
We knew the publication would draw letters to the editor, which we wanted, the more the merrier. (We asked that letters be limited to 300 words, and not ramble on and on.) That pleases us more than any other way, when people take the time to respond to ideas generated by contributors. They brighten our publishing efforts.
Over the years, GwinnettForum has changed considerably to enlarge its scope. We never thought of pictures at first, then found that with cell phone cameras, everyone was taking them and they were easy to send, which added another dimension. The photos help explain the written word.
Perhaps the most popular feature we’ve ever added is the Mystery Photo. It continues to draw often beautiful photographs of distinctive places. Some far-flung readers enjoy trying to solve it quickly and usually do. It’s gratifying to see lots of response to this mystery, and we like to print the names of those who recognize the photos.
Seldom have we outright rejected material, though some stories are not strong or interesting enough to warrant publication. Though we recognize that we are a social liberal, we are fiscally conservative, and welcome publishing material from both sides of the political aisle. However, we seem to attract fewer conservative views. We would welcome printing more political views.
Sometimes as we start finishing the next issue the day before publication, we will have a blank space for one segment of the issue. Yet so often that very morning, here comes an email from someone writing on a subject that fills that particular spot. It is amazing how often that last-minute submission gets in the next day’s issue.
Our Calendar in each issue takes up little space, but is important. Each upcoming listing is relatively short in words, but provides a glimpse of interesting and important events that will take place soon in the county. We love doing it. Send in your planned event at least two weeks before.
We find it hard to believe we’ve published GwinnettForum for 25 years. It’s still fun for us. Your job is to keep reading and sending us “stuff.”
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