New Publisher Notes: The Chestertown Spy Moving Forward

It was a real honor to be asked by Dave Wheelan and the Spy‘s executive board to take on the role of publisher of the Chestertown Spy. I appreciate their confidence. As a Spy advisor providing institutional knowledge and legal counsel over the past decade, I have enjoyed my involvement with the publication immensely. 

Spy Community Media, as we are now known, is growing. The Chestertown Spy is now celebrating its tenth year, and the Talbot Spy is just a few years old and building a strong following. As Dave and I talked about the future of the Spy over the early summer, it was clear that Dave sought out a Chestertown Spy publisher who had an insight into local government, commerce, and politics to help bolster news and public affairs reporting, while continuing to grow the successful arts and culture coverage.

Both Dave and I also recognized that local community newspapers across the country are folding, unable to make the transformation to the online news reality. Dave was seeking a collaborator who shared his vision of building the Spy operation into a sustainable, replicable platform for delivering the Spy‘s Pillars of coverage: local public affairs, arts, and culture coverage.

“Ink” in the Blood

Most people drawn to the news business are born with “ink” in the blood, an itch from birth to ask one too many questions or touch on taboo subjects at the dinner table. Then comes the desire to convert your ideas to words on paper for others to appreciate. I collaborated in the publication of my first newspaper in fourth grade at St Stephen’s School in Alexandria, where by graduation I had worked in almost every aspect of publishing: writing, photography, layout, and ad sales.

Upon arriving at Washington College during the Douglass Cater years, I found an environment ripe for political and news media. While still an undergraduate, I started my first local publication, The Shoreman’s Advocate, and reported for the Kent County News, before concluding Kent County was a news reading place and the more news outlets, the better.

Dave Wheelan was a member of the Cater Administration and encouraged me to launch the The Pilot, a local weekly newspaper, in 1986 if only to get me out of the Administration’s hair. I spent the next two years learning the art of the scoop and forever cementing my love for Chestertown and Kent County.

Fun was had by all in those years, but finally, The Pilot folded in the summer of 1988 and, after a brief stint editing a national financial publication, I headed off to law school. After a post-graduation year clerking for the late Honorable Robert L. Karwacki, Jr., Associate Judge of the Court of Appeals of Maryland, I returned to Chestertown to practice law.

Bullish on Chestertown and Kent County

Over the past 35 years, I have invested time and energy in our community, serving on the boards of the Kent County United Way, Crossroads Community, Inc., Corsica River Mental Health Services, Inc., and the Kent County Bar Association. I am an active member of the Daily Record’s Attorneys’ Editorial Advisory Board and regular contributor to the board’s editorial collaborations. I have been active in political campaigns, having played leadership roles working for candidates as diverse as Ellen Sauerbrey, Martin O’Malley, Frank Kratovil, and Arthur Hock.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am a principal in the Imperial Hotel building, Talbot Road, LLC, which is developing the Radcliffe Center multi-family project on Talbot Boulevard, and Hippocratic Growth, LLC, the medical cannabis company that operates Ash+Ember dispensary in Centreville. I mention these because you will read about these businesses from time to time, and I want to be transparent about my role. Just as important, I want Chestertown Spy readers and sponsors to know that I am committed to Chestertown and Kent County.

Expectations for Publisher and Public

The daily news aspect of the Spy format is really exciting. It’s your local daily online newspaper delivered to you every day at 3 p.m. via email. The Chestertown Spy‘s writing staff, Dan Menefee, Peter Heck, Jane Jewell, Jamie Kirkpatrick, Nancy Mugele, Jenn Martella, and our arts and culture editor Val Cavalera are committed to providing high quality public affairs, arts, and culture content. Since we began our collaboration in July, the Chestertown Spy team has gotten a new rhythm which will only improve over time. 

As Dave discussed in his Publisher’s Note yesterday, we are the very beginning of a process that will give us much better understanding of the community’s needs. I look forward to sharing those findings as we complete the process in January 2020.

Please share your support for the Spy by telling a friend about the Spy Daily News Blast and making a donation to support Spy operations here. Please contact me about becoming a Spy corporate sponsor.

Thanks for your continued support and seeing you on the Streets of Chestertown.

Steve Meehan
Publisher and Editor