By Michele Miller
What’s What New Port Richey
June 1, 2025
It was only a matter of time, I was thinking as I sat in the dingy corner office in the Pasco bureau of the Tampa Bay Times, watching the new executive editor’s eyes glaze over as I espoused the importance of delivering local news to the community I lived in – the community we still served at the time.
Twenty-plus years of being a reporter, you get to learn how to read people. I could tell it was one of those “falling on deaf ears” situations. I was a shortimer, that was that, and maybe it was a good thing, after all, in light of the way things were going.
Outside that dingy corner office was a vacant newsroom that once bustled with editors and reporters covering several beats in the Pasco County regional – cops, courts, county, city, arts/entertainment, education, prep sports. I was one of the few local reporters working in the bureau who had survived several rounds of layoffs. And while I still had a job, it was a depressing, lonely place to be.
When you’ve ridden the rise and fall of glory days, the end can breathe a sigh that blows off the weight you’ve been carrying for far too long.
That’s how I felt when my boss called to tell me that my job had been eliminated. The Pasco bureau was closing. The end.
One door closes……
A few months later, on June 4, 2020, I launched What’s What New Port Richey as an independent news site with a mission to stoke local involvement – “to connect people to the community they live in.”
Another door opens…..
And so with some pride and a whole lot of gratefulness, I am here today typing this missive out in my home office, a few days away from marking five years of doing some of the same work I was doing at the Pasco Times. On my own platform.
Ah, independence.….
In retrospect, the rise and fall of the glory days prepared me for this. A silver lining.
I learned the profession in the Pasco Times newsroom. Learned more skills as cuts in staff meant those remaining were saddled with additional tasks, with no raise in pay – photography, photo-editing, newsletter writing, and an extra newsbeat for me. All things that came in handy, along with the strong connections I’d fostered within the community.
Stimulus bucks paid for the start-up – computer, camera, desk, software. Severance, social security, and a supportive partner who said “Go for it” carried it financially till a bid was put out to local advertisers, who stepped up. That helped What’s What get to a little above a break-even point.
To be sure, there have been times when I’ve thought, “What did I get myself into?” – particularly when I’m coming up on a self-imposed deadline. That I can change. Because I am my own boss.
I am buoyed by growing readership and analytic reports that show posts most often clicked on from the event calendars, business profiles, feature stories, to the simple cut-and-paste media releases concerning news that is obviously important to those who live here, such as proposed improvements for State Road 54.
Seems there are a lot of folks not happy with having to drive on that road. Me, too.
In these, my “retirement” years, I can tell you that the work I’ve taken on is more than fulfilling and hopefully useful to the community that What’s What New Port Richey serves.
Being out in the community, meeting people, writing their stories, and letting them in on what’s going on has always been the most gratifying part of the news business for me, even if I’m swimming in a smaller pond, so to speak. On my own platform.
I’m more than happy to make the connection. Thanks for being here.
Happy anniversary to us. Now onward.
I am so happy for you! I shared the feeling of the old dingy office, rounds of layoffs and pay cuts. We were in different departments (advertising vs news), but we both knew what was ultimately the future. I am excited to have found you. It has been many years. Thank you for caring enough about our community and wanting to make a difference.
Thanks for reaching out and for your kind words. It’s so nice to hear from you! Hope all is well in your world.