WHILE THE ANN Arbor Independent uncovered and reported on inappropriate emails between AnnArborChronicle.com’s editor and publisher and Ward 1 Council member Sabra Briere, the fact remains that the online news site slated to close on September 2, 2014 filled an important niche. Voters can’t possibly be expected to cast their votes intelligently unless they know what’s going on. The AnnArborChronicle.com served up indispensable meeting records. Who said what; who voted which way; who from the public spoke. While the publication produced relatively little original reporting, when it did the product was always thorough. The editorial mission of AnnArborChronicle.com was to write down what happened at public meetings—often without discerning whether what was said was accurate.

Despite this obvious shortcoming, which allowed local politicians to have their spin and fibs repeated in the media, the exhaustive meeting records provide an invaluable tool. The AnnArborChronicle.com will be missed by not only its readers, but by other journalists, who relied on the site for accurate meeting transcripts.

The City of Ann Arbor produces video records of many public board, commission and all City Council meetings. However, the editor and publisher of the AnnArborChronicle.com provided a written record, including a preview of the agenda items for each Council meeting, live Council updates and live Tweeting of Council meetings. The online site was by no means the only source for live Tweets—a group of local residents gather online to live Tweet Council meetings (#a2council), and other journalists Tweet during the Council meetings, as well. However, the live updates and agenda previews were unique sources of information.

The reality is that most Ann Arbor residents will have no opinion about the closure of the AnnArborChronicle.com. The majority of residents never visited the site, attended one of the site’s subscriber parties or award ceremonies. We say this not to criticize, but to suggest that editor David Askins and publisher Mary Morgan (husband and wife) didn’t have to reach everyone to have a significant impact nonetheless. We hope Mary Morgan and David Askins will accept our sincere thanks for providing the public with an important and unique resource for the past half a dozen years.