You may have read recently about “news deserts” cropping up in various parts of the nation.  A “news desert” is an area where an independent news source is lacking.  There is no local news content from a local newspaper or other reliable, daily source in these “news desert” areas.

Residents of Hamilton County, even though we are a wealthy, largely suburban area, have seen regular sources of local news diminish.  There are some weekly, monthly and bi-monthly publications, but a lot of their content uses feature stories and gives little or no space to important government and political news.

We have major news outlets, such as the Indianapolis Star and the Indianapolis Business Journal, paying some attention to news in places like Fishers, Carmel and Noblesville.  But you don’t see the regular, day-to-day news coverage one finds in a daily news source like a local newspaper.

Even with all that Hamilton County has going for it, we have been in some danger of becoming a kind of news desert, with independent, regular local news coverage harder to find.

That’s one reason I started LarryInFishers.com nearly six years ago.  Fishers news on a daily basis was hard to find.  When I floated the idea of ending LarryInFishers, you people reading the blog let me know, in no uncertain terms, you want me to continue, so here I am.

Earlier this year, I was approached by Jeff Jellison, publisher of the Hamilton County Reporter, about working out an arrangement to provide Fishers news content for his publication.  I checked it out at the time.

The Reporter has a weekly print edition mailed to its subscribers.  But Jeff Jellison also publishes a Wednesday through Sunday daily edition of the paper online.  It is in a PDF format so it looks just like a print newspaper, just online.  You can have it delivered to your e-mail Inbox free each day.

This is a business model that intrigued me.  Jeff and I met in early February, and worked out something called a news partnership.  That means you will see stories posted on my news blog in the Hamilton County Reporter, and you will see stories from The Reporter on LarryInFishers.com.

This allows my readers to get more county-wide news, and readers of The Reporter can see my news stories on Fishers.

LarryInFishers,com is a volunteer effort by me and has my name on it.  I was wary at first in making a deal with a commercial newspaper, but Jeff Jellison and I made a personal connection and I decided to give this partnership idea a 90 day test period.

If you read this blog you know we passed the 90-day test.  The Reporter and I have an excellent relationship and, in my view, have both become stronger operations because of our partnership.

The Reporter has a Web site you may access at this link.  Use the contact section to have the Reporter delivered to your Inbox six days a week.

The Hamilton County Reporter has bucked the trend in journalism lately.  The Reporter is growing, in print subscriptions, e-mail subscriptions and online traffic.  Why?  Because people are wanting better local news content and are getting it with The Reporter.

I am proud to be associated with Jeff Jellison and the Hamilton County Reporter.  If you haven’t tried it, do so.

If you are a fan of Hamilton County sports, you will not find a more complete sports section than the Reporter.  Sports Editor Richie Hall works hard to keep that section filled with local sports items.

Hamilton County is not a news desert because of people like Jeff Jellison and news operations like the Reporter.