Launch of a digital news start-up in Roanoke

ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) – As newspapers have faced financial challenges and cuts, digital news startups have sprung up across the country. And very soon, Roanoke could have two.

Henri Gendreau covered public safety and higher education for the Roanoke Times.

Laid off along with other newspaper workers in April, he is now the driving force behind a new digital news startup.

“What launches this week will be ‘The Roanoke Rambler,’ Gendreau told WDBJ7.

That Roanoke will soon see the Gendreau startup, or another developing digital news site, is no surprise to Rick Edmonds, media business analyst for the Poynter Institute.

“It’s a huge trend across the country,” Edmonds said in an interview Tuesday morning.

“To state the obvious, these reporters want to continue to be reporters,” Edmonds said. “And it’s a vehicle to do it.”

“The Roanoke Rambler” is a weekly newsletter sent to subscribers by email.

It will include local coverage, investigative journalism and literary content, including poetry, short stories and essays.

“I think ‘The Roanoke Rambler’ will be a success if it can tell some really great stories, and if some of those stories have a real impact in the community,” said Gendreau.

The website is now live and the first edition of ‘The Roanoke Rambler’ will arrive on Wednesday morning.

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