Gazelle magazine’s parent company, Gazelle Media, a St. Louis-based media business, is excited to announce its latest venture, STL County News – News for the People.

With future plans for a newspaper-quality print edition, STL County News will cover business, nonprofits, health, law and order, politics, local government and more at stlcountynews.com.

The launch comes just days after the New York Times released an article on how the collapse of local news is causing a national crisis that has “frayed communities and left many Americans woefully uniformed.” The article comes on the heels of a national report by Pen.org (a journalism watchdog group) that sounded a national alarm about the loss of quality local news in a detailed report: Losing the News: The Decimation of Local News and the Search for Solutions.

“Local newspapers, TV stations and radio stations are being bought and consolidated by hedge funds and media conglomerates, and often subjected to relentless cost-cutting, leading to coverage that is more national, less diverse, and – in some cases – more politically polarized,” the report stated. “As local journalism declines, government officials conduct themselves with less integrity, efficiency and effectiveness, and corporate malfeasance goes unchecked. With the loss of local news, citizens are less likely to vote, less politically informed, and less likely to run for office.

“Based on the hundreds of news releases we receive each month at Gazelle magazine, we realized that it was time to expand beyond our women-focused, luxury niche publication, and advocate for our neighbors by providing a diverse collection of news and information that helps enhance our region,”  said Gazelle Media founder and publisher Cillah Hall, a former morning news producer at KSDK-NewsChanel 5. “Few people are aware that our editorial management team is made up of a racially and culturally diverse team of journalists who honed their skills at local broadcast, print and radio news affiliates. They include St. Louis natives, as well as immigrants like myself who are dedicated to covering news that reflects the face of St. Louis – a diverse community of mosaic cultures.”

Stlcountynews.com features a homepage that covers news and information from across the St. Louis region, then features the following core pages that cover neighborhoods: Mid-County, West County, North County and South County that will feature business, government, political, nonprofit and other news specific to each region.

The website also includes features for businesses to submit guest articles, real estate agents to submit home listings, and a slew of other items that will give readers an opportunity to be a part of growing our region. For advertising and other opportunities, send an email to countynews@gazellestl.com, or click on the top banner on the stlcountynews.com homepage.

Watch video below and get to know our publisher.