Once in a while, a community -- like your own -- finds itself in the national spotlight. Sometimes that attention is unwanted.
This fall, two communities in the Issue Media Group family were unexpectedly in the national spotlight -- for very different reasons. One of them was Springfield, Ohio, where IMG publishes
The Hub. The other was
83 Degrees, which covers communities in the greater Tampa Bay area.
A presidential candidate's false claim about Haitian immigrants eating pets in Springfield caused an uproar across the country.
The Hub responded immediately to the negativity with local stories about unity and compassion, showing what this southwestern Ohio community is really all about. Among them was
You belong here, about the timely unveiling of a piece of public art calling for unity.
The story was different but no less impactful
in Tampa, where communities were devastated not by one but two hurricanes, Helene and Milton, just a few weeks apart.
83 Degrees responded with storm updates, post-hurricane relief efforts, and a personal storm experience from freelance writer Dave Scheiber. You can read his account here:
Helene floodwaters and a flood of family and friends.
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