MercerMe will be closed for a brief, 10-day vacation – the first hiatus in the nearly five years for publisher, editor, and founder Mary Galioto. We’d love to keep the news rolling for you during this time, but budgetary constraints make that impossible.
Don’t despair! We’ve got some highlights for you to peruse as you await the return of your timely and trustworthy MercerMe news.
Did you know? MercerMe is…
- Independent: We’re not a franchise! We’re grassroots – committed to our community and nobody else.
- Hyperlocal: We’re all members of the community we cover. Our reporters and contributors report on the community in which they live and/or work.
- Woman-owned: MercerMe is fully run by Jill of Several Trades, Mary Galioto. This former lawyer who lives in Hopewell Borough also works as the PR & Media Coordinator for the Hopewell Valley Arts Council, is a freelance writer, and has two little kids.
- Reliable: We’ve been serving our readers with news since 2013. In that time, we’ve published nearly 2,500 news articles that have been read 1,000,000 times. Yes, one million!
- Advertising-supported: We are so appreciative to our advertising sponsors, including Cooper Creative, Stellitano Heating and Cooling, and Fluid Physio. Their support is what makes your local news possible. Want to help support us? Check out this link.
- Really popular! We’re deliriously honored that 11,000+ visitors read MercerMe every month to get the news they need about our community – news they can’t get anywhere else.
Highlights and History — We’re awfully proud!
- MercerMe was born from a mommy-blog written by now publisher Mary Galioto and two friends. MercerMe and its current model was established in December of 2013 to provide the sorely needed news this community has been looking for. The publication has since continued under Mary Galioto’s guidance, always with our readers and our community in mind.
- MercerMe Receives Grow and Strengthen Grant from Montclair State University’s Center for Cooperative Media (June, 2014): “As the news business gets tougher and newsrooms continue making layoffs, we’re excited to see entrepreneurs fill the gaps,” said Debbie Galant, associate director of the Center for Cooperative Media. “We can give them a helping hand so they have a better chance of making it through the challenging first year.”
- MercerMe Welcomes Mayor Cathleen Lewis as Columnist: From 2014 to 2016, we were proud publishers of a column “Mommy Mayor” by Lawrence Township’s former mayor, Cathleen Lewis, who wrote of her take on work-life balance and life as a publically involved working mom.
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Letters to the Editor: We started accepted letters to the editor in October 2014 to expand community participation possibilities and ensure that MercerMe really continues to serve as the community’s news source.
- The Taste Chase: One of our highlights is our popular column, The Taste Chase, written by Pennington resident Renata Barnes. She scouts out the tastiest treats from all corners of Mercer County. Yum it up and binge on some of her past reviews!
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MercerMe’s Cut Throat Cookie: This is not your grandma’s holiday cookie exchange. Not unless your grandma is well versed in smack talk and has a filthy mouth. MercerMe’s Cut Throat Cookie is a competitive and lively cookie contest and exchange that brings together the love of baking and the glory of bragging. Wonderfully organized and hosted by MercerMe’s best and bravest supporters most notably the amazing Renata Barnes (also of The Taste Chase) and also a great shout out to the Rukensteins for opening their home and hospitality to this motley crew.
MercerMe Achievements and Media Coverage
- Interview in 2016 with Media Shift on the future of hyper-local journalism. Could the Future of Sustainable Hyper-Local Journalism Lie With Stay-at-Home Parents?
- Interview in 2015 with Media Shift. How the Center for Cooperative Media Is Fortifying Local News in New Jersey
- MercerMe Founder Mary Galioto Interviewed by Rider University Radioon The Business Hour
- Citizen’s Campaign Video in 2014 – How to Cover a Government Meetingstaring a camera-shy Galioto. Some people are cut out for written communication!
The most popular article of all time
- Truth be told, “How to Dress in Creative Black Tie” was our all-time most popular and was written in preparation for a nonprofit fundraiser hosting an event with that theme.
- Our ALL TIME (most substantive popular article) is from 2017: Hopewell Borough Declares Itself a Sanctuary City.