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For nearly a century, the Orthodox Observer has been the voice of our Archdiocese, chronicling our shared journey of faith, community, and witness. Since its founding in 1934, this legacy publication has carried the stories across generations, binding parishes, families, and the faithful with news and inspiration.

But times change.

In 2019, the traditional print model collapsed under the weight of costs that had grown to nearly $1 million annually. In a world of the 24-hour news cycle, the printed newspaper was no longer useful or viable to most of our readers. The challenge before us then was stark: How could we preserve the Observer’s mission in a new era, while safeguarding the finances of the Archdiocese—and doing so in the middle of an unprecedented global pandemic?

His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America set the challenge clearly: Rebuild the communications operation of the Archdiocese, and make it credible, resilient, and future-facing.

That challenge became our mission.

We established a consistent presence across the Archdiocese’s many social media channels. We upgraded our visual storytelling through quality photography and video. We created a credible media operation, one capable of responding 24/7 in two languages—Greek and English—across the United States, Greece, and Cyprus. His Eminence was interviewed and quoted in major US and international outlets including The Associated Press, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, The Guardian, NPR, FOX and the BBC, as well as  Athens (Greece) based such as Kathimerini, Ta Nea, To Vima, Proto Thema, LIFO, Athens News Agency, ERT TV, Antenna TV, Skai, and MEGA TV.

The results have been striking:

  • Social media views in the tens of thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands
  • Articles picked up by news outlets across the globe and a reputation for clarity, credibility, and presence.
  • Staff development that today means our stories can be told across multiple platforms and in real time

Our next step was to ensure this presence is robust, authentic, and not dependent solely on algorithms. We would need to create homes to showcase the stories, events and voices that matter most to you: our readers.

First, we reimagined the Orthodox Observer digital newsletter—designed for laptops, desktops, but primarily mobile devices. Today, it reports on the wider community, offers a variety of features, and is now reaching 27,000 subscribers twice per week with an opening rate well over 50%. The newsletter has become a lifeline of information and also a trusted voice in people’s daily lives.

And today, we turn to the next chapter: we present you the Observer’s new website. Designed to be contemporary, pleasant to read, and easy to navigate across topics, it embodies the same values of accessibility and service that have guided us from the beginning.

Throughout this journey, we have been encouraged and guided by the feedback of our readers. You have reminded us the Archdiocese is called to fulfill many needs and roles: to proclaim our faith; to protect the Ecumenical Patriarchate; to serve as the center of community life; to sustain vital links with Greece and Cyprus; to support language, culture, and spiritual identity; and to respond to existential needs in a world transformed by technology, artificial intelligence, coming under strain because of increasing inequality, and a sense of injustice.

Our Church is present. And so is its voice of record—the Orthodox Observer.

We welcome you to this next chapter.

The new Orthodox Observer was built to complement the content you will still find on GoArch.org. It will be your destination for news and event coverage, and it addresses perhaps the most important challenge we face today: How to share and amplify your stories at a time when the media coverage we have relied on for generations has all but disappeared.

This has been a massive team effort. In the staff section here on the site, you will find more about my colleagues and associates, Marissa, Corinna, Claire, Sara, Salvatore, Kevin, Amelia, Ben, Dimitri, Brittainy, Pano, and Alki.  None of this progress could have happened without everyone’s efforts, but I must highlight Marissa and Corinna—their dedication and hard work all this time and throughout the summer were truly invaluable.

I also want to express my gratitude to a few others.

Jamil Samara and his team, especially Niko Kyritsis, in Internet Ministries have worked diligently throughout the summer in partnership with Strato Doumanis, the developer from Media Cutlet who led the project. Jamil, Niko and Strato attacked issues relentlessly and were supported graciously by John Rodriguez, the now former CTO of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese America.

None of this would have happened without the support of the Archbishop Iakovos Leadership 100 Fund. I am grateful to Miss Paulette Poulos – Executive Director, Leadership 100 Endowment Fund, to Mr. Demetrios Logothetis – Chairman, Leadership 100 Endowment Fund, to Mr. Argyris Vassiliou – Chairman Emeritus, Leadership 100 Endowment Fund, to Mr. Justin Bozonelis, Chairman, and members of the Grant Committee, Leadership 100 Endowment Fund, for their unwavering commitment to our success.

And perhaps more importantly, we want to thank His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America. His Eminence took a chance on us, supported our plan and our vision, and provided the latitude to make consequential choices. We are grateful for his leadership.

Finally, as mentioned, we have leaned on you, our readers, to guide us through these projects. Your feedback is collected, shared, discussed and, most importantly, valued by our entire team. Please don’t hesitate to keep the conversation going. You can email us any time at communications@goarch.org or submit feedback here.

Photo by Orthodox Observer/Brittainy Newman

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