Article content continued

The blog, called Local Stories-Local People, will feature two stories per week, a “What You Should Know” piece, plus a host of periodic segments, including Geek of the Week (focusing on young students who love science and math), My Best Friend (for animal lovers) and a segment celebrating major milestone birthdays (think 90+ years). Meehan said 15,000 people have signed up to receive notifications for her blog so far.

“It’s scary, but quite frankly I just don’t want this big company to tell me when I’m done. I wasn’t ready to end my career and while I’m not doing news per se, I’m still doing the stuff I love. I’m still getting out and meeting people, and telling their stories as best I can. The opportunity just seems to be greater than being stuck in the newsroom.”

Meehan is in the process of finding advertising and sponsors to support the blog but said focusing on the stories — not making money — is the current priority.

“I want to concentrate on the product and then hopefully the product will sell itself,” she said.

Meehan’s layoff was met with a rush of anger and sadness from the community she had served for more than 25 years, as thousands of online supporters tried to convince CTV to reverse its decision.

“I really want to thank people for being patient and being so supportive,” said Meehan, who is in her late 50s. “I really haven’t had any naysayers, people saying, ‘Oh, go away old lady and retire.’ I don’t feel old, you know. I’m just very grateful and I hope my brain adjusts to this whole new learning process, but it’s been really energizing.”

Meehan’s blog will be live Friday at carolannemeehan.com.