From announcing nearby storytelling festivals to featuring the achievements of a local women’s tennis team, InMenlo is determined to provide Menlo Park locals with unbiased and informative news.
InMenlo is the brainchild of Chris Gulker, a longtime Menlo Park resident who decided to launch the website in 2009 after learning he was terminally ill.
A new type of reporting emerged with the rise of the internet in the early 2000s: hyperlocal. Gulker drew inspiration from such websites and created InMenlo, a news publication that focuses on Menlo Park and surrounding cities.
Gulker got the site up and running with the help of his wife, Linda Hubbard, and his friend, Scott Loftesness. “InMenlo is a more lighthearted look at the news than hard news,” Linda Hubbard, the current InMenlo Editor-in-Chief, said. “Chris really wanted something to give back to the community with.”
While browsing the InMenlo website, one finds articles with the number of paragraphs in single digits. The majority of stories are features that announce events. “We are community-focused and purposely steer clear of political and, for the most part, crime stories,” Hubbard said. “I get positive feedback from readers who seem to value our approach to hyperlocal news that’s really more feature-oriented than hard news.”
Aside from a few veteran writers, the majority of staff are volunteer contributors. InMenlo also often provides opportunities to local students. “Recent M-A grad Dylan Lanier was a particular reader favorite with his From a Teen’s Perspective weekly column,” Hubbard said.
With the exception of a few technical issues with the website, the publication has not faced any major challenges since its inception.
“People want to know what is happening in their community. They want to hear about activities they can participate in,” Hubbard said.
According to Hubbard, InMenlo has been widely embraced by the local community. “Very rarely have I contacted someone to be interviewed, and they say no,” Hubbard said.
Some local residents even employ themselves to help the publication, “I get a lot of tips and contributed content where people have written something and sent me photographs,” Hubbard said.
This affection and care for the publication is reflected on M-A’s campus as well. “InMenlo helps people find out about things that are happening. My dad found his guitar teacher on it,” senior Silvana Schmidt said. “It was always something he wanted to learn.”
Hubbard’s favorite part of the job are the connections it reveals. “Growing up here—I graduated from M-A—I’m always discovering connections, like the man I interviewed today who also went to Hillview school when it was a K-8. We had a number of the same teachers,” Hubbard said.
Robb Most, a volunteer photographer for the publication, echoed Hubbard’s sentiment when asked his favorite part of contributing to InMenlo. “Meeting people I would never meet and attending events I would never attend otherwise,” Most said.
With new posts every day, a loyal reader base, and a dedication to fostering community among local residents, InMenlo plans to continue serving its readers for many years to come.
