Queen City Press launched on Jan. 26, 2021 and provides professional coverage of FC Cincinnati with special emphasis on enterprise reporting and long-form features.
Who am I?
My name is Laurel Pfahler. I have more than 15 years of professional journalism experience in newspapers and online media, including as a full-time freelancer in my hometown of Cincinnati since 2014. I began covering FC Cincinnati as a credentialed beat writer for WCPO.com after its launch as a USL team in August 2015 and through its growth as a Major League Soccer club, including 18 months with The Athletic, and I’m one of two local reporters who have covered nearly every home game in the franchise’s existence (I missed two league games at Nippert Stadium in 2017 because of the birth of my daughter).
Why launch a new site?
I began a Patreon site in July 2020 as a way to provide more and deeper coverage of FC Cincinnati. Queen City Press is an extension of the Patreon site that hopefully is more aesthetically pleasing and allows me to have my own brand, while still maintaining my subscription base. It is important to me that FC Cincinnati has a broad range of trusted coverage, and I encourage fans to check out other outlets such as The Enquirer and Cincinnati Soccer Talk. My content is unvarnished, accurate and connected, and my information is verified through trusted sources. If you’re familiar with my work at The Athletic, that is my preferred style of writing. I hope to take readers behind-the-scenes and provide a better understanding of the club.
The Goal
My goal is to keep readers accurately informed and entertained, while also holding the team accountable. At the same time, little in life is free and sadly neither are the things I need to provide my kids. Journalism takes time and money, and this is a source of income for my family.
Questions?
If you have any questions or topics you would like covered, please feel free to email me at laurelpfahler@gmail.com or reach out on Twitter @LaurelPfahler.