Topic

AI & Agentic

dispatches

Why we did not rent it

We Built Our Own, No. 16. A publication as a source, not a destination.

Peter Cellino·Sep 26, 2026

Series card No. 16: Why we did not rent it. Over a screenshot of the platform (mercurylocal com).

dispatches

What AI actually did

We Built Our Own, No. 15. What I decided, what the machine built, what it got wrong.

Peter Cellino·Sep 26, 2026

Series card No. 15: What AI actually did. Over a screenshot of the platform (cltmercury com feed xml).

dispatches

Sixteen publications. One codebase

We Built Our Own, No. 14. A new publication is a row in a table and a DNS record.

Peter Cellino·Sep 25, 2026

Series card No. 14: Sixteen publications. One codebase. Over a screenshot of the platform (easthamptonmercury com).

dispatches

One database is the whole company

We Built Our Own, No. 13. Every article, page, person, transcript and image, in one place.

Peter Cellino·Sep 25, 2026

Series card No. 13: One database is the whole company. Over a screenshot of the platform (cltmercury com sitemap xml).

dispatches

The database says no

We Built Our Own, No. 12. Rules that fire whether or not anyone remembers.

Peter Cellino·Sep 21, 2026

Series card No. 12: The database says no. Over a screenshot of the platform (farmingtonmercury com police).

dispatches

Backups we can prove

We Built Our Own, No. 11. 11,357 objects mirrored off-site, and a restore drill that matched every hash.

Peter Cellino·Sep 20, 2026

Series card No. 11: Backups we can prove. Over a screenshot of the platform (farmingtonmercury com).

dispatches

The site checks itself every night

We Built Our Own, No. 10. Dozens of watchdogs. The first run found six problems nobody knew about.

Peter Cellino·Sep 19, 2026

Series card No. 10: The site checks itself every night. Over a screenshot of the platform (cltmercury com about).

dispatches

Half a second, found in the layout

We Built Our Own, No. 09. 542 milliseconds to 208. Measure before you optimize.

Peter Cellino·Sep 18, 2026

Series card No. 09: Half a second, found in the layout. Over a screenshot of the platform (cltmercury com).

dispatches

The people, places and bodies behind the news

We Built Our Own, No. 08. Thousands of public profiles, built from the coverage.

Peter Cellino·Sep 17, 2026

Series card No. 08: The people, places and bodies behind the news. Over a screenshot of the platform (cltmercury com about mark-jerrell).

dispatches

Every article carries its receipts

We Built Our Own, No. 07. Thousands of sourced claims, one per sentence that needs one.

Peter Cellino·Sep 16, 2026

Series card No. 07: Every article carries its receipts. Over a screenshot of the platform (cltmercury com government).

dispatches

Analytics without a black box

We Built Our Own, No. 06. We self-hosted our own. Ten days later it took every site down.

Peter Cellino·Sep 15, 2026

Series card No. 06: Analytics without a black box. Over a screenshot of the platform (strollingballantyne com).

dispatches

The newsroom tool we built for ourselves

We Built Our Own, No. 05. Version two, seven blocks, one day.

Peter Cellino·Sep 14, 2026

dispatches

Email we own

We Built Our Own, No. 04. One send path for every domain. No tracking sold to anyone.

Peter Cellino·Sep 13, 2026

Series card No. 04: Email we own. Over a screenshot of the platform (strollingfirethorne com).

dispatches

The day we deleted the media server

We Built Our Own, No. 03. 1,006 images repointed in one sitting, and why permissions won.

Peter Cellino·Sep 12, 2026

Series card No. 03: The day we deleted the media server. Over a screenshot of the platform (fourthwardcharlotte com).

dispatches

Two weeks in March

We Built Our Own, No. 02. 813 articles, 7,124 images, one platform. Built by one publisher and an AI.

Peter Cellino·Sep 11, 2026

Series card No. 02: Two weeks in March. Over a screenshot of the platform (cltmercury com).

dispatches

Three WordPress blogs and a rented app

We Built Our Own, No. 01. Where Mercury Local started, and why it could not stay there.

Peter Cellino·Sep 10, 2026

Series card No. 01: Three WordPress blogs and a rented app. Over a screenshot of the platform (mercurylocal com).

dispatches

Local News Revenue Fix: AEO, SEO & LEO

The Money Hole — Google and Facebook now take 63 percent of U.S. digital ad spend.

Peter Cellino·Jul 7, 2025