HOT PURSUIT
Steele County is where our heart is.
Now we’re asking for your help to keep that heart beating strong.
Elsewhere in this edition you will find a full-page announcement of a special program we recently have been accepted into through Report for America, a nonprofit charitable organization dedicated to strengthening local journalism.
Funding journalism in America has changed at a rate nearly faster than the speed of lightning. In the last 10 years, Minnesota has lost around 35% of its community newspapers and more than 65% of its journalists. Just this year alone, Minnesota has lost 12 newspapers.
We are determined to make sure that doesn’t happen in Steele County because a community without a newspaper is like a community without a soul.
As we move ahead with the challenges of the newspaper industry, we don’t want to lose the momentum we’ve built over the past several years of providing quality local news for Steele County. We have worked our tails off to provide the best possible news coverage, and we have the state’s top weekly newspaper award to prove it. Earlier this year we were awarded the Mills Trophy for Minnesota’s best weekly.
One of the changes within the newspaper industry taking place right now is the funding sources. Today, a growing number of news outlets have turned to philanthropy as an important source of funding. The Steele County Times is one of them.
Report for America is a national program with a “mission to strengthen our communities and our democracy through local journalism that is truthful, fearless, fair and smart.”
Residents in Steele County and the surrounding counties have graciously responded about how important local journalism is by subscribing to the Times. In the past three years, our circulation has grown by nearly 60%, which is remarkable for any newspaper, large or small. The kind of growth we have experienced is unprecedented in the newspaper industry. If you’re already one of our subscribers, thank you.
While subscriptions and advertising have traditionally supported local news media, it’s tough for newspapers to survive on that alone. Competition for advertising dollars, local retailers and reader attention from large, international companies that specialize in search, social and shopping have eroded local news organizations’ ability to provide quality local journalism. Many are turning to a third source, direct community contributions (philanthropy) to bridge the gap and keep local journalism alive.
Contributions can be made online at www.steelecountytimes.com or by clicking on the QR code running in this week’s special announcement. The GroundTruth Project, home to Report for America, is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization. Your gift will be directed to the Steele County Times through a fiscal sponsorship and is tax deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law.
If you support us, you’re not buying a story. Rather, you are helping bolster our ability to tell stories in key areas. We want to do more journalism and better journalism.
Important note: Contributions to this fund will only be used for the direct support of payroll, benefits and reporting tools. No money will be used for company overhead or “profit.”
We hope you consider the Steele County Times as a civic institution worth investing in. A donation to Report for America on our behalf will go a long way to helping us build a thriving, stable institution for years to come.
We also hope you believe that going in hot pursuit of keeping local news alive is an investment worth making. We’re grateful for any support you can give.