Dear MLTnews readers:

First, a sincere thank you to all who have donated so far to our annual News Match campaign. We are just 13 days into our two-month campaign and have already raised $10,000 toward our goal of $70,000. That goal includes matching dollars provided through the Institute of Nonprofit News, so if you are considering an end-of-the-year gift, please give between now and Dec. 31 to take advantage of that match.

We have also received questions from readers asking if they can donate using their Donor Advised Funds — and the answer is an enthusiastic yes! Watch our video on that topic here.

It’s been 18 months since we formally launched our nonprofit news organization, and it’s clear that now — more than ever — local news is critical for our community. The Pew Research Center reported in May 2024 that “at a time when many local news outlets are struggling and Americans’ trust in the news media has waned, the vast majority of U.S. adults (85%) say local news outlets are at least somewhat important to the well-being of their local community. This includes 44% who say local journalism is extremely or very important to their community

Further, “about 7 in 10 U.S. adults (69%) say that local journalists in their area are mostly in touch with their community, up from 63% who said this in 2018. And most Americans also say their local news organizations are doing well in four key roles:

-Reporting news accurately (71%)

-Covering the most important stories (68%)

-Being transparent (63%)

-Keeping an eye on local political leaders (61%).”

The truth is, I hear this often from our readers. They appreciate that we are tracking city council and school board meetings, writing about arts and restaurants, and covering other local events that impact them every day.

In fact, I spoke with a donor Tuesday who said she decided to cancel her subscription to The Seattle Times — she’ll now read that at the library —  so she could increase her monthly donation to us from $10 a month to $25 a month.

“It’s not that The Seattle Times is not good,” Linda wrote, “but I’m finished with reading national news for awhile and My Edmonds News remains grounded in real life in my community with excellent journalism.”

One reason the My Neighborhood News Network family of publications — My Edmonds News, MLTnews and Lynnwood Today — moved to nonprofit status was to give us another funding tool. It opens the door for larger donations since we can offer tax benefits and also become eligible for grants. Fortunately, we are also able to keep our loyal advertising sponsors — many of whom have been with us for many years.

While we have reached our goal of doubling our $175,000 budget in the past two years, we still have some heavy lifting to do. The truth is, our budget funds a news organization that was built mostly with the help of freelance writers and photographers. And they do fantastic work. But many of those people have other jobs or commitments — and they don’t have the capacity to take on the assignments our readers have said are important, which include deeper dives into government and key community issues, along with investigative reporting.

The bottom line: We need to hire full-time reporters to do this work. And now is the time to do that. With other local news organizations cutting staff and reducing publication size and frequency, we are primed to build a robust news organization that serves our population of 200,000 people in South Snohomish County.

Of course, hiring people takes money — and that’s where you come in. Reader support is critical to our mission.

If you have donated, thank you! But if you haven’t, now’s the time. Although our nonprofit status makes us eligible for grants, most of our donations come from readers just like you — who contribute monthly, annual or one-time amounts.

Of course, some people still have the perception they shouldn’t pay for news. According to that same Pew Research Study, “just 15% of Americans say they have paid or given money to any local news source in the past year – a number that has not changed much since 2018. The survey also asked Americans who did not pay for news in the past year the main reason why not. The most common explanation is that people don’t pay because they can find plenty of free local news.”

We see that trend among our readers as well. While we cover a population of 200,000, we have approximately 1,000 regular or one-time donors in our database — a tiny fraction of those who actually read our publications. We do not have — and never will have — a paywall, so we rely on voluntary donations.

Please donate at this link. Your end-of-the-year contribution to build our newsroom will be matched, and you will be supporting excellent journalism that is, as Linda said, “grounded in real life.”

Until next time,