Dear Readers:

Thanks to the approximately 80 attendees who participated in our “How Local News Supports Strong Communities” event at the Edmonds Waterfront Center last week.

Our reporters appreciated the chance to speak directly with you, and we were inspired by all the great ideas shared in our breakout sessions. These included a request to do more health reporting, to do a deep dive into the public safety implications of light rail stations opening later this year and a request for inclusion of more diverse voices and topics in our publications.

We are taking all of these to heart as we prepare our work plan for 2024 and beyond.

And here’s a recap of the top 10 priorities identified, based on dots placed on poster boards of subjects submitted by readers during our nonprofit news launch event last summer:

1) Investigative reporting.

2) Coverage of elected officials.

3) Continuation of strong local news (especially government).

4) Inclusion of diverse thoughts and views.

5) More news about nonprofits.

6) A monthly interview with the mayor.

7) Help our conmunities better understand what our local government does.

8) Advance notice of community events and festivals.

9) Stories about quality-of-life issues. What is being done to to make this a better community for everyone.

10) More history — buildings, characters, businesses, artists/musicians/writers.

Two reminders:

We have a form here for readers who want to share their ideas for building our nonprofit news organization.

Support us as we expand our coverage of South Snohomish County issues of importance to our readers. You can donate at this link.

Help us build it!

Teresa Wippel.
President and CEO, and founding publisher
My Neighborhood News Network

(Photos by Nick Ng and Chris Walton)