Our papers do matter

“The Register needs your help.” That was our message to about 100 subscribers, whom we wrote earlier this month. Included in the letter was a donation form to the Kansas Newspaper Foundation.

And it’s true. This year has been awful.

We’ve lost three of our biggest five advertisers, and we’re kicking ourselves for
not reducing staff earlier. (We don’t plan to replace a sales representative until later next year.)

So we printed a list of subscribers and went through it, selecting our strongest
supporters. We debated whether we should address all subscribers; we didn’t,
mostly for reasons of feasibility. We also wanted to make the request as personal as
possible.

So far, we’ve received about $10,000 in donations. The checks come to us, and we
send them on to the Kansas Newspaper Foundation, which then deposits the funds
in our bank account. We move 100% of it, every single penny, to our payroll account.

I hated having to do this. I’m not proud of sharing this or asking our subscribers
for help. I worry some will think we’re incompetent, or crybabies, or undeserving.

We take pride in our work at the Register, and much of it comes from the
independence of being a family-owned newspaper. So many generations, so many
papers published, and here we are. It stings.

But the Kansas Newspaper Foundation’s Local News Sponsorship Program, which
is how this all works, has been a critical lifeline. And to be honest, something quite
powerful has come from it: I feel more committed than ever to our readers. I
mean, goodness, they’re giving us money when they didn’t have to. Sure, a subscription costs money, as does an ad, but a donation? They must really value us.

Friends of ours, parents of a young child, donated $1,000. I have two kids — I
know how expensive they are. Learning of their donation left me speechless.

It also left me with a huge sense of responsibility. Time to work harder, to set
the example, to be the paper that beats the odds. For our readers, for our employees,
for our community — it’s clear our work matters. It’s clear our work belongs to
them. In fact, the Register belongs to our community. Those who have donated see
it that way; until now, I didn’t.

I write about this experience because I think the same is true for all community
newspapers. I also encourage you to learn more about how the Kansas Newspaper
Foundation may help your paper.

Looking ahead: Times will stay tough for the Register. This campaign isn’t a
silver bullet. And as I look around the country, I notice that the way we fund
journalism is changing. Here in Iola, we talk more and more about becoming a
non-profit. I spoke with the Institute for Nonprofit News a few months back, and I
understand becoming a non-profit is one viable solution to preserving newspapers.
Would it work for everybody? Of course not. Could it work for the Register? We’re
thinking about it.

What won’t work, what can’t happen, is for the presses to stop. Not when so many
communities are saying loud and clear: “We need you, too.”

Keep up the good fight. And a Happy New Year to all!