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By LOUIS C. HOCHMAN
[email protected]
I’ll be blunt: Montclair Local Nonprofit News is a losing money operation. And he can’t stay a very long time.
Long-time readers know our history (I’ve written this myself several times): After a major chain bought and drastically cut staff at another Montclair newspaper, and as similar scenarios unfolded in communities nationwide , residents Heeten and Thalla-Marie Choxi began meeting with reporters, including Kevin Meacham (my predecessor, the first Local Editor-in-Chief), Gwen Orel, Linda Moss and Andrew Garda in the hope of preserving local journalism in the community they all loved. The Choxis agreed to fund a print and online news operation at a time when most local newspapers were in trouble or were in complete retreat.
It’s easy to underestimate the huge bet that has been and remains. Common wisdom is that written journalism is dead; the Choxis and these journalists rejected that. The common wisdom is that real, in-depth, enterprising and engaging local journalism costs too much to do well. But the Choxi and these journalists hoped they could find a way.
But it’s expensive. The Choxis donated over $ 1 million to the organization that eventually became Montclair Local Nonprofit News, and we were honored to receive the support of several other benefactors and members. It just wasn’t enough. Not yet.
Get Montclair Local in Print: Become a Supporting Member
I want to tread carefully here – this month in particular there is no shortage of local institutions and individuals who could use your help. Ida has caused extraordinary damage to homes, businesses, non-profit organizations that are part of the fabric of Montclair. If you are able to support any of these – and you can read leads to do so both on the pages of Montclair Local and on MontclairLocal.news – I urge you to make people in crisis your first. priority.
But beyond this immediate and urgent need, if you have the means, we ask for your support.
The journalism you see reflected in the pages of Montclair Local is intense, time consuming work, and by far our biggest expense is the salaries of those dedicated journalists who do it. This includes our longtime associate editor, Jaimie Julia Winters, and education journalist, Talia Wiener, attend government and school board meetings late into the night. This includes our human relations journalist, Diego Jesus Bartesaghi Mena, looking for stories of lived experiences and join you for the events that make you proud to live in Montclair. There is Garda, help celebrate the victories of Montclair sports teams. There is our editor, Joe Dziublenski, and our pagination, Andrea Bondy, who make the production of our print edition possible.
And that includes reporters asking pointed questions of those in power, sifting through documents obtained through public document requests, wondering how each development affects the diverse and diverse population that makes Montclair special, and then searching for answers.
During Ida, they are the ones who worked tirelessly to educate you about flood risks, damage to schools, businesses and valuable institutions, ways to help your neighbors, the fight for federal relief in disaster. Between September 1 (the night Ida hit Montclair) and September 2, more than 40,000 people turned to MontclairLocal.news for fast, ever-changing information about a storm that has engulfed so many of us. We hope and believe that we have rendered some level of service to them.
We ask to be the community newsroom. It is our honor to try. We are proud of the work we do and receptive to those who think we can or should do more. But nothing that we do, and nothing that we might become as Montclair Local grows and evolves, is possible without your help.
This week’s printed issue of Montclair Local is being distributed to all residents of Montclair; it’s something we do a few times a year. If you enjoy what you see and want to continue receiving the print edition of Montclair Local every week, sign up to MontclairLocal.news/membership. A $ 36 per year subscription covers our most essential printing costs; that’s just enough to get the paper in your hands. Greater contribution, at your discretion, helps make our journalism possible.
You can also support us with any amount at montclairlocal.news/dons. Contributions are tax deductible and any amount is appreciated.
And for those who can afford it, we have the opportunity to make your donation go further. Josh Weston – Co-Chair Emeritus and Honorary Chair of ADP as well as a philanthropist supporting several educational and community initiatives – generously offered Montclair Local Nonprofit News a matching grant. If at least 20 people donate $ 1,000 or more by the end of September, it will provide an additional $ 15,000.
I joined Montclair Local because I believe that if journalism is to survive, it will have to be in cooperation with communities. I have been in many businesses where the community is a “market” and the information operation is a “product”. I believe there is a better way for a news post to not only serve a community, but also be truly community. Some people think those days are over. I ask for your help to prove that they are not.
Louis C. Hochman is editor-in-chief of Montclair Local and CEO of Montclair Local Nonprofit News.
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