If you follow the news about local journalism in America these days, you know that living in a place with a local newspaper covering your community is a rare and valuable thing.
Readers of The Valley Reporter are fortunate to have had a community weekly paper staffed by people who live there covering the news for more than 50 years. The paper covers news both for The Valley readers and from The Valley for readers elsewhere, like me.
Likewise, I hope that Waterbury's fledgling online newspaper, the Waterbury Roundabout, is part of the routine for neighbors in The Valley who want to keep up with news in a nearby place where you might work, shop, play, or pass through as you head to I-89.
When Waterbury’s print weekly paper succumbed to the financial challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Roundabout launched as a class project from a journalism internship program at UVM. Business strategy took a back seat to what felt more like a news emergency during a very peculiar and uncertain time. More than four years later, our site sees hundreds and often thousands of readers checking the latest headlines daily.
We are thrilled that the community has embraced the Roundabout, but making this effort sustainable long-term is a real challenge. Covering local news while trying to build a solid financial footing for the Roundabout is a tall order. And we know that for readers, hopping on a website isn’t the same as plunking down some change at the corner store for a paper.
If you are a regular visitor to WaterburyRoundabout.org and even if you are not, but might become one, we have some news of our own and a request.
Now through the end of 2024, we have joined a groundbreaking national fundraising effort called NewsMatch. This national campaign will double all contributions individuals make to the Roundabout through December 31, 2024, up to a grand total of $15,000. No strings attached. For a small start-up operation, this could be a game changer.
NewsMatch is a program of the Institute for Nonprofit News, a national trade organization, and it is supporting nearly 400 nonprofit news organizations through this campaign. It has $7.5 million to distribute provided by 18 foundations and philanthropic organizations including the Democracy Fund, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. (Read more about that on the WaterburyRoundabout.org homepage.)
How can you participate? You can donate to the Waterbury Roundabout today.
All individual donations of up to $1,000 will be matched dollar-for-dollar. A nice perk for new monthly contributions: NewsMatch will kick in the value of a full year of those subscriptions. (For example, a new $5 per month signup receives $60.) Contributions can be made online or by check and are tax deductible thanks to our fiscal sponsor, the Vermont Journalism Trust, parent 501c3 to VTDigger.
Each week we are pleased to see how busy the Roundabout website is. This year alone readers have logged over 530,000 visits.
We love covering our community and we are committed to running the Roundabout as a reliable source of independent community journalism. But reader support is key for the Roundabout to continue and for it to grow. We are grateful for this matching campaign and the power it has to boost reader contributions through the end of this year. Our thanks to everyone who has supported us so far and those who chip in going forward.
And thank you for reading all of your local newspapers and supporting them with your subscriptions, advertising, etc.
Scagliotti is editor and founder of the nonprofit Waterbury Roundabout local online news site. WaterburyRoundabout.org.
